President George W. Bush, seeking to bolster public support for his Iraq policies, yesterday hailed the launch of the country's new currency as a sign of economic promise.
Facing doubts at home about its Iraq policies and the proposed US$87 billion cost for the country's rebuilding, the Bush administration is waging a public relations campaign aimed at highlighting successes of the postwar effort.
Bush cited as a major milestone the plans to issue fresh Iraqi dinar notes that will no longer bear the image of Saddam Hussein, whom the US ousted from power in April.
"We're helping Iraqis to rebuild their economy after a long era of corruption and misrule," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "For three decades, Iraq's economy served the interest only of its dictator and his regime."
"The new currency symbolizes Iraq's reviving economy," he said.
Bush said the new currency would help unify Iraq, which had previously used two different versions of the dinar in different areas.
The US president has seen his poll ratings drop recently as his critics have charged he failed to plan adequately for Iraq's security needs and for the cost of its rebuilding. US soldiers are dying in daily attacks.
Bush earlier this week overhauled his management of Iraqi reconstruction.
The reorganization gives more of a direct say to the White House while appearing to dilute some of the Pentagon's power.
"With our assistance, Iraqis are building the roads and ports and railways necessary for commerce," he said.
"We have helped to establish an independent Iraqi central bank. Working with the Iraqi Governing Council, we are establishing a new system that allows foreign investors to confidently invest capital in Iraq's future."
He said the country had bustling market places and stores stocked with everything from "clothing and linens to air-conditioners and satellite dishes."
A key House of Representatives panel this week approved Bush's $87 billion spending request for Iraq and left out a proposal -- which Bush opposed -- that would have forced Iraq to repay funds given to it for reconstruction.
The move cleared the way for the bill to be considered by the full House and the Senate next week, but the debate is sure to be contentious.
Democrats have lambasted Bush for proposing to spend billions on health care and job training in Iraq when they feel that such programs within the US are getting short shrift. A number of Republicans are unhappy with the idea of handing over reconstruction cash to Iraq without demanding eventual repayment.
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
A US federal judge on Tuesday ordered US President Donald Trump’s administration to halt efforts to shut down Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, the news broadcasts of which are funded by the government to export US values to the world. US District Judge Royce Lamberth, who is overseeing six lawsuits from employees and contractors affected by the shutdown of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), ordered the administration to “take all necessary steps” to restore employees and contractors to their positions and resume radio, television and online news broadcasts. USAGM placed more than 1,000
RSS