Another fluffer gets the Commander-In-Thief "ready" for tonight's speech. Lights...camera...ACTION!
:puke:
"Meghan O'Sullivan, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Iraq"
George, from California writes: what do you think the most significant progress in Iraq has been thus far?
Meghan O'Sullivan: The Iraqi people have come a long way since suffering under the tyranny imposed on them by Saddam Hussein - and our troops and diplomats have helped them make the progress that we can point to today. In the two years since liberation, the Iraqis have negotiated an interim constitution that protects individual rights, establishes checks and balances and the separation of powers, uses federalism to promote the unity of Iraq, and calls for free and democratic elections. Countless Iraqi political parties, newspapers, television and radio stations, civil society groups have all been formed to take advantage of these new freedoms. On January 30, over 8 million Iraqi citizens exercised their right to vote, casting ballots for Iraq’s first elected government in generations. Now they are hard at work writing a new constitution, and preparing for a referendum in October and a new set of elections in December. On the security side, the situation remains serious, with significant casualties on both the Coalition and Iraqi sides. There has, however, been notable progress. Just last summer, the Iraqi government did not have control of large important cities in Iraq, including Najaf, Fallujah, and Samarra. Today, insurgents and terrorists in these cities have been pushed back, detained, or killed and the cities are firmly in control of the Iraqi authorities. Similarly, there has been major progress in the training of Iraqi security forces. Although much work remains to be done, Iraqi units are both more numerous and more capable than they were a year ago.
Maxim, from Cambridge, MA writes: Thank you for taking this question.Democracy is undoubtedly a tremendous step for Iraq. What specific short term and long term benefits does it bring to America that justify the cost in money and lives?
Meghan O'Sullivan: Throughout our history, Americans have recognized that we have a special affinity for the spread of freedom and democracy around the world. Democracy in Iraq will have enormous benefits for the Iraqi people. So many Iraqis suffered under Saddam, and citizens everywhere are exercising their newfound freedoms to think, speak, worship, and vote as they please. But democracy in Iraq will also be important to the United States. For one thing, a democratic Iraq is more likely to be at peace with its neighbors – and that peace will mean stability, economic development, trade, and good relations with the U.S. This will be in sharp contrast to Saddam’s Iraq, which was constantly menacing its neighbors, requiring our constant vigilance – and in the case of the Gulf War, our military intervention to liberate Kuwait. Iraq under Saddam was among the world’s leading outlaw regimes. A new, peaceful, and democratic Iraq would be committed to good relations with its neighbors and full re-integration into the international community. Democracy in Iraq will also have broader strategic developments in the region. After the defeat of Germany, Japan, and Italy in World War II, the emergence of stable democracies in Europe and Asia laid the foundation for a more peaceful and stable world. A democratic Iraq will demonstrate the people of the Middle East that they, too, are fully capable and deserving of self-government. A democratic Iraq will help spur reform elsewhere in the Middle East – and might ultimately help one of the world’s most turbulent region become safer, more prosperous, more democratic, and a closer partner with the United States and others democracies throughout the world. Ultimately, democracy in Iraq will help the United States and the international community defeat terrorism and extremism. Democracy and self-government are powerful – and peaceful – weapons in the effort to undermine the discontent and alienation that so many people in the Middle East now feel. A successful democracy in Iraq will demolish the argument of the al-Qaedas of the world, who believe that only violence and destruction can bring salvation in the eyes of God. Democracy in Iraq – and potentially in the Middle East more broadly – will show the full compatibility of Islam with human rights and good government.
Laurence, from England writes: Is the democracy in Iraq freedom? or is it just the Bush administration's belief on what freedom is and forcing it on the Iraqi people?
Meghan O'Sullivan: The President has put nurturing democracy and freedom at the heart of his agenda, both because he believes in the universal desire of people to determine who governs them and because he believes that America is safer the fewer people in the world live under tyranny. But the President has made equally clear that America will not impose democracy on other countries. In his inaugural address, he said America’s goal is “to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.” And that is exactly what America is doing in Iraq. Anyone who questions the desire of the Iraqi people to live in a democracy need not look far to be convinced of their commitment. Under the threat of intimidation and violence, more than 8 million people risked their lives to go to the polls in January 2005 to elect a government for the first time in more than 50 years. And since April 2003, thousands of Iraqis have come forward to serve their country and play their part in building a new democracy. They have served – and some have died – as part of Iraq’s security forces, national government, local institutions, and Iraq’s courts. When I was in Baghdad in June 2004, speaking with Iraqi leaders who just accepted appointments as ministers in Iraq’s interim government, I ask one minister if he were worried about his security. He said, “I know it is possible – even likely – that I will be killed in this position. But if I don’t step forward to build a democratic Iraq, I can’t blame others for not stepping forward. We must be willing to sacrifice to make our new country.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/ask/20050628.html
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