farquar
03-21-2005, 02:22 AM
Khaleej Times Online >> News >> COMMENT
Iraqis enter third year... with hope
By Mohammed A. R. Galadari
21 March 2005
DEAR readers, as Iraqis entered the third year after the ouster from power of Saddam Hussein, there's reason for optimism for both Iraq and the region.
True, Iraqis paid a heavy price for the dramatic change that has come about in their lives, the many fruits of which they are now set to savour. External intervention helped them free themselves from tyranny and taste freedom. Before month-end, they will have their own government, duly elected and installed under a democratic process that was unknown to Iraqis until a year ago.
As the protagonist of this change, President Bush is understandably upbeat about this turn-around. This, he says , was a landmark event in the history of freedom, as the war had not only freed Iraq from Saddam's tyranny, (but also) provided a democratic model for the Middle East. To quote the president from his weekly radio address, "Today we are seeing hopeful signs across the broader Middle East. The victory of freedom in Iraq is strengthening a new ally in the war on terror and inspiring democratic reformers from Beirut to Teheran. Today, women can vote in Afghanistan, Palestinians are breaking the old patterns of violence, and hundreds of thousands of Lebanese are rising up to demand their sovereignty and democratic rights".
These, dear readers, are signs of hope for the region, where the dispensations in many of the so-called republics are neither allowing their people to be free nor helping them have a comfortable life. As Bush notes, "only the fire of liberty can purge the ideologies of murder by offering hope to those who yearn to live free"...
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/comment/2005/March/comment_March24.xml§ion=comment
Iraqis enter third year... with hope
By Mohammed A. R. Galadari
21 March 2005
DEAR readers, as Iraqis entered the third year after the ouster from power of Saddam Hussein, there's reason for optimism for both Iraq and the region.
True, Iraqis paid a heavy price for the dramatic change that has come about in their lives, the many fruits of which they are now set to savour. External intervention helped them free themselves from tyranny and taste freedom. Before month-end, they will have their own government, duly elected and installed under a democratic process that was unknown to Iraqis until a year ago.
As the protagonist of this change, President Bush is understandably upbeat about this turn-around. This, he says , was a landmark event in the history of freedom, as the war had not only freed Iraq from Saddam's tyranny, (but also) provided a democratic model for the Middle East. To quote the president from his weekly radio address, "Today we are seeing hopeful signs across the broader Middle East. The victory of freedom in Iraq is strengthening a new ally in the war on terror and inspiring democratic reformers from Beirut to Teheran. Today, women can vote in Afghanistan, Palestinians are breaking the old patterns of violence, and hundreds of thousands of Lebanese are rising up to demand their sovereignty and democratic rights".
These, dear readers, are signs of hope for the region, where the dispensations in many of the so-called republics are neither allowing their people to be free nor helping them have a comfortable life. As Bush notes, "only the fire of liberty can purge the ideologies of murder by offering hope to those who yearn to live free"...
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/comment/2005/March/comment_March24.xml§ion=comment