Iraq: Coalition Provisional Authority Head Notes Progress, Future Plans

Thursday, July 24, 2003

By SFC Doug Sample

U.S. Army

American Forces Press Service

"When I first arrived in Baghdad in early May, it was a city on fire, literally. There was no traffic in the streets except for military vehicles of the coalition. There were no shops open. I slept at night, in those days, with earplugs in my ears because otherwise I was kept awake by the gunfire that went on constantly every night. Looting was a real problem and ongoing. That has all changed. From the vegetable markets to the satellite-dish shops, stores are open and merchants are no longer in fear of widespread looting. The north of Iraq is peaceful. ... This is not a country in chaos, as it is sometimes portrayed. The attacks against our brave uniformed men and women are concentrated in a small geographic triangle north and west of Baghdad. ... And it's no coincidence this area of greatest activity against our forces was the traditional center of political support for Saddam. It's also where he put many elements of the military industrial complex with their Baathist civil servants."
-- Ambassador L. Paul Bremer

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
The head of reconstruction efforts in Iraq said progress continues to be made in the country and the deaths of Hussein brothers Uday and Qusay is a "statement and a restatement of the partnership that has emerged between the Iraqi people and the coalition."

Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, told members of the National Press Club July 23 that the previous day's successful mission can be attributed to an Iraqi citizen stepping forward.

"This is consistent with the trend we started noticing several weeks ago of Iraqis coming forward to our police or to their police or to our tactical units and giving us information about Baathists and other evildoers," he said. "Iraqis all across the country are taking their future into their own hands; and this, too, is worthy of celebration."

Bremer focused on successes the coalition has had in rebuilding Iraq and restoring the government there.

Highlighting those accomplishments, Bremer said that over the past month students across Iraq have been taking their final exams, with all of the country's universities and more than 90 percent of Iraq's public schools now reopened.

He also noted that Iraq's hospitals are open and that 95 percent of the country's health clinics are providing services to Iraqi citizens.

Government at all levels is being reestablished as well.
(More: DefenseLINK.mil)
2003 © U.S. Department of Defense.

Dan