By and large, Iraq is better off today
By Amir Taheri
From Iraqupdates.com
28 November 2007 (Gulf News)
''A torrent of good news!''
This is how The New York Times (NY Times??? Oh no; Joe...say it isn't so!)has described latest reports from Iraq that indicate a significant fall in the level of violence there.
Here is some good news:
- More than 70 per cent of the cells created by Al Qaida in Iraq have been dismantled and vast amounts of money and arms seized from terrorists and their insurgent allies.
- The so-called Islamic State in Iraq, set up by Al Qaida in parts of four provinces, has collapsed and many of its principal leaders, including two so-called ''ministers'', have been arrested.
--Iraqis who had sought temporary refuge in neighbouring countries are returning home in large numbers. By the latest count an average of 1000 each day are returning from Syria alone.
--Thanks to mediation by Abdulaziz Al Hakim, leader of the Shiite coalition, the three groups that had withdrawn from Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's coalition government are expected to return to the fold.
--The handover of Basra by the British forces to Iraqi authorities has been completed without a hitch and Iraq's second largest city is rapidly returning to normal.
--Iraqi oil production is at its highest since 2002. Last week, Oil Minister Hussain Shahrestani notified the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries that Iraq intends to produce its full quota next year.
--There is a rush of applications to set up small and medium businesses. In Baghdad alone, the figure for October was 400, compared to 80 last August.
- The fourth American university in the Arab world, and the first in Iraq, has started work in Suleymanieh, close to the Iranian border.
By Amir Taheri
From Iraqupdates.com
28 November 2007 (Gulf News)
''A torrent of good news!''
This is how The New York Times (NY Times??? Oh no; Joe...say it isn't so!)has described latest reports from Iraq that indicate a significant fall in the level of violence there.
Here is some good news:
- More than 70 per cent of the cells created by Al Qaida in Iraq have been dismantled and vast amounts of money and arms seized from terrorists and their insurgent allies.
- The so-called Islamic State in Iraq, set up by Al Qaida in parts of four provinces, has collapsed and many of its principal leaders, including two so-called ''ministers'', have been arrested.
--Iraqis who had sought temporary refuge in neighbouring countries are returning home in large numbers. By the latest count an average of 1000 each day are returning from Syria alone.
--Thanks to mediation by Abdulaziz Al Hakim, leader of the Shiite coalition, the three groups that had withdrawn from Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's coalition government are expected to return to the fold.
--The handover of Basra by the British forces to Iraqi authorities has been completed without a hitch and Iraq's second largest city is rapidly returning to normal.
--Iraqi oil production is at its highest since 2002. Last week, Oil Minister Hussain Shahrestani notified the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries that Iraq intends to produce its full quota next year.
--There is a rush of applications to set up small and medium businesses. In Baghdad alone, the figure for October was 400, compared to 80 last August.
- The fourth American university in the Arab world, and the first in Iraq, has started work in Suleymanieh, close to the Iranian border.