KURDISTAN NEWSLINE
September 7,
2003
Secretary Rumsfeld
Meets IGC
Jalal Talabani with US Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld in Baghdad
Baghdad, Sept 6-- US
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld attended a
special meeting of the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC)
today. Ahmed Chalabi the presiding president of IGC
warmly welcomed Secretary Rumsfeld and described the
present situation as a historic moment. He
expressed his gratitude on behalf of the IGC to
President Bush, the US congress and the people of
the United States for helping to rid the Iraqi
people of the fascist dictatorship of Saddam
Hussein.
Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan leader and IGC’s Presidential Committee
member Jalal Talabani described the Secretary of
Defense as a man of vision and a friend of the Iraqi
people. He referred to the thousands of the mass
graves that have been found as proof of the tragedy
and agony, which the Iraqi people have had to
endure. The ousting of the criminal Ba’athist
regimes was a genuine war of liberation, he said.
Mr. Talabani described
the new environment for freedom in Baghdad where, in
spite of the continuing terrorist threats of the
remnants of the Ba’athist regime, political parties
are being formed; a free press flourishing and
public demonstrations are being staged without any
fear of oppression. .
Mr. Talabani underscored
the value of the cooperation and alliance between
the coalition forces and the peshemerga
volunteer forces that have effectively contributed
to the liberation of Iraq and the continuing fight
against terrorism. He noted the successful joint
operation by the US Special Forces and the
peshmerga to dislodge the Al Qaeda-affiliated
terrorist group, Ansar al-Islam, from Iraqi
Kurdistan. The current activities of Ansar Al-Islam
and other Al-Qaeda foreign terrorists demonstrate
the solid case presented to the United Nations by US
Secretary of State Colin Powell linking Saddam to
the Laddenite international terrorism.
He ended his remarks by
thanking President Bush for his courageous stance
against tyranny and stressed the importance of a
full transition of power to a sovereign government
in Iraq.
The co- speaker of the
Kurdistan National Assembly, Dr. Roj Nouri
Shawes recommended increasing cooperation, in the
form of joint operations, in order to to eliminate
the threat of terrorism in Iraq.
Governing Council Member
Sheikh Abu Hatim stressed the importance of securing
Iraq's borders from outside interference, namely
from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and Iran, and
emphasized that the presence of US troops in Iraq is
vital to maintaining stability in Iraq.
The Iraq Governing
Council, Rumsfeld said, is striving to develop a
constitution and pave the way for free elections
"where you, the Iraq people, will choose your own
leaders." He affirmed his full confidence in the
leadership of Ambassador L Paul Bremer III and
General Sanchez, the commander of US forces, to
assist the people of Iraq.
"I am privileged to be
hear meeting with you today" he told members of the
IGC. He lauded their work toward establishing the
rule of law and security and the formation of the
new cabinet.
Mr. Rumsfeld expressed
his condolences to all the Iraqi people and
especially the friends, colleagues and family
members of the late Grand Ayatollah Said Mohammad
Baqir Al-Hakim, who was killed by a terrorist bomb
in the holy city of Najaf. He said, "Iraq has lost a
wise and respected leader".
The Secretary of Defense
outlined a bright future for Iraq, saying he has
seen “truly extraordinary” political, economic,
social changes in the country since has last visit
four months ago. He reaffirmed President Bush’s
commitment to “seeing the job through until a
democratic and peaceful government that is
respectful to all its citizens, and friendly to its
neighbors” is formed. Rumsfeld hoped to increase the
size of the international security force in Iraq,
and stressed the difficulties the nation will face
as it hoped to move forward to empower the people of
the country to make important decisions about their
future.
Rumsfeld ended his
comments by describing Iraq as a country full of
educational and natural wealth, with an industrious,
educated and intelligent people. But he noted that
countries that are doing well for their people enjoy
greater economic freedoms, and those countries where
poverty prevails are suffering under state-owned,
centralized and bureaucratic economic systems. He
envisioned that Iraq would be a country with great
economic and political freedoms, in order to provide
the best for the people of Iraq.
Following the meeting,
Rumsfeld held a brief press conference. He said,
“This country belongs to the Iraqi people. And in
the last analysis, it is the Iraqi people who will
provide the security in this country.”
He acknowledged the
hardships and the instability Iraqis must cope with.
"I know that life remains difficult for many of you.
But visiting your country I can see the
determination of so many brave Iraqis who are
stepping forward to create a new nation where there
is freedom and opportunity for all of the Iraqi
people."
Earlier during his
three-day tour of Iraq, Mr. Rumsfeld visited a mass
gravesite of Mahawil in Hilla. South of Baghdad,
where 3,000 victims of Ba’athist reign of terror
have been recovered. He also visited the notorious
Baghdad Central Penitentiary, formerly known as Abu
Ghraib, and walked through a chamber where 6,000
people were executed by Saddam’s henchmen.
Talabani receives
Australia’s Envoy
Talabani welcoming Australia's head of mission to
Baghdad, Neil Mules
Baghdad, Sept 5—Jalal
Talabani, Presidential Committee member of the Iraq
Governing Council today received an Australian
delegation headed by Neil Mules, Australia’s Head of
Mission in .
Mr. Talabani expressed
his thanks to Australia for the hospitality shown to
him and his delegation while in Australia and his
satisfaction at the outcome of the visit.
Mr. Mules stated that
the visit has resonated very well within the
Australian government and public. He offered his
congratulation to Talabani on the occasion of the
formation of Iraq’s new cabinet. He offered special
congratulations to Dr. Latif Rashid, who was present
at the meeting, upon assuming his new portfolio as
Iraq’s new Minister for Water Resources.
During the talks,
Australia’s Head of Mission told Talabani that he
has personally visited every member of the 25-man
IGC, to inform them of Australia’s commitment to the
political, physical and economic reconstruction of
Iraq.
Talabani thanked
Australia’s government for the bold role it played
during the liberation of Iraq and stressed the
importance of strengthening the relationship between
the Kurdish, Iraqi and the people and government of
Australia.
Dr. Rashid Takes
Oath of Office
Dr. Latif Rashid (center) swearing in with Jalal
Talabani (left) and Ahmed Chalabi (right)
Baghdad, Sept 4-- At a
special session of the Iraqi Governing Council, Dr.
Latif Rashid, was sworn in as the new Minister of
Water Resources, an important portfolio for Iraq’s
economy.
The waters of Tigris and
Euphrates are essential to the life of the country.
The ministry deals with critical issues of potable
water supply, flood control and drainage network and
the problem of salinity of the soil. The dam
reservoirs include the Dukan and Derbendi–Khan dams
in Iraq Kurdistan on the Tigris. The new minister
will be dealing with the challenge of rehabilitating
the ancient culture of the Arab marshland in the
south, which was the object of the Ba’athist
genocide against the indigenous inhabitants through
deliberate plans to drain the marsh areas from its
waters.
Dr. Latif, who obtained
his PhD at Manchester University in 1976; has been
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s representative in
London for the past 15 years.
He has played an active
role in promoting the cause of human rights in Iraq
and has played a prominent role in organizing and
consolidating opposition to the tyranny of the
Ba’athist regime. He has attended many international
conferences on behalf of the PUK and has been the
PUK’s representative within the Iraqi National
Congress.
New
Publications:
A LIBERATING
EXPERIENCE
BY CHRISTOPHER
HITCHENS, VANITY
FAIR, October, 2003
Despite continuing
violence, the author finds reason to hope: even as
mass graves are exhumed, so are the spirit and
talent of a nation that benefits daily from US
intervention:
Excerpt:
-
Mr. Bremer spent many years working at the
office of Kissinger Associates, and he must be the
first alumnus of that outfit to have used American
power to install a Communist leader in a Third
Word provisional government
-
The Saddam Hussein regime had a morbid mania
for burying things and people
-
Control of the oil fields was established in
the first days of the war-in the case of Kurdistan
with the help of a strong and well-disciplined
indigenous army, which is far more gung ho, and
much more pitilessly anti-Saddam, than any
outsider can be
-
The fanatics of the sole party meet the
fanatics of the sole deity
-
Baathism meets jihad meets Mafia. They employ
superficially guerrilla tactics, but they are
really comparable to the contras: the scabs of the
ancien regime.
-
To move up into the Kurdish hills is not just
to escape the baking heat and misery and
dislocation of the plains. It is to travel years
forward into a possible Iraqi future. The roads
are smooth, the landscape cultivated, and-slowly
but surely the oil wells are pumping. There are
three female High Court judges. Gas stations,
clogged by long lines elsewhere, look as if they
were in Holland or Connecticut. Well-dressed
Kurdish police and militia stand guard at
intersections, and Americans hardly bother to wear
their flat jackets. It was easy to connect to the
Internet and, finally, to have a long shower,
before being offered a serious cocktail and a meal
featuring five different kinds of lamb. At the
reception given by President Massoud Barzani, in a
manicured villa and garden, as opposed to the
shell-pocked ruin in which I had last seen him, I
met my old fiend Dr. Barham Salih, who is prime
minister of the adjacent Kurdish region.
