Zeyed, at Healing Iraq, brought this commentary to my attention. It's by the current president, Jalal Talabani, of the Iraqi Governing Council, and it's called "The Way Forward", and it confirms Bush's opitimism (best expressed in his two most recent, important speeches, see below) and counters a common view that Bush is rushing things too much. It expresses good things, like determination and responsibility:
"The defeat of the terrorists, however, must be largely an Iraqi endeavor. By taking up arms and routing the terrorists, Iraqis will own their new democracy--nobody will be able to say that it has been handed to them."
It also waves off the criticism that disbanding the Iraqi army was a mistake:
"Resurrecting the former Iraqi army is not an option. The Iraqi army had a record of internal repression and external aggression. L. Paul Bremer, the coalition's administrator, demonstrated great wisdom when he formally wound up the Iraqi army. Like the Allied decree in 1946 that dissolved Prussia, the edict abolishing the Iraqi army struck at the roots of the Arab nationalist militarism that plagued Iraq even before Saddam."
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