15 years after the fall of Saddam and little achievements

15 years after the fall of Saddam and little achievements



08/04/2018 19:44

Baghdad / Wael Ne'ma

Fifteen years have passed since the fall of the bronze statue of Saddam in Baghdad's central Firdous Square. Since then, life has not returned to the square, which is still surrounded by an iron fence and piles of dirt. The statue remains standing until last year. Not to break completely with the falling regime and the devastation it caused to Iraq.

Politicians have accompanied the changes since the beginning of the "Governing Council", which was founded four months after the overthrow of the Baath regime, feeling frustrated and the collapse of the dream of transition to a democratic country that fosters justice and establishes the state of the citizen.

These politicians criticize successive governments and various political forces for failing to lead the government in the right direction, as well as to hold the United States responsible for the "destruction" of the state, not just the overthrow of the regime.

They also pointed out that post-2003 administrations failed to crack down on corruption and damaged national unity. In addition, Shiite forces believe that the country has not experienced security stability since 2003 because of extremist groups and sectarian warfare, which has affected the level of achievements. After 2003, the country was subjected to setbacks And the displacement of more than 5 million people, as well as tens of thousands of dead, wounded, prisoners, and missing persons. Armed conflicts and security events following the fall of the former regime killed about 400 people, Thousand Iraqis until the end of 2016, according to a statistician V The United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI). The latest war against the organization has killed 18,000 people and wounded 36,000, according to Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.



Sweet and sour

says Kanna, a former member of the Governing Council, which is the second interim administration , which was founded in July 2003, after Paul Bremer, the civil administrator of Iraq, said that " the anniversary of the fall of Saddam is mixed with sweet Palmer, got rid of a tyrant, but bitter that the current leadership has not Be as responsible. "

Five governments were formed in Iraq, two of them interim and transitional, headed by Iyad Allawi and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, two for Nuri al-Maliki and one for Haidar al-Abadi.

"We did not go to democracy," said Nana, a Christian leader of the National Assembly, the first legislature established after the fall of Saddam between 2004 and 2005, and then a deputy for three successive elections in his testimony with Mada on the post-regime period. Justice and the search for prosperity of the country, but were engaged in internal conflicts brought us to a period of occupation is urging. "

He pointed out that the fall of the regime was "an important day, but the successive governments did not control the helm of governance, and went in unacceptable directions and damaged the unity of Iraqi society."

The 15-year-old Christian MP calls on the regime to "review the previous positions, hold the people accountable to the officials and demand to expose the corrupt." He also called for "the exploitation of victory against the oppressor and the change in the upcoming elections."

According to the estimates of the Integrity Committee in Parliament, the volume of corruption during the past years $ 100 billion, corruption is prevalent in most sectors, but the largest volume is concentrated in the oil sector.

And left the majority of the files of corruption that are transferred to the courts on the shelf according to the Integrity Commission, which estimated the existence of 40 thousand corruption files with the Integrity Commission, while only a few were resolved.



Formal institutions

In turn, Muhsin al-Saadoun, the veteran Kurdish MP, said in a statement to Al-Mada yesterday that the political forces after 2003 "managed to hold elections and maintain the peaceful rotation of power, as well as legislative and presidential institutions, but they remained facades without real administration."

He criticized the Saadoun, a deputy of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the failure of successive governments in the "management of the security and economic file, and the paralysis of agriculture and industry, construction and investment, with the exception of Kurdistan," and noted that "the consensus and parliamentary system was not a useful situation for Iraq. A presidential ruling, in which the president is elected by the people and has broad powers. "

In the opinion of the Kurdish MP, that over the past years, "did not come a prime minister working for all Iraqis regardless of their affiliations, and in return the Iraqis were not convinced any prime minister, and remained throughout these years governments are weak."

"Nothing will change in the coming years. The electoral system itself and the candidate political forces are the same, while the huge files of corruption are still hidden," he said.



The challenges of the economy and corruption

To this says MP Zafer al-Ani, a leader in the ruling bloc led by Vice President Osama Najafi, that what happened after 2003, is that "the political forces from all sides could not establish a state in the literal sense, and it is still about power" .

Al-Ani said in an interview with Al-Mada yesterday that "before 2003, Iraq was a country without freedom. It was destroyed by the war after that, and freedoms became chaos." He pointed out that there is no sense of the existence of freedoms without a state protects them.

The Sunni MP, the "American occupation," is responsible for what happened to the country 15 years ago, and it is believed that the latter came with an agenda related to the destruction of Iraq and not just to remove the regime's head. "After the demolition of the state, we will need a long time to rebuild," he said.

Al-Ani also criticized "the political elite in Iraq, which came from the opposition cellars, they are still working with the same negative mentality opposition, and could not find a state of solidarity among them."

However, the MP points out some of the positive aspects that have taken place during the last four years during Haidar al-Abadi's presidency of the government: "Through our last partnership with Abadi we were able to create a new model of political life and the authority has moved away from reprisal and factional policies." In recent years "a gesture of hope that can mature" in the upcoming elections.

In contrast, Sadik al-Labban, a leader in the coalition of state law, rejects the assessment of the past 15 years, without reading the events that accompanied that period.

Al-Labban says (Al-Mada) yesterday that "

"These wars have led to the country becoming fertile ground for corruption and has greatly affected the level of achievements and services," said Al-Labban, a candidate in the list of victory of Haidar al-Abadi. The MP pointed out that "there are successes in the areas of education, health and other sectors, but without ambition."

"In the coming period, the country will face the challenge of economy and fighting corruption," he said. "The next leadership must improve the behavior of these two files."

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