Stryker Brigade News

Six months ago today, the coalition forces liberated Baghdad. I'm sure that many of you were as thrilled as I was to see Saddam's statue -- and his regime -- fall on that day.

But -- and most of what's happened since then -- not all of it -- has been good. The coalition, as of today, has completed over 13,000 reconstruction projects, large and small, as part of our strategic plan for the reconstruction of Iraq.

That plan has four elements: first, create a secure environment; begin the restoration of essential services; begin to transform the economy; and begin the transformation to democracy.

Before I take your questions, I want to review briefly some of the progress in each of these four areas. Let me first turn to security.

Six months ago, at the time of the liberation, there were no police on duty in Iraq. Today there are over 40,000 police on duty, nearly 7,000 here in Baghdad alone. Last night coalition forces and the Iraqi police conducted 1,731 joint patrols.

Six months ago, those elements of Saddam's military that had not been destroyed in combat had buried their airplanes and melted away. Today the first battalion of the new Iraqi army has graduated and is on active duty. Across the country, over 60,000 Iraqis now provide security to their fellow citizens.

Six months ago today, there were no functioning courts in Iraq. Today nearly all of Iraq's 400 courts are open and functioning. Today in Iraq, for the first time in a generation, the Iraqi judiciary is fully independent.

As the events today in Baghdad make clear, much remains to be done to establish an acceptable security environment. Even so, things have improved enough to ease the cease-fire in -- the curfew in Baghdad to only four hours. This was done, incidentally, at the request of the restaurateurs in Baghdad, who said they wanted to be able to stay open later.

Let me turn to restoring essential services. Six months ago, the entire country of Iraq could generate a bare 300 megawatts of electricity. Monday, October 6th, power generation hit 4,518 megawatts, exceeding the prewar average.

I want to show you three pictures that dramatically show this progress. (To staff.) May I have the first picture, please?

This is a picture taken of Baghdad out west to Ar Ramadi, south to Karbala, north to Baqubah, taken before the war, on February 1st, 2003. It's a night image of the power generation and the electricity in that area.

The next slide shows exactly the same area, taken at the same time of night, this time on April 11th, and shows you the fact that there was almost no power being generated anywhere in the country two days after liberation.

Now let me show you October 1st. If we get the funding that the president has requested in his emergency budget, we expect to produce enough electricity for all Iraqis to have electrical service 24 hours daily -- something essential to their hopes for the future.

Six months ago today, nearly all the schools in Iraq were closed. Today, all 22 universities and 43 institutes and colleges are open, as are nearly all primary and secondary schools. As many of you know, we announced earlier this summer as part of our strategic plan that we would rebuild 1,000 schools all across Iraq by October 1st. The claim was met with considerable skepticism, and I'm pleased to tell you that by October 1st, we had actually rehabilitated over 1,500 schools, 50 percent more than in our plan.

Six months ago, teachers were paid as little as $5 a month. Today, teachers earn from 12 to 25 times their former salaries.

Six months ago today, the public health service and system was an empty shell. During the 1990s, Saddam Hussein cut spending on health care by over 90 percent, with predictable results on the lives of his fellow countrymen. Today, we have increased public health spending over 26 times what it was under Saddam -- 26 times. Today, all 240 hospitals and more than 1,200 clinics are open. Today, doctors' salaries are at least eight times what they were under Saddam Hussein. Pharmaceutical distribution has gone from essentially nothing at the end of the war to 700 tons in May to a current total of 12,000 tons. Since liberation, we have administered over 22 million vaccination doses to Iraq's children.

Six months ago, three-quarters of Iraq's 27,000 kilometers of irrigation canals were weed-choked and barely functional. Today, a coalition program has cleared over 14,000 kilometers of these canals. They now irrigate tens of thousands of farms around the country. Moreover, this project has created over 100,000 jobs for Iraqi men and women. Additionally, we have restored over three-quarters of prewar telephone service and over two-thirds of potable water production.

Before the war, there were 4,500 Internet connections, and important services such as instant messaging were forbidden. Today, there are already more Internet connections -- we estimate 4,900 -- and we expect there to be 50,000 Internet connections by January 1st.

Let me turn to our third priority, which is transforming the economy. Six months ago today, Iraq's economy was flat on its back. Today, anyone walking on the streets of any major city can see the wheels of commerce turning. From bicycles to satellite dishes to cars and trucks, businesses are coming to life in all of Iraq's cities and towns.

Six months ago today, all the banks in the country were closed. Today, 95 percent of all prewar bank customers have service, and first-time customers are opening accounts daily. Today, Iraqi banks are making loans to finance businesses. Today, for the first time in Iraq's history, the Central Bank is fully independent, and Iraq has one of the world's most growth-oriented investment and banking laws in the world. Next week, Iraq will get a single, unified currency for the first time in 15 years.

We have also begun the steps to transform the country towards democracy. Six months ago, there was no freedom of expression. Satellite dishes were illegal. Foreign journalists came on 10-day visas and paid mandatory and extortionate fees to the Ministry of Information for minders and other government spies.

Today there is no Ministry of Information. Today there are more than 170 newspapers being published in the country. Today you can buy satellite dishes on what seems like every street corner. Today foreign journalists and everyone else is free to come and go.

Six months ago today, Iraq had not a single element -- legislative, judicial or executive -- of a representative government. Today, in Baghdad alone, residents have selected 88 advisory councils. Over 800 Baghdadis are represented there. Baghdad's first democratic transfer of power in 35 years happened when the city council recently elected a new chairman.

Today, all over Iraq, chambers of commerce, business, school and professional organizations are electing their leaders. Today 25 ministers, selected by the most representative governing body in Iraq's history, run the country day to day. Today the Iraq government regularly participates in international events. Since July, the Iraqi government has been represented in over two dozen international meetings, including those of the United Nations General Assembly, the Arab League, the World Bank and IMF, and just today, the Islamic Conference Summit. This morning the minister of foreign affairs announced the reopening of more than 30 Iraqi embassies around the world.

Six months ago, the Shi'a religious festivals were all but banned. Today, for the first time in 35 years, in Karbala thousands of Shi'ites celebrate the pilgrimage of the 12th imam.

In six short months, we have accomplished a lot, but we're also aware that the progress we've made is only a beginning. A quarter century of negligence, cronyism and warmongering have devastated this country. Profound damage like that will not be repaired overnight. Bringing Iraq up to minimum self-sufficiency will require the full $20 billion the president has asked of Congress in his supplemental budget request.

And we are fighting terrorism here. We will continue to fight it until it no longer threatens the hopes of Iraqis and the hopes of the world.