World Opinion of Iraq Seeming to Change

It's not exactly Disney World right now but at least this represents the good news in Iraq, rather than the constant drum beat that the country would inevitably devolve into civil war. Other reports show that the US has turned over more area to the new Iraqi Secuity Forces. While I've never been the biggest fan of the way the Bush Administration fought this war, one I believe should admit that they did actually accomplish three of their goals; Saddam is gone, there's a permanent government in place and slowly but surely the Iraqi National Security Forces are taking "control" of their country back from the Coalition. It's not perfect or pretty but it ain't Vietnam either.

Iraq is getting more respect now that it has an elected government, fully participating in dozens of meetings at the U.N. General Assembly. "Now it's business," said Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

As the annual meeting of the world's leaders heads to its finale on Wednesday, the Iraqi minister said that since he started coming here in 2003 he's never been busier.

"This is a good sign because Iraq really - despite the bad news, the negative news coming out of Baghdad - is moving steadily toward a functional state," he said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press.

Zebari recalled that as foreign minister first in the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and then in the transitional government, there would be "nice words, nice exchanges" on the fringes of the General Assembly and other international meeting. But since Iraq's elections and the selection in April of a constitutional government, "the days of diplomatic niceties" are over.

With a smile of satisfaction, Zebari said, "it's more business we are in fact discussing," and he reeled off examples.
On the sidelines of the General Assembly, he said, "we had a good meeting of Iraq's neighboring countries ... and we agreed on some important steps."

First, Zebari said, Iraq demanded that future meetings of Iraq's neighboring countries had to be "with the full consent, approval and need of the Iraqi government."

"Second, we demanded that the next meeting of Iraq's neighboring countries take place in Baghdad, as a sign to stand with the Iraqi people, to show solidarity and support, as the Arab foreign ministers did when they went to Beirut during the (Israel-Hezbollah) war. ... And they approved it, which was a good thing," he said.

At a meeting with Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, attended by Iraqi President Jalil Talabani, Zebari said "we had a very frank, open discussion about how to go forward." (to read more click the title link)