In June 2014, Time magazine covers an echo of common feelings among critics and outsiders: "The End of Iraq," as I read. I am proud to say that three years later, thanks to the Iraqi armed forces and the Iraqi people, these expectations were wrong.
Since then, Iraq has suffered steadily from the defeats of a daunting organization, a vicious enemy that threatens our entire region and kills innocents all over the world. Now that the liberated cities have been liberated, including Mosul, Tal Afar and Hawija, Iraq is ready to take out a full-fledged advocate. Millions of people, forced to leave their cities with brutal terror, are returning home. Schools reopen and doctors and nurses return to health clinics. We have begun the enormous task of rebuilding our nation.
Our people have made extraordinary sacrifices to liberate their land. Da'ash said that he could exploit the weakness of the Iraqi state, but it reduces the desire of the Iraqi people in unity.
I wish to unite for recovery and reconstruction as we are united to defeat our enemy. Many Iraqis have been shocked by the unilateral action of some elements of the Kurdish leadership - the main architects of the 2005 Iraq Constitution, which devotes and protects Iraqi federalism - to holding an illegal referendum last month. This move, which is directly contrary to the Constitution, is an act of deliberate division.
Worse yet, the referendum encourages encouraging remnants. No effort for autonomy or self-government can succeed if approached illegally. Unilateral acts that violate the law threaten the stability of our country as a whole, and therefore of our neighbors as well.
As Prime Minister of Iraq, I have to act in accordance with the Constitution to protect all the Iraqi people and to keep our country united. To that end, the Government has strengthened and recovered what is enshrined in its federal mandate: the federal authority on national borders, oil exports and customs revenues.
The redeployment of Iraqi forces this week to parts of Kirkuk and other areas in northern Iraq is consistent with this approach. These are federal forces - the army, counter-terrorism, police and rapid deployment units - and its members come from many ethnic and religious groups in Iraq, including the Kurds. This publication was not an attack on Kurdish citizens or the city of Kirkuk. Was an Iraqi federal operation aimed at restoring federal authority to areas under government control until 2014.
I have instructed these forces not to provoke skirmishes or conflicts. But they have a duty to protect citizens and defend themselves if they are shot. Our orders to the armed forces are to secure federal facilities in Kirkuk and other northern areas, to assist in the safe return of displaced persons and to maintain vigilance against terrorist attacks. We have instructed local officials to ensure that all public services are functioning normally and to improve service delivery wherever possible.
Ensuring security will also require ensuring economic stability. After years of conducting unconstitutional oil sales and bringing in revenues, the KRG is on the verge of bankruptcy. This is the result of the corruption of a few Kurdish officials and their families. My Government intends to address the inequitable distribution of our national resources in order to discourage corruption in the Kurdish region and to protect the people there and in all of Iraq.
Just as Iraq has united to a crushing defeat over the past three years, we now need to apply the same unity to our following challenges: reconstruction and the building of a democratic country in which every citizen has full access to state protection.
I was elected prime minister in 2014 under incredibly difficult circumstances: a third of the country has been invaded by terrorists, the economy is struggling, people are divided by sectarianism, and relations with the wider world have been tense. We have made great strides. In addition to a daunting defeat, we expect real GDP growth of 2.9 percent in 2018. This year we managed to issue two international financing bonds. But restoring services to cities and rebuilding communities is not something that Iraq can achieve on its own. We need investment and financing to ensure that we not only recover, but prosperity.
SOURCE
Since then, Iraq has suffered steadily from the defeats of a daunting organization, a vicious enemy that threatens our entire region and kills innocents all over the world. Now that the liberated cities have been liberated, including Mosul, Tal Afar and Hawija, Iraq is ready to take out a full-fledged advocate. Millions of people, forced to leave their cities with brutal terror, are returning home. Schools reopen and doctors and nurses return to health clinics. We have begun the enormous task of rebuilding our nation.
Our people have made extraordinary sacrifices to liberate their land. Da'ash said that he could exploit the weakness of the Iraqi state, but it reduces the desire of the Iraqi people in unity.
I wish to unite for recovery and reconstruction as we are united to defeat our enemy. Many Iraqis have been shocked by the unilateral action of some elements of the Kurdish leadership - the main architects of the 2005 Iraq Constitution, which devotes and protects Iraqi federalism - to holding an illegal referendum last month. This move, which is directly contrary to the Constitution, is an act of deliberate division.
Worse yet, the referendum encourages encouraging remnants. No effort for autonomy or self-government can succeed if approached illegally. Unilateral acts that violate the law threaten the stability of our country as a whole, and therefore of our neighbors as well.
As Prime Minister of Iraq, I have to act in accordance with the Constitution to protect all the Iraqi people and to keep our country united. To that end, the Government has strengthened and recovered what is enshrined in its federal mandate: the federal authority on national borders, oil exports and customs revenues.
The redeployment of Iraqi forces this week to parts of Kirkuk and other areas in northern Iraq is consistent with this approach. These are federal forces - the army, counter-terrorism, police and rapid deployment units - and its members come from many ethnic and religious groups in Iraq, including the Kurds. This publication was not an attack on Kurdish citizens or the city of Kirkuk. Was an Iraqi federal operation aimed at restoring federal authority to areas under government control until 2014.
I have instructed these forces not to provoke skirmishes or conflicts. But they have a duty to protect citizens and defend themselves if they are shot. Our orders to the armed forces are to secure federal facilities in Kirkuk and other northern areas, to assist in the safe return of displaced persons and to maintain vigilance against terrorist attacks. We have instructed local officials to ensure that all public services are functioning normally and to improve service delivery wherever possible.
Ensuring security will also require ensuring economic stability. After years of conducting unconstitutional oil sales and bringing in revenues, the KRG is on the verge of bankruptcy. This is the result of the corruption of a few Kurdish officials and their families. My Government intends to address the inequitable distribution of our national resources in order to discourage corruption in the Kurdish region and to protect the people there and in all of Iraq.
Just as Iraq has united to a crushing defeat over the past three years, we now need to apply the same unity to our following challenges: reconstruction and the building of a democratic country in which every citizen has full access to state protection.
I was elected prime minister in 2014 under incredibly difficult circumstances: a third of the country has been invaded by terrorists, the economy is struggling, people are divided by sectarianism, and relations with the wider world have been tense. We have made great strides. In addition to a daunting defeat, we expect real GDP growth of 2.9 percent in 2018. This year we managed to issue two international financing bonds. But restoring services to cities and rebuilding communities is not something that Iraq can achieve on its own. We need investment and financing to ensure that we not only recover, but prosperity.
SOURCE