Some Irish people, such as Ivana Bacik (needs RealPlayer), have questioned the extent to which Iraq can actually be described as sovereign. It's true that the new government's authority is limited, but this is temporary. I'm sure that by this time next year Iraq will exercise more sovereignty than Ireland does.
Iraq will assume more and more control over its own defense and economy, both areas where Ireland is less than in control having ceded defense to trust in the UK & US and control over its economy to the EU.
Whether this war was of benefit to the American people will be argued about for a good while yet. It is right that Americans debate when it is appropriate to send our soldiers and marines to die in war.
But, for the Iraqi people there is now hope where there was none. No matter what happens, this will always have been a positive development. Were many Iraqi people killed and wounded? Yes, but it was always going to be so. There was zero chance that Baathist rule was going to end with a velvet revolution. In fact, I believe that Iraq would have had to endure ten times more casualties to rid itself of Saddam. And, there would have been less hope that a tolerant regime would rise from those ashes.
This terrible war has brought hope where there was none. Everyone needs hope.
I like how Alaa put it on Monday:
Likewise, I am not going to say anything grandiose today, rather in the same style of today's ceremonies. All I can say is that almost everybody here has hope, great hope. Personally I am confident of the future because "That which has benefit for people will stay in the earth".The place where civilization began is now home to the newest babe in the family of civilized nations. We should all hope and pray that it grows to full maturity.
