The Bush Administration's final verdict is that the United States attacked Iraq to help spread democracy and freedom to the Iraqi people. Throughout the length of the conflict and the slow process to select a government, the idea of democracy has been increasingly questioned.
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina there was no healthcare infrastructure. The members of the Common Ground Clinic who headed to
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Four and a half months since Katrina struck land, the situation in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast still leaves a lot of troubles and a lot of questions. Many of these questions are being asked by grassroots media activists. In the immediate aftermath New Orleans' coverage was grossly lacking. While CNN and local affiliates set up shop dozens of miles away in Baton Rouge, grassroots media activists both in New Orleans and elsewhere prepared to fill the gap left by the mainstream media's coverage.
In Amman, Jordan the Iraqi election went off with little noticeable trouble. Currently there are approximately one million Iraqis seeking refuge in Jordan from the turmoil in Iraq. These same Iraqis went to the polls all over Amman in order to help peace return to their home country.Amman, Jordan
Ten schools in Amman were closed to facilitate the election process. Unlike the constitution referendum, Iraqis outside Iraq were permitted to participate in the process, just as they did in the January elections. 320,000 Iraqis participated in the election abroad in the recent election.
On November 30, in Annapolis, Maryland, George W. Bush delivered the most recent of a long line of Iraq victory speeches. In this speech he detailed the conditions that will be necessary, and the markers that must be passed, to ensure the United States can withdraw from Iraq. He assured the nation, "As the Iraqi security forces stand up, coalition forces can stand down -- and when our mission of defeating the terrorists in Iraq is complete, our troops will return home to a proud nation."
[Photo: A man cleans up glass and blood after a suicide attack]
Two and a half years into the occupation, war still rages on in Baghdad, Iraq. Two of the deadliest attacks in the last month occurred at the Palestine Hotel and the Hamra Hotel. Although Westerners frequent these hotels, the casualties were almost exclusively Iraqis living and working in the area. Yet just a few hours after the attacks, citizens were back on the streets, as if nothing had happened.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019