Baghdad Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi affirmed his personal determination and the determination of the Iraqi people to solve Iraq’s problems through Iraqi solutions.
Al-Kadhimi said in an article published by Foreign Policy magazine: “Iraq is now a multi-party and multi-ethnic constitutional democracy. We are still in the process of forming a new government after the elections last fall.”
He added, “The forming of the government took a long time, and it really provoked a sense of frustration among many inside and outside Iraq.”
Al-Kadhimi added: “The path towards a successful democracy requires time, will and leadership, and with us standing on our feet after the expulsion of ISIS from our land, today we can look forward to better prospects.”
He added in an article published by Foreign Policy magazine: “Our country is no longer a passive member of the international community. We are now active at the regional and international levels, including the initiative to host the multilateral summit aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and stability.”
He continued, “We seek to de-escalate tensions by bringing the different points of view closer.”
He continued: With progress made by Iraq, our strategic dialogue with the United States has also progressed, and the transition has taken place from the American combat role to another broad-minded form with a deepening of relations outside the security framework.
He explained: Our partnerships with the United States Agency for International Development and other American institutions provide us with support and technical expertise influencing our path to building our country.
Al-Kadhimi said: The main motive for this growth in the relationship was the Iraqi national need to invest in the repercussions of regional stability, economic development, environmental security, solutions to climate change, and food security. Geographically, Iraq is located in the hottest regions in the world, and the most affected by climate changes. Concern about dust storms, high heat waves, drought, and lack of water supply has become the prevalent among our people compared to the terrorist threat. But Iraq remains an important producer of oil at the international level, with huge reserves that are not fully explored, but our economic artery increases our environmental challenges. Therefore, we are working quickly to invest the gas that burns in oil fields, and we want to convert our strong sunlight into electrical energy that can support the development of our industries, and creates jobs for our younger generations. Iraq has much to offer the region, whether in terms of economic integration, opportunities for free trade, or stability in energy markets.
He stressed: We have built bridges of important relations with countries such as: Jordan, Egypt, and the Gulf Cooperation Council, and we have begun to see tangible results for this improvement in relations in various forms, including the development of electrical interconnection with our Gulf neighbors as well as Jordan, the pivotal regional state. At the end of last year, we completed the payment of the dues to the State of Kuwait, which resulted from the disastrous invasion carried out by Saddam in 1990.
Al-Kadhimi pointed out that there are problems that we need to address, on top of which is that we Iraqis strengthen the state’s authority and control over the spread of uncontrolled weapons. And the problem of recovering weapons after they fell into the wrong hands suffered from the most powerful countries in order to protect their democracies, and address them in Iraq will require Iraqi solutions that are sustainable and require strategic patience inside Iraq and from our partners.
Al-Kadhimi called on the United States and other international partners to look at the Iraqi issue and deal with it from the perspective of the progress we have made, as well as note the difficulties we face, as we strengthen and protect our pluralistic democracy in the midst of a region full of complexities compared to the transitions that our long history witnessed in the Middle East, we in Iraq have achieved a lot in a relatively short period.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency
