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Qubad Talabani tells campus audience that
freedom is within the grasp of Middle East nations
9.12.2005
The College of William & Mary |
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Son of Iraq’s president tells
campus audience that freedom is within the grasp of
Middle East nations
Today Iraqi citizens are experiencing freedom from
tyranny, Qubad Talabani told students attending a
lecture organized by William and Mary students
Amanda Downing and Arielle Kuiper. (see related
story)
“People will debate the validity or the legality of
Operation Iraqi Freedom for decades to come, but I
think that’s beside the point. What is the point and
should be the point is that people who yearn to be
free are now given the opportunity to do so,” he
said.
Tyranny and terrorism exercised by its own leaders
destroyed Iraq, Talabani said. Decades of genocide
and ethnic cleansing decimated people and regions of
the country, but now there is hope for change—hope
in democracy. Though there are still many struggles
and issues in Iraq, the potential is immense. |
Qubad Talabani, Washington spokesman for the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan |
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“Things are not as bad as the media portrays them to
be. Iraq is a big country. Fourteen of the 18
provinces are calm and quiet. The economy is
booming. Salaries have increased. Iraqis are
benefiting from modern technology that they were not
able to benefit from in the past. There are now over
3.5 million registered cell phones. The Internet is
prevalent. It is truly remarkable,” Talabani said.
More important is the rise of democracy. For the
first time in Iraq, institutions are being put in
place that will enable the country to cede more
power to the regions, regional governments and
provinces, leaving only core competencies to the
central government.
“It was Iraq’s centralization that led to
dictatorship after dictatorship. It has been Iraq’s
centralization that has deprived citizens of basic
rights. We’ve now created a system where power will
be shared between the federal government and the
regions of Iraq,” Talabani said.
With the promise of equal representation for all
regions and ethnic groups, a federalist Iraq can
serve as a model for peace in the Middle East,
Talabani said.
“I think it is possible. If we get Iraq right, if
people see democracy, it’s only going to give hope
to oppressed people in the Middle East. But if we
fail in Iraq, we can kiss goodbye this notion of
secular democracy in the Middle East,” Talabani
said.
www.wm.edu
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