Allawi: ‘Thank you, America’

Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, addressing a joint session of Congress, yesterday thanked America “from the bottom of my heart” and said Iraq, the United States and the world were better off because of the war to oust Saddam Hussein.

The head of Iraq’s interim government told lawmakers that 15 of Iraq’s 18 provinces could hold democratic elections “tomorrow,” and vowed to hold the vote by the end of January despite a continuing campaign of violence against the government and the U.S.-led military coalition.

“Thank you, America,” Mr. Allawi told a nearly packed House chamber during a 40-minute address delivered in English. “I assure you the sacrifices were not made in vain.”

He added, “For the first time in our history, the Iraqi people can look forward to controlling our own destiny. … I thank you again from the bottom of my heart.”

Mr. Allawi’s address amounted to a ringing endorsement of President Bush’s Iraq policy, bringing repeated, enthusiastic ovations from Republican lawmakers and an immediate dissent from Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry.

Campaigning in Ohio, the Massachusetts Democrat told reporters that the Iraqi leader had been recruited to minimize what he said were the glaring failures of Mr. Bush’s Iraq policy.

“The prime minister and [Mr. Bush] are here obviously to put their best face on the policy, but the fact is that the CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground operations and the troops all tell a different story,” Mr. Kerry said

“The United States and the Iraqis have retreated from whole areas of Iraq. There are no-go zones in Iraq today. You can’t hold an election in a no-go zone.”

Mr. Bush, appearing with Mr. Allawi at a Rose Garden press conference after the congressional address, strongly backed the Iraqi prime minister and said he was determined to show the terrorists in Iraq and friends and foes around the globe that the United States would stand firm.

“The fundamental question is: Are we going to allow the tough work to cause us to retreat, to waver?” Mr. Bush said.

The president accused Mr. Kerry of sending “mixed signals” abroad with shifting positions on Iraq that could embolden U.S. enemies.

“My message is that we will stay the course and stand with these people so that they become free. It’s in our national interest,” Mr. Bush said.

He added that surveys he had seen indicated Iraqis are more optimistic than Americans.

“I saw a poll that said the right track/wrong track [survey] in Iraq was better than here in America,” Mr. Bush said. “It’s pretty darn strong. I mean, the people see a better future.”

The president’s assertion that Iraqis are more optimistic about their future than Americans was greeted with incredulity by the Kerry campaign.

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