Broadcast to the Iraqi People

29 August 03

Masaa al Khair.

I am Paul Bremer, Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority.

When I spoke to you two weeks ago I told you all Iraqis had a future with hope.

· You will live in dignity.

· You will live in peace.

· You will live in prosperity.

· You will live in the quiet enjoyment of family, of friends, and of a decent income honestly earned.

· You will live in an Iraq governed by and for the people of Iraq.

Tonight I am going to offer concrete examples of the things that are happening now, not in the distant future, but the daily tasks that are fulfilling your future hopes.

You have a future full of hope in public health care.

Right now every hospital and clinic in Baghdad is operating, as are most of the others around the country.

Right now the clinics and hospitals of Iraq have 7,500 tons of medicines distributed by the Coalition since May, an increase of 700 percent of the levels at the end of the war.

Right now the Coalition is installing 128 generators and uninterruptible power supplies in hospitals and clinics.

You have a future full of hope in education.

Right now the Coalition is preparing five million new science and math textbooks for delivery to schools in the fall.

Right now the Coalition is rehabilitating 1,000 primary schools.

They will be ready for the new school year.

Right now the Coalition is preparing kits of essential school supplies for 1.2 million Iraqi school children.

Right now the Coalition is preparing 3,900 sets of essential supplies for school teachers and administrators.

Right now the Coalition has ended the intellectual and academic isolation imposed and enforced by Saddam.

· Iraq's ties to the scholars of the world are being reestablished. Iraq's academics are now free to travel abroad to attend conferences and exchange ideas with their counterparts.

· The U.S. will donate $20 million to establish partnerships between specific U.S. universities and specific Iraqi universities.

You have a future full of hope in every area.

Right now water systems nationwide are operating at 70 percent capacity.

· Right now the Coalition is paying 90,000 Iraqis to clean your country's irrigation canals of invasive weeds.

· Thousands of kilometers of irrigation canals working more efficiently.

· The Coalition has paid workers more than 7.5 billion dinars in wages.

Right now Iraqi workers are producing over 1 million barrels of oil per day.

· All the money received for that oil belongs to you, the Iraqi people.

Right now the two largest banks are accepting loan applications from private businesses.

· This means that all Iraqis are now free to open their own businesses—even if they are not Baathists.

Right now 92,000 Iraqis receive social security and welfare benefits four times higher than they received under Saddam.

Right now 1.3 million Iraqi civil servants are drawing salaries. Under a new salary scale the Coalition has established for public workers, many of them, such as teachers, are paid four times what they were paid under Saddam.

Right now 10,000 Iraqis have been hired and are being trained, uniformed, and armed to guard Iraq's electrical and oil facilities as well as its bridges and dams.

Right now the zoo in Baghdad has reopened.

Right now, and for the first time in history, all of Baghdad has garbage collection service.

· No longer is garbage collection a privilege reserved for neighborhoods favored by the government.

· No longer do ordinary citizens have to pollute their neighborhood by burying or burning their own garbage.

Right now the Governing Council is preparing special tribunals to judge members of the Saddam regime.

Other things, while not complete, are progressing.

Contracts have been signed so that by December Baghdad will have as many telephone lines as it has ever. More will follow.

By the end of the year you will have a functioning mobile phone service.

· This is new to Iraq because Saddam and his security services did not trust you with mobile telephones.

At the time of liberation, Iraq produced only 300 megawatts of electricity daily

Today Iraq produces eleven times as much, 3,300 megawatts of electricity daily.

Working with Iraqis, the Coalition has developed a plan to restore power to the same levels as before the war. So that

by October first Iraq will produce almost 4,400 megawatts per day—almost 15 times as much at war’s end.

About one year from now, for the first time in history, every Iraqi in every city, town and village will have as much electricity as he or she can use and he will have it 24 hours a day, every single day.

* * * * *

This list is not complete, but I offer it to you as evidence that your future of hope is more than words.

Hopes for the future are important. They guide daily activities.

But hopes are made reality through daily effort and perseverance.

Right now, today the Coalition works with millions of Iraqis to make your hopes a reality.

Thank you.