The Iraqi Ambassador to the United States on Tuesday touted the progress that Iraq has made since the U.S.-led invasion into the country in 2003. Speaking at a forum hosted by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations in Washington, DC, Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie said that Iraq has made significant progress after the United States toppled the regime of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. “We've come out of the worst, and we will make it,” he said. Sumaidaie's comments, which echoed those a week ago from Iraqi government spokesman Ali AlDabbagh, stressed Iraq's increased need to re-emerge as a stabilizing force in the region. The Iraqi ambassador also touted the Iraqi government's advancements in fighting terrorism, and conducting elections. “We have come out of that danger [of an all-out civil war]… we have turned the tide against terrorism…we are defeating them…we have defeated Al Qaeda for the first time on Arab, Muslim territory,” he said, calling the progress “historic.” Sumaidaie specifically pointed to the government's achievements in approving a constitution, referendum, and preparing to conduct general and provincial elections. Despite his widespread optimism about the state of Iraq's current affairs, Sumaidaie also acknowledged the challenges the country still faces ahead of its eventual self-governing. The Ambassador, in concluding remarks, made a plea to please not “abandon Iraq,” adding that “if Iraq is abandoned…it would be a huge threat to the stability” of the world, citing the still ongoing struggle against terrorism.
