....Perhaps most importantly from a humanitarian point of view, Iraq's once thriving marshes, which Saddam had drained as a way of punishing the Marsh Arabs for revolting against him in 1991, are now being revitalized, and the Marsh Arabs, against whom Saddam had tried to commit genocide, are returning to their former way of life.
Second, civil society is blooming and the groundwork for democracy is being laid. De-Ba'athification is being successfully carried out across the country, with former party members being removed from positions of military and civilian authority. Iraqis now freely criticize the former regime on the street, an act which would have earned them a death sentence less than a year ago. There are approximately 170 newspapers, covering the spectrum from liberal to Islamist to satirical to communist. Satellite dishes, banned under Saddam, are popping up like mushrooms, and all of this means that the norms of discourse and debate that are necessary for democracy are beginning to form.
It would, of course, be reckless to transfer sovereignty while those norms were still nascent, but the Governing Council is slowly assuming more authority, and it is widely seen as legitimate by the Iraqi people. It is currently in the process of working out the mechanics of calling a constitutional convention.
By way of comparison, Iraq had its own cabinet ministers four months after the war; it took Germany 14 months after World War II. The Iraqi Constitution is expected to be written within the next year; the West German Basic Law was not promulgated until 1949. Japan did not recover sovereignty until 1952.
At the local level, neighborhood councils have been set up in most cities and towns, and local mayors and councils run day-to-day affairs.....
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