The Good News in Iraq

Read about the Local Governance Program (link in PDF)

It is directed at "promoting representative citizen participation in governance; strengthening the management skills of city and provincial administrations and civic institutions; promoting advocacy and participation of civil society organizations; enhancing leadership skills; and serving as a recruiting tool for future leaders." The program recently reached a milestone, with 750,000 Iraqis participating in Democracy Dialogue Activities. Read also this report from Iraqi bloggers about their participation in the Friends of Democracy program aimed at spreading democratic ideals among the Iraqi people.
In a victory for transparency and the rule of law, authorities are introducing new regulations to make politicians more accountable: "Iraqi officials, starting with the President of the Republic, will have to declare their assets to a new transparency commission set up to fight graft and corruption. 'Starting from January 2005, all Iraqi officials including the president will have to publicly declare their assets and account for them,' said the commission's head Radhi Daraji. 'My commission has set the principle that no one is above the law as its prime target, therefore everyone will be held accountable in the light of outstanding laws and regulations,' he said." The commission will conduct independent investigations to check the veracity of declarations.

Arthur Chrenkoff does an excellent job on his blog as well as in the WSJ. Read the entire article; it's long but well worthit.