100 DAYS OF PROGRESS

Working closely with Iraqis, the international Coalition Provisional Authority is focused on security, economic rebirth, strengthening basic services and the establishment of an independent, democratic government.

Stability is enhanced by the fact that nearly 200,000 former Iraqi soldiers and officers have been paid their monthly stipends. The economy is strengthened by the fact that banks are opening throughout the country and a new currency is being urgently prepared.

Step by step, Iraqis' lives are improving as transportation is restarted, university students finish their exams for the year, food distribution systems continue working and more than 150 newspapers compete in a new marketplace of ideas.

Cultural life is reawakening, too. Iraqi athletes, including the famous soccer players, are playing joyfully, without fear of torture. The Iraqi Olympic Committee, previously the bastion of Uday Hussein's brutality, is reconstituted with free Iraqis.

Baghdad's symphony and theaters are reopening. The international community is focused on rehabilitating the marshlands in southern Iraq, where the ancient civilization of Marsh Arabs was almost destroyed by former president Saddam Hussein. And thousands of treasures from Iraq's National Museum have been recovered.