Perhaps nowhere has liberty advanced more during the past year than in Iraq, a nation of 25 million that, thanks to the skill, dedication and perseverance of U.S. troops, has made truly herculean progress on the path to peace and freedom.

Indeed, steady if unheralded progress marked U.S. military efforts, starting with the Jan. 30 election of the Transitional National Assembly.

Some 8.5 million Iraqis voted in their country's first free election in more than 30 years at nearly 6,000 voting centers throughout Iraq and involving nearly 19,000 candidates.

In all, 59 percent of eligible voters participated in the election. That's a greater share of the voting population than typically vote in U.S. elections.

Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of the Multinational Force Iraq, noted that of the roughly 300 attacks that took place on election day, “maybe 70 percent were ineffective.” The newly trained Iraqi security forces achieved “relentless growth and progress,” Casey said, with more than 100,000 such personnel guarding polling places and conducting anti-terrorist operations.

The January election allowed the Iraqi political process to move forward. The new assembly was seated on March 16 and moved swiftly to draft a new and inclusive constitution that protected all Iraqis.

The Oct. 15 constitutional referendum was a stunning success with even more Iraqis – nearly 10 million – participating. Sixteen of 18 Iraqi provinces approved the constitution, which gained 78 percent popular support throughout the country.

President Bush noted that the constitution received support from Iraqis of all ethnic and religious backgrounds. “The Iraqi people are resolving tough issues through an inclusive political process,” Bush said. “And this process is isolating extremists who wish to derail democracy through violence and murder.”

Two predominantly Sunni provinces, Anbar and Salahuddin, voted against the constitution. In Anbar, the no vote was a resounding 96 percent. However, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice explained, “It is not against the exercise of democracy to vote ‘no.' It is the exercise of democracy to vote, and the Sunnis have exercised their right to vote.”

With the Dec. 15 election for the permanent national assembly, some 11 million Iraqis, 68 percent of all eligible voters, turned out.

In Anbar province, voter participation rose from an estimated 4 percent on Jan. 30 to about 45 percent on Oct. 15 to more than 50 percent on Dec. 15. In all, the number of voters in Anbar rose from 135,000 on Jan. 30 to more than 365,000 on Dec. 15, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, said.

“The Iraqi people are casting their lot with the political process,” Rice said. “That will sap the energy from this insurgency, because an insurgency cannot ultimately survive without a political base.”

“There was a significant reduction in the number of attacks – car bombs, suicide bombers, (and) improvised explosive devices – for the December election compared to last January,” Lynch said.

The five days before and including the Dec. 15 elections saw a 57 percent reduction in terrorist and insurgent attacks versus what transpired in the same period before and including Jan. 30. Moreover, Lynch said, there was an 80 percent falloff in attacks in the two days just after Dec. 15 versus the two days after Jan. 30.

“We have to applaud the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, specifically the Iraqi police,” Lynch said. “We saw fantastic performance” by them. There were 64,000 Iraqi police available for security duty on Jan. 30 versus 90,000 on Dec. 15, he observed.

With the growth in the stature and success of Iraqi leadership came greater assistance. The number of tips from ordinary Iraqis on terrorist and insurgent activity grew from 400 in March to more than 4,700 in September, U.S. officials said. These tips allowed U.S. and Iraqi security forces to jointly clear out terrorist safe havens in Anbar province and other parts of western Iraq. Increasingly, Iraqi security forces took the lead, backed up by American and coalition counterparts.

The year 2005 was one of “dramatic change for Iraq,” said Army Maj. Gen. Richard J. Sherlock, Army Reserve deputy chief. He noted that Iraq's security force grew from just five operational battalions in late 2004 to 128 battalions today. During that same period, the number of trained Iraqi security personnel more than doubled, to more than 216,000 members.

“The insurgency has weakened since the (Dec. 15) elections,… (and) the conditions are being set to allow the Iraqis to run and secure their own country,” said Maj. Gen. William G. Webster, Jr., commander of Multinational Division Baghdad.

These successes have inspired the hope and optimism of the Iraqi people. The Dec. 15 election, for instance, “seemed downright festive,” reported Army Spc. Dan Balda. “Children (in Baghdad) marched in impromptu parades, men wore suits – on their day off, no less – and entire families took long walks from their home to polling sites.”

Along with political and security progress, Iraqis also enjoyed economic growth and development in 2005 – again, thanks in no small part to the efforts of U.S. servicemen and women.

When I fly around Baghdad these days,” Webster said, “I see the city expanding in large numbers of houses being built on the edges of the city in nearly every direction.” Municipal sewer and water services in Baghdad also have improved, he said.

Overall, 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces are relatively peaceful and stable, and more than 30,000 new businesses have set up shop. These new businesses are giving jobs to Iraqis and strengthening the country's economy.

Moreover, Iraq had just 200 reconstruction projects under way in June 2004; 2,000 such projects, worth $2.19 billion, have been completed to date. Another 1,100 reconstruction projects, worth $2.9 billion, are currently ongoing.

“If you ask the Iraqi people, the majority – 95 percent – will say they are happier,” said Iraqi businessman Rubar S. Sandi. “People have hope,” he added. “That's the biggest progress that you can imagine. During Saddam, people were dying for nothing; their lives were worthless.”

“Iraqis are taking control of their country,” Bush said. “They are building a free nation that can govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself.” In ways large and small, U.S. forces continued making life better for ordinary Iraqis during 2005.

The country was experiencing a construction boom, as U.S. military, civilian and contractor engineers and contracting officers worked closely with Iraqi officials and workers to build a country beaten down by decades of official neglect and brutal maltreatment. Countless roads, railways and railway stations, water and sewage projects, power plants, schools, hospitals and clinics, police and fire stations, military and border patrol bases, and government facilities were built or refurbished in 2005.

“We are making a difference every day in the lives of average Iraqis,” said Army Lt. Col. Jamie Gayton, a battalion commander responsible for coalition projects in eastern Baghdad.

Internet blog sites and troops' letters home are full of anecdotes about the gratification U.S. servicemembers get from helping people who have suffered so much.

“We're trying to make the lives of the Iraqi people a little better … especially for the children,” Richard W. Riley, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said as he worked with U.S. and Iraqi soldiers to construct seven new schools in southern Iraq in the spring.

“Any time you open up a school, you are putting the needs of the children up front, because it is about them and giving them a great place and a great opportunity to learn and grow and do great things for their country,” Army Maj. Brian Stevens, an engineer who was working on the same school project, said.

U.S. experts worked with Iraqi officials to implement job-training programs to help Iraqis find meaningful employment. They have also worked with local officials in several areas to start farm cooperatives so small farmers can get better prices for seeds and crops. U.S. soldiers have also distributed food, donated sweaters, toys and school supplies to people in local communities.

“The folks in our zone are genuinely trying to better themselves and their country, and they are glad we are here,” said Army Capt. David Haynes, an artillery battery commander whose unit forged a good relationship with the people of Rustamiyah.

“By doing good things for the children and the families, the children will grow up respecting freedom and not wanting violence in their country,” Haynes said. “At times, I think I didn't join the Army to be handing out soccer balls to kids. But in the grand scheme of things, if that is what you need to do to defeat your enemy, then that is what you do.”

Army aviators at Camp Taji dropped hundreds of “Teddy Troopers,” stuffed animals in makeshift parachutes, to children in the Iraqi countryside. Army Chief Warrant Officer Randy M. Kirgiss, a helicopter pilot, said he was inspired by stories of Berlin's famous Candy Bomber of the late 1940s.

Kirgiss spent his off-duty time making the parachutes, and members of his unit, Company C, 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, dropped the bears whenever they saw children during official flights. “There is a mission to be done, but dropping bears doesn't take away from that mission,” Kirgiss said. “I can't help but think that somewhere down the line we might be influencing the future decision makers of Iraq.”

Troops further win Iraqi hearts and minds by tending to their medical needs, going beyond the call of duty in many situations. Military aviation assets have had a hand in taking many Iraqi children out of Iraq for advanced medical care.

Some U.S. airmen spent one of the final days of 2005 on a mission that garnered international media attention: flying “Baby Noor” out of Iraq.

U.S. soldiers came across Baby Noor on a routine mission, and family members asked a medic to look at the 3-month-old baby, who has spina bifida, a serious birth defect. The soldiers appealed for help up their chain of command, and an elaborate coalition of humanitarian assistance made it possible for the baby to come to the United States to have lifesaving surgery in January 2006.

“We've had the opportunity to take part in a lot of missions, but this is probably the most rewarding,” Air Force Capt. Raul Ochoa, who co-piloted the flight that took Baby Noor out of Iraq, said.

Tech. Sgt. Bill Thomas, a flight engineer, said missions like that make it worth getting up in the morning. “I was pretty excited to do something this important,” he said.