Iraq: reasons to celebrate | Ranj Alaaldin

There is much work to be done, but solid foundations have been laid for ordinary Iraqis to define and determine their own future

The formal end of the US combat role in Iraq provides a suitable moment to consider what has been achieved since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

Security is certainly one of the biggest achievements, despite some 100,000 Iraqi fatalities. Sectarian warfare has been defeated and the Sunni/al-Qaida insurgency is now reduced to sporadic attacks and restricted to the north of the country in Mosul and Diyala.

The sad reality is that reporting and analysis, often misinformed, is carried out through the Baghdad lens. The capital, as the nerve centre of the country, has naturally been the main target of terror attacks. It accounted for nearly 50% of the country's violence last week, with at least 19 people killed and 70 injured in various attacks.

However, life also exists beyond Baghdad and it is much rosier. In the southern provinces, security continues to improve, despite the rare attack in Basra last month. The relative stability in the south is complemented by an increase in foreign investment. Foreign firms are now penetrating the non-oil sectors in the south, usually dominated by Iranian investors. In the holy shrine city of Najaf, for example, one company has become the first British investor since 2003. More are expected to follow.

Iraqis, of course, need basic services and employment, which are sadly lacking at the moment. On average, Arab Iraq gets little more than four hours' worth of electricity per day; unemployment stands at nearly 60%. With increased security and investment there should be some improvement. However, Iraq suffers from inefficiency, bureaucracy and corruption – and these problems will continue for some time to come, since the political arena is unlikely to be completely revamped in the foreseeable future.

Political change should start by ending the unnecessary desire to have a government inclusive of all ethno-sectarian groups – a state of paralysis, in other words, where the democratically elected groupings work in their own interests and the interests of each other, rather than the interests of the average Iraqi. Additionally, the outstanding disputes over territory and oil – the former unlikely to be resolved within the next five years – will continue to hold decision makers to ransom.

Yet, Iraq is also a victim of its own successes. Iraqi democracy is legitimate, fair and empowers the Iraqi people. For all the criticism of the failure to form a government since the March elections, what is missed is that the stalemate is precisely the result of a genuine democratic process that put two groups neck-and-neck with each other.

Regionally, Iraq has held its own. Its democratic process, its oil wealth and its rich history worry neighbouring states, particularly the Sunni-Arab world. Their efforts to destabilise a Shia-led country through hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of support for terrorists and extremist groups has been in vain. The country has not succumbed, despite their efforts.

Iranian influence, meanwhile, is no great thing for Tehran to be proud of. Although unparalleled in its influence, Tehran no longer dictates decisions to the country's main Shia parties that once found refuge in Tehran, as exemplified by the disintegration in the once-united and Iranian-backed Shia alliance.

The Iraq of today should be summed up as the people's Iraq. It is no longer Saddam's Iraq and it will soon no longer be America's Iraq. Post-invasion mistakes have been costly but not decisive. It is Iraqis who will now define and determine their future. This should be celebrated.