Liberty in the Newly Liberated Iraq

This NYT's article reports that, "Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Tuesday signed into law broad martial powers that allow him to impose curfews anywhere in the country, ban groups he considers seditious and order the detentions of people suspected of being security risks".

I completely understand that given the terrible security situation over there, something like this is totally necessary, but I just don't see how people can say with a straight face that we have 'liberated' Iraq, or that we have brought 'freedom' to Iraq.