Well, do you think that if we had given these bozos a deadline of May,
07 they might have completed at least something?
Even the much talked about 'oil law' seems stuck.
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24 October 2006
U.S. Officials Outline Goals, Strategy for Success in Iraq
Ambassador Khalilzad, General Casey brief from Baghdad, Iraq
By Vince Crawley
Washington File Staff Writer
General George Casey and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad
General George Casey and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad hold a
press conference in Baghdad, October 24. (© AP Images)
Washington – Coalition and Iraqi government forces still can succeed in
creating a democratic Iraq despite high levels of violence there, says
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who, along with the senior American
military commander in Iraq, outlined international goals and strategies.
“Our goal is to enable Iraqis to develop a multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian
representative democracy after decades of tyranny,” Khalilzad told
reporters in Baghdad, Iraq, October 24. He conducted a joint news
conference with U.S. General George Casey, commander of Multi-National
Forces - Iraq.
Both Khalilzad and Casey said that if Iraqi leaders over the next 12
months to 18 months can meet the goals they have set, the Iraqi
government should be well on its way to uniting the country, and Iraqi
forces should be able to maintain their own security with some U.S.
assistance.
“But the recent sectarian bloodshed in Iraq causes many to question
whether the United States and the Iraqis can succeed,” Khalilzad said.
“My message today is straightforward: Despite the difficult challenges
we face, success in Iraq is possible and can be achieved on a realistic
timetable.” To accomplish this goal, Khalilzad added, “Iraqi leaders
must step up to achieve key political and security milestones on which
they have agreed.” (See related article.)
The strategy of the United States and international supporters of Iraq
is, according to Khalilzad, “To reduce the sources of violence; to
defeat the extremists fomenting killing; to increase Iraq’s capability
to provide for its own security; and to expand the involvement of the
international community in supporting Iraq.”
However, he added, “the enemies of Iraq” – including al-Qaida and
historic regional rival powers – “concentrate their efforts on tearing
the Iraqi people apart along sectarian lines.” The primary source of
violence is “not simply an insurgency,” Khalilzad said, “but also
sectarian killings involving al-Qaida terrorists, insurgents, militias
and death squads.” In addition, he said, “Iran and Syria are providing
support to the groups involved.” (See related article.)
The international strategy for reducing violence in Iraq has three
elements, according to Khalilzad:
• Inducing Iraqi political and religious leaders in Baghdad to agree to
halt sectarian violence among groups they influence or control.
• Helping Iraqi leaders complete their national compact. This agreement,
outlined by Iraqis, includes enacting an oil law to share Iraqi natural
resources, amending the constitution so that all Iraqis understand that
their children will be guaranteed democratic rights and equality,
transforming the de-Ba’athification Commission into an accountability
and reconciliation program, implementing a plan to address the status of
members of militias and death squads, and setting a date for provincial
elections, and increasing the credibility and capability of Iraqi forces.
• Persuading Iraq’s Sunni insurgents to lay down their arms and accept
national reconciliation. As part of this effort, Khalilzad said,
diplomats are “reaching out to Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE
[United Arab Emirates] and Jordan to help by encouraging these groups to
end the violence and work for a united and independent Iraq.”
To broaden international support for the Iraqi government, Iraq’s
leaders and the United Nations are working on an international compact
with Iraq.
The compact “will consist of a commitment by Iraq to do what’s necessary
in terms of continued economic reform and polices to put the country on
the path to stability and prosperity,” Khalilzad said. These commitments
would be made “in exchange for the international community’s support,”
he said. “Many countries, including those who opposed the initial
intervention in Iraq, are participating in the process, which should be
completed by the end of the year.”
Casey stressed “90 percent of the sectarian violence in Iraq takes place
in about a 30-mile [48-kilometer] radius from the center of Baghdad.”
Iraq, he added, “is not a country that is awash in sectarian violence.”
If Iraqi leaders deliver on their commitments, Khalilzad said, within
the next 12 months, Iraq should see “a national compact in place … with
a constitutional amendment, with the program for dealing with the
militias, with the oil law in place, and the Iraqi security institution
will be more capable.” If those goals are achieved, Khalilzad said,
“there will be a reduction in the sources of violence … and an increased
Iraqi capability to deal with what remains of that struggle.”
For additional information, see Iraq update.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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