11 December 2003
Premature U.S. Departure from Iraq Would Be "Strategic Mistake"
Interview with Centcom Commander Abizaid by Kuwaiti newspaper
General John Abizaid, the commander-in-charge of the U.S. Central Command, said the United States would commit a "strategic mistake" if it left Iraq prematurely.
"What will be a strategic mistake is if we leave Iraq too soon. We must help the Iraqis become a stable and representative government to the extent that they are able to become one. When that happens, it will make a positive difference in this region. It will improve the economy in the region and it will make a huge political opportunity for people who desire to have a better life in this region," Abizaid said in an interview December 11 with Kuwait's Al-Qabas Arabic daily newspaper.
Abizaid said most of Iraq is stable with no military threat to the success of the U.S. mission in the country.
He said the important thing for the Americans, Iraqis and coalition allies to do is build reliable Iraqi security institutions, and allow a moderate political voice to emerge in Iraq that guarantees the rights of the Iraqi people.
"[I]t is something that Iraq has never seen before and we will all have to work hard and be patient to make it happen," Abizaid said.
The general said he met recently with Iraqi leaders in Ar Ramadi, a city to the west of Baghdad that has been a center of anti-U.S. resistance, and encouraged them "to be part of the future, not part of the past."
"[T]he past will never come back. Saddam will never come back. People who believe that he has a chance to return underestimate the United States, and they certainly underestimate the Iraqi people," Abizaid said. He said 95 percent of the Iraqi people oppose Saddam's return to power, but the five percent who support him are well financed and "know how to conduct operations like a criminal enterprise."
The general discounted the likelihood that Iraq could fracture into Shia, Sunni and Kurdish enclaves because of an overriding sense of Iraqi nationalism.
"They all have a sense of Iraqi nationalism, and they all know that the future will only be served if Iraq remains in its current territorial integrity. It has great resources, great promise, very educated people," Abizaid said.
Regarding U.S. relations with Kuwait, the general said the relationship is an important and lasting one, which "will last as long as our peoples are able to talk frankly and openly with one another."
Following is the transcript of Abizaid's interview:
(begin transcript)
Public Affairs Office
Embassy of the United States of America
Kuwait City, State of Kuwait City, Kuwait
Transcript of Press Interview with United States Central Command Commander
General John Abizaid
Exclusive to Al-Qabas Arabic Daily Newspaper
Kuwait International Airport
Kuwait City, Kuwait
11 December, 2003
QUESTION: We are enthusiastic about the meeting today because what is happening in Iraq is a top priority here. We believe that the stability of Iraq is stability for the region and stability for Kuwait. Your success in Iraq is success for the whole region.
GENERAL ABIZAID: (In Arabic) I agree with you. I would like to answer in English. (In English) Actually, I agree with you. I believe that our success is to use the word "our" to include our friends, partners, and allies in the region, including Kuwait. Our success is the success of the United States, Iraq, Kuwait, the other GCC countries and the Arab World. It is the opportunity to make Iraq a representative state of modern influence and a responsible member of the international community. It is just so important to all of us, but most important for the Iraqis.
QUESTION: Kuwaitis are afraid that if you succeed in Iraq, Kuwait will become less important.
GENERAL ABIZAID: Well, it's hard to think of Kuwait being less important. We have not been able to be successful in this part of the world without Kuwait. Our relationship goes back many years. I think this relationship is an important and lasting one, one that will continue to be important for your country and my country. The situation in this part of the world and the stability in this part of world are important, not only to the United States of America, but to the entire international community. Kuwait's strategic position at the head of the Arabian Gulf is absolutely vital to stability in the region. I think our partnership will last as long as our peoples are able to talk frankly and openly with one another.
QUESTION: (In Arabic) Did your Arabic origins help you get a better understanding of the situation in Iraq?
GENERAL ABIZAID: My family came to the United States in 1870's, so my family has been in the United States many years. But I am very proud of my Arabic heritage. I am proud of the culture, and I am proud of the education and of the richness of the Arab world in terms of just about everything I can think of. I am a great admirer of the Arab world so does that help me in dealing with the Iraqis? I think so because I admire the Arab culture.
QUESTION: (In Arabic) How do you evaluate the situation in Iraq now and in the upcoming six months?
GENERAL ABIZAID: The situation in Iraq, of course, is one of stability in the majority of the country, but danger in certain key portions of the country. Al Ramadi, Faluja, Tikrit, and areas around Mosul are areas where there is danger, not only to coalition forces, but also to Iraqi forces and police that are working with the coalition. We should not underestimate the danger, but we should not overestimate the danger either. Militarily, there is no threat to the success of the mission. The important thing for Americans and Iraqis and our coalition allies to do is to ensure that we build reliable Iraqi security institutions, that we allow political expression to take place in Iraq that allows for all parties to take part in the future and that we allow a moderate, political voice to emerge in Iraq that guarantees the rights of Iraqis. I think it is something that Iraq has never seen before and we will all have to work hard and be patient to make it happen.
QUESTION: (In Arabic) Were you surprised by the resistance in Iraq?
GENERAL ABIZAID: No, I was not surprised that there would be difficulties in going from a dictatorship to a representative democracy. I had no doubt that there would be great difficulties. We have taken a society like this (hand gesture) and we have turned it like this (hand gesture) and now our job is to make it like this (hand gesture) and it's a very difficult task.
QUESTION: (In Arabic) What was the nature of your meetings with the tribes in Iraq?
GENERAL ABIZAID: Well, I have met with many people in Iraq on many different occasions. You are probably referring to a meeting that I had in Ar Ramadi a few weeks ago. The nature of the meeting was to tell them that it was important for people in that area to be part of the future of Iraq, and not fight for the past, because the past will never come back. Saddam will never come back. People who believe he has a chance to return underestimate the United States, and they certainly underestimate the Iraqi people. The Iraqis, 95% of them, do not want to ever see Saddam anywhere. But the 5% that are working for him are well-financed. They have a very covert and secretive structure, and they know how to conduct operations like a criminal enterprise. They are very difficult for any nation to have to face.
But I encouraged the leaders to be part of the future, not part of the past. I encouraged them, and I also wanted to listen to them. I also wanted to warn them that there is always a price to be paid for military resistance, that is neither to the benefit of the Iraqi people or to the American people, to American soldiers or to the people that are being paid by Saddam's people. We ask them to work together, and I have been very satisfied that we have had good cooperation in that area, particularly since that meeting. We have opened up some new factories there that have gotten people back to work. We have built new Iraqi civil defense units, which are military units, that have employed some of the former soldiers of the Iraqi army, and former officers. That has been a good thing. So, it was more to open my hand to them than to close my fist.
QUESTION: (In Arabic) Who are the resistance?
GENERAL ABIZAID: There are, of course, many different faces to the people that oppose a new Iraq. First of all, the former regime elements--people from the Iraqi intelligence services, Special Republican Guard, some of the many security organizations that were the murderers of Saddam that you in Kuwait know very well. You had to face them. Those people remain the enemy. They remain the enemy because they have lost everything. They remain the enemy because of the horrible crimes they committed against your people, and the horrible crimes they committed against their own people. The number of mass graves we found in Iraq is appalling. To think that a leader could do this to his own people is absolutely beyond our comprehension-- even after what we saw him do here in Kuwait. The primary enemy remains these tenacious elements of the old regime. Another enemy is the foreign terrorists that cross the border into Iraq and conduct terrorist operations, groups like Ansar Al-Islam and affiliates of Al-Qaeda.
QUESTION: From where do they cross the border?
GENERAL ABIZAID: They cross the border from Syria, and sometimes they cross the border from Iran as well. The border here in Kuwait is very well guarded by your nation. The border with the Jordanians is well guarded. The Turkish border is well guarded as well and we have very many forces on the border. Then there are foreign fighters that have extreme views, that feel it is their duty to fight the United States, that also come into the country. But this is the secondary threat compared to the former regime elements. Then, of course, there are criminals. If you remember before the war, Saddam let all the criminals out of jail. That is a lot of criminals. There is another problem, of course, that we face, and that is employment. There is high unemployment. We must all work together to find a way to get the angry young men jobs to be part of the future, and that is a difficult task. It is certainly not a military task, but it is an important task.
QUESTION: (In Arabic) Do you think the Americans committed a mistake in Iraq?
GENERAL ABIZAID: That we made a strategic mistake? I think that taking the action that we did against this regime was an important strategic move that had to be made in the region sooner or later. In 1991, we faced him and we liberated your country. Then we had to spend years continuing to fight him, between 1991 and 2002. Then we had to mount a major offensive operation yet again. He was a danger to his own people, he was a danger to your country, and he was a danger to the peace and prosperity of the entire region. To have him gone is a good thing for the region. What will be a strategic mistake is if we leave Iraq too soon. We must help the Iraqis become a stable and representative government to the extent that they are able to become one. When that happens, it will make a positive difference in this region. It will improve the economy in the region and it will make a huge political opportunity for people who desire to have a better life in this region. We do not seek to impose an American form of government on Iraq. Iraq will be what the Iraqis want it to be, we do believe, and we will never allow a tyrant like Saddam to return to power, to terrorize their people and the region again. How many millions of people lost their lives because of that one man is something we should all keep in mind. I do not regard that as a strategic mistake.
QUESTION: (Arabic) What scenario are you afraid of seeing happen in Iraq?
GENERAL ABIZAID: I actually am not afraid of any scenario that would happen in Iraq. There are many things that can go wrong in Iraq, but if we all work together to ensure the stability of Iraq and we all understand that there will be some tough times ahead, some difficult times ahead, I think that we can be successful together there. There is no doubt that we must be wary of the possibility of a split between communities, but my belief is that it is probably a mistake to talk about Shia, Sunni and Kurdish enclaves and specific identities. They do have specific identities, but none of them are monoliths. They all understand, so it seems to me, that there must be one Iraq. They all have a sense of Iraqi nationalism, and they all know that the future will only be served if Iraq remains in its current territorial integrity. It has great resources, great promise, very educated people. They actually have the opportunity to become one of the most prosporous nations in the Gulf. When you become prosporous and peaceful, you become very successful. I am optimistic, but it won't happen quickly.
QUESTION: (In Arabic) Why have you been unsuccesful so far in capturing Saddam? Were you, at a certain stage, close to capturing him?
GENERAL ABIZAID: Well, let me just tell you a story. I think all of us in our own countries have examples of manhunts. Manhunts usually take years. If you recall, in the Olympic bombing, we had an American whose name we knew, whose home we knew, and five years later we happened to find him by mistake when a policeman happened to bump into him. There will be a time when we find Saddam. I have no doubt about it because Saddam has perpetrated so many crimes against his own people. Sadddam will have his reckoning, as will others who have committed great crimes against the Iraqi people. Do not forget that of the 55 people that we said were people that we wanted to turn over to the new Iraqi government, so they could have the opportunity to try these people, over 44 of these people are either in custody or have met their fate. Saddam will similarly find his fate.
QUESTION: Do you want to say anything to the Kuwaitis?
GENERAL ABIZAID: (In Arabic) I would like to to tell the people that the assistance and cooperation between the Americans and the Kuwaitis are very good and very important.
QUESTION: (In Arabic) Is there any fear about their future? Will their importance recede in the coming stage?
GENERAL ABIZAID: This is the second time you have asked me this question. The relationship between the United States and Kuwait is a strong one built on sharing war together, not once but twice. It is about as strong as any relationship can be. We will not forget the help of Kuwait, nor do I think Kuwaitis will forget the help of the United States. There may come times when we have differences of opinion, but the stability and the strength of Kuwait remains as important today for the United States as it did back in 1990. Thanks.
QUESTION: (In Arabic) What is your opinion on the situation of Sunnis in Iraq?
GENERAL ABIZAID: (In Arabic) I understand the problem and the situation of the Sunnis. (In English) They need to become part of the future. They must participate. I believe we will move Iraq together, because they will believe in their country as much as we believe in their country.
Thank you very much.
END OF TRANSCRIPT
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=December&x=20031211165856atarukp8.662051e-02&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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