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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)


23 January 2005

Amb. Negroponte Says Elections Show Iraq's Progress to Democracy

U.S. will work with whatever government emerges from the process

By Robert Fullerton
Washington File Special Correspondent

Washington -- The significance of the national elections scheduled for January 30 in Iraq is the fact that elections are taking place for the first time in years, that they will be free and fair, and that they are part "of a steady progression" toward democracy in the nation, says U.S. Ambassador to Iraq John D. Negroponte.

Speaking from Baghdad on several U.S. television news programs January 23, Negroponte discussed the upcoming Iraqi elections, in which 100 different parties and individuals will compete for 275 seats in Iraq's National General Assembly.  The assembly will draft a constitution and elect a president, with a definitive government scheduled to be in place in Iraq by year's end.

While many people are focused on the election turnout and how the voting might be impacted by insurgents, Negroponte said on CBS's Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer that it is important that the event be judged as well "in terms of what it represents to the political life of this country."

"This is the first election that they've held.  They're going to be moving from an appointed to an elected government.  They're going to draft a constitution, which will then be passed on by a referendum next October, and then elections for a definitive government in December.  So this is a very important and exciting political process.  And we detect a lot of interest and enthusiasm on the part of the people of Iraq for what lies ahead,” he said.

The ambassador also made the following general points:

-- On election results, Negroponte said on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos that the United States will work with whatever government "emerges from this electoral process."  He said the United States is not backing any individual candidate for election to the assembly; the "most important element," he said on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, "is the fact of the elections (themselves) and that they represent a major step on Iraq's march towards political freedom."  He said four groups likely will garner many seats in the voting, but he expects no "monolithic" bloc to emerge and a "lot of horsetrading" to occur as the assembly goes about its work.

-- Regarding voter turnout, Negroponte said that it could be "quite large," though he again stressed that a final count should not be construed as "the arbiter of the legitimacy" of the election.   "I would expect that we will see strong participation by Iraqi voters in the northern and southern parts of the country," he said on CBS.  The "problematic area is in the center, particularly two predominantly Sunni provinces."

-- On voting security, he said that "elaborate plans" are in place by multinational forces and Iraqi armed forces throughout the country -- in districts large and small -- and that "no effort is being spared" to enable "as many people to vote as possible."  He said on CBS that a high priority "is being devoted to security in ballot locations, not only in the Sunni Triangle, but throughout the country.  So, I'm hopeful that quite a few people will vote, but we're just going to have to wait and see."

Negroponte said that threats by the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to disrupt the election constitute all that his and other such terrorist groups have to offer in Iraq as they try "to prevent democracy from taking hold."

The ambassador challenged an assertion made by several interviewers that the number of attacks by insurgents is growing in Iraq, pointing out that the number of attacks is "roughly at the same level it was when I arrived here six months ago."  What drives the insurgency, he said, is former members of Saddam Hussein's regime and others who feel threatened by and "want to block the democratic process" in Iraq.

Asked on ABC what the United States will do if at some point the government of Iraq determines that it no longer believes it needs multinational forces to provide security and asks them to leave, he said, "we will comply with that wish.  That's made clear, actually, in Security Council Resolution 1546.  It talks about the terms of reference timetable for those forces."

Meanwhile, he said, it is hard to put "a precise" timetable on a U.S. troop exit from Iraq.  But he said "we share the same goal" with Iraq which is to have Iraqi troops take over responsibility for security as soon as possible.  “I think that most Iraqis would prefer that security responsibility, and the entire responsibility for security for their country, be in the hands of Iraqis themselves, and we share that goal with the people and the Government of Iraq,” Negroponte said.

“[W]hat ought to drive this question is not some kind of an artificial timetable, but the issue of whether or not the Iraqi army and police and other security forces are fully able to take charge of security in their country,” he said.

Asked on Fox about the training and competency of those forces, he acknowledged they still have "a long way to go.”  “But if you look at their performance in the past six months, I think you will see that there has been steady progress,” he said.

Regarding how many Iraqi forces are trained and in the field, the ambassador said on NBC's Meet the Press with Tim Russert that his benchmark is the number of Iraqi battalions available, "something on the order of 70 to 80 Iraqi battalions that are operational at the moment.  And the evidence of this is that there are a number of cities and towns that were that were problematic previously, such as Najaf, Sadr City, Samarra, where previously there were no Iraqi forces available to deal with those situations.  Today, you will find that Iraqi forces are there and in very good control of the situation."

Asked about a New York Times report that $300 million was taken from the Bank of Iraq and put onto a chartered jet to Lebanon, Negroponte said "we're looking into these allegations," adding that "my understanding is that these are Iraqi monies that are involved, not U.S. government appropriated funds."

State Department transcripts of Negroponte's talk show appearances are available online at:

NBC's Meet the Press with Tim Russert:  http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2005/41124.htm

CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer:  http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2005/41132.htm

CBS's Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer:  http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2005/41129.htm

ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos:  http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2005/41131.htm

Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2005/41121.htm

(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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