09 May 2006
Rice Praises Commitment, Determination of Iraqi Leadership
U.S., Iraqi officials to coordinate changing security roles
By David Shelby
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed optimism at the commitment and determination of Iraq’s new leaders as they seek to forge a government of national unity.
“I can't tell you how exciting it was to be in Iraq these last two times and to sit with … Sunni leadership with, now, Shi’a leadership and Kurdish leadership and to hear the discussions among them as they figure out how to move forward,” she told the Associated Press editorial board in New York May 8.
“[T]here's sometimes, I think, not enough attention to how committed the Iraqis are to the political process in which they're engaged,” she said. The leaders are very aware of the challenges that face them and are fully determined to overcome them, the secretary said. (See Iraq's Political Process.)
Rice said Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki is committed to choosing ministers based on their competence and not their sectarian affiliation. She said this was particularly crucial for the Ministry of the Interior, which in the past has been accused of fostering sectarian divisions in the country.
“[A]n interior ministry in which people have confidence, that is not being used for sectarian purposes, and that is competent, and that it can oversee the training of competent, nonsectarian police is one of the two or three most important things that has to happen, and everybody understands that,” she said.
Al-Maliki told reporters in Baghdad May 9 that he has selected 90 percent of the Cabinet posts and hopes to submit a final list of ministers to the parliament for its approval by the end of the week.
Rice said al-Maliki would work with Iraq’s political leaders to ensure that the internal composition of the ministries also conforms to his vision of national unity.
The secretary praised the Iraqi leadership for its desire to take charge of the country’s security but said those leaders have told her they are not yet ready to operate unassisted. She said U.S. military officials and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld would meet with the new leadership when the Cabinet of ministers takes office to discuss the changing roles of Iraqi and coalition forces in security operations.
“[T]hey're going to come to a joint understanding of how the security concerns are going to be met: what role do MNFI [Multi-National Force - Iraq] forces, coalition forces play in that; what role do Iraqi security forces play in that; how does that work over time; how does it track with what's going on in the reconciliation efforts as people leave the fighting and decide to come over to politics?” she said.
Rice cast the Iraqi insurgency in terms of previous insurgencies throughout the world.
“I can tell you that the entire history of insurgencies is that when they lose … the political water in which they swim, that they start -- literally start to die off and dry up,” she said. “And what that means is that there has to be a period of time in which people make choices … [D]o they believe that this fight is any longer ‘legitimate,’ do they believe that this fight is any longer advantageous; and if not, is it time to lay down arms?”
The transcript of Rice’s interview with the Associated Press is available on the State Department Web site.
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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