12 July 2006
Iraqis Invested in Building a New Future, Rumsfeld Says
Secretary praises Iraqis' progress, voices support for reconciliation initiative
Washington – The greatest success of coalition forces in Iraq lies in helping its people to build a future for their country, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told U.S. troops during a visit to Balad, Iraq, July 12.
“First and foremost,” Rumsfeld said, victory means “helping the Iraqi people take the fight to the enemy. And they're invested in this, let there be no doubt.”
He said that millions of Iraqis have risked their lives by voting for a new, democratically elected government, volunteering to serve in Iraq’s security forces, and providing tips about terrorist activities in their communities.
Rumsfeld said that thanks to sustained support from the United States and its coalition allies, over 250,000 army and police personnel are now showing their dedication to defending their country from terrorists. (See related article.)
“This effort ultimately will be won by the Iraqi people over a period of time,” the secretary said.
Rumsfeld made an unannounced visit to Iraq following a series of meetings in Afghanistan and neighboring countries on regional security issues. (See related article.)
Rumsfeld reflected on Iraq’s progress away from dictatorship, noting that the country conducted three democratic elections, adopted a new constitution, and formed a unity government.
However, despite these gains, Rumsfeld said, the forces of extremism remain “violent and ruthless,” even without the leadership of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a coalition air strike in June. (See related article.)
“The extremists have seen the changes that have taken place here,” Rumsfeld said, “they know well that a peaceful, a prosperous and a representative Iraq is a strategic defeat for them and for their vicious ideology.”
The enemies of a free Iraq will continue to target all who disagree with them and mount attacks calculated to spark sectarian violence, he said.
“[T]hey know they can't win on the battlefield,” Rumsfeld said. “The only way they can win, they believe, is to create anarchy and to cause the country to become a failed state so that they can then pick up the pieces and impose their will.”
Current security operations will eventually be replaced by a non-military solution: a free Iraqi government firmly grounded in the rule of law and serving all Iraqis, he said. Prime Minister Nuri al-Mailiki’s national reconciliation initiative, Rumsfeld said, is a positive step in that direction. Rumsfeld said Maliki is reaching out to the country's Sunni community "in an attempt to fashion a reconciliation process that will bring together the elements of this country." (See related article.)
A few years ago, Rumsfeld noted, Iraq was “held together by repression; by a vicious dictatorship that put hundreds of thousands of people in mass graves across this nation and people in prisons.” The fact that today Iraqis can continue moving forward toward democracy, despite ongoing security challenges, is a testament to the steadfast support they have received from the coalition, he said.
“They have every opportunity to do it. They've got oil, they've got water, they've got intelligent people, they have an industrious population, they have a proud history. There isn't any reason that this country can't make it,” he said.
For more 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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