24 October 2006
U.S. Officials Outline Goals, Strategy for Success in Iraq
Ambassador Khalilzad, General Casey brief from Baghdad, Iraq
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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