12 April 2007
Parliament Attack Condemned as Strike Against Iraqi Democracy
Suicide bombing indiscriminately targeted Sunni and Shiite lawmakers
Washington -- President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other U.S. officials strongly condemned a suicide bombing April 12 in the Iraqi Council of Representatives as the work of terrorists seeking to undermine the political will of Iraqi voters by targeting their elected representatives.
In remarks at the White House April 12, Bush said the attack serves as a reminder that “there is an enemy willing to bomb innocent people in a symbol of democracy,” which “represent[s] the 12 million people who voted” in Iraq’s 2005 election.
The president pledged continued U.S. support for the Iraqi government as it takes steps to effect the country’s political reconciliation and to put in place a security force “able to deal with” violent extremists.
“[I]t is in our interest to help this young democracy be in a position so it can sustain itself and govern itself and defend itself against these extremists and radicals,” Bush said.
According to U.S. military spokesman Major General William Caldwell, initial reports indicated that the blast in the parliament’s cafeteria, within central Baghdad’s heavily protected Green Zone, had killed eight and wounded 20. Iraqi state television reported that three of the dead were lawmakers.
In remarks with Senator John McCain at the State Department, Secretary Rice said the attack on the Iraq parliament building is “in a sense … an attempt to make an attack on the institution itself.”
She accused the perpetrators of aiming to “stop the Iraqi people from having a future that would be based on democracy and stability.”
Rice, acknowledging a continuing security problem in Baghdad, said President Bush’s military surge strategy to help address security concerns is “still early in the process.” (See related article.)
“I don't think anybody expected that there would not be counterefforts by the terrorists to undermine the security progress that we're trying to make,” she said.
McCain, who recently returned from a visit to Iraq, said the attack was “tragic,” but it is “not unexpected that spectacular attacks would continue to try to be orchestrated by al-Qaida and other elements within Baghdad,” saying such acts attract the attention of the American media as part of an effort to “erode [the] American public's will.”
Extending sympathy to the victims and their loved ones on behalf of the American people, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Bush administration will work with the Iraqi government and its partners in the coalition in pursuing the perpetrators and helping to ensure the Iraqi Council of Representatives “is a place where parliamentarians and those working on behalf of the Iraqi government can do what they need to do in a safe, secure atmosphere.”
McCormack said the United States has not yet determined who was responsible for the bombing, but said it was “clearly … an indiscriminate terrorist attack.”
“There were Sunni, [and] Shia killed in this attack,” he said, adding that the cafeteria bombing appeared to have been timed with lunch breaks to target both legislators and support staff in the parliament.
He described the attack as “a heinous act of terrorism meant to intimidate the Iraqi people, their democratically elected representatives and institutions, and all those who work selflessly on their behalf to build a peaceful, unified and stable Iraq. “
The full text of McCormack’s statement and a transcript of the remarks by Rice and McCain are available on the State Department Web site.
For more information on U.S. policies, see Iraq Update.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
