20 April 2007
New U.S. Envoy to Iraq Expresses Optimism at Iraqi Determination
Ambassador Ryan Crocker urges Iraqis to remain patient with security plan
Washington – The new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, expressed optimism at the attitude of Iraqi citizens he has encountered during his first weeks in Baghdad, and he urged them to remain patient as the new security plan is implemented.
“As I have been around talking to Iraqis in my first weeks here, I have found a real sense of determination to find a way through these problems into an atmosphere of stability, security and reconciliation,” he told Al-Iraqiya television in an April 19 interview. “I was very impressed, for example, after the bombing at the Council of Representatives last week that the representatives came together, determined that they would hold a session the next day, and they did, denouncing these acts of violence.”
Crocker said a very small number of people are responsible for the violence rocking the country. “These are not mass movements of Iraqi people against Iraqi people. These are acts of terror carried out by a very small number of individuals who are trying to break the will of the Iraqi people, and break down the fabric of society,” he said. The vast majority of Iraqis want something very different, he said, and this gives him a sense of hope.
Crocker said he was encouraged by early progress in the Baghdad security plan. He said that Iraqi forces are taking the lead and proceeding in an evenhanded manner. “[M]embers of all communities have been detained in this operation -- Sunnis and Shia alike -- because its intent is to go after those who are causing harm to Iraq, the Iraqi people and Iraqi society, not to target any specific group,” he said. He added, however, that the plan is still in its early phases of implementation. Crocker said it would take several months to reach full force levels and gauge the plan’s impact.
He also said the security plan by itself cannot bring stability, but only can buy time for Iraqi political leaders to begin a process of national reconciliation. He identified several issues which he believes the Council of Representatives must address in the coming months, including the status of Kirkuk, the de-Baathification process for dealing with former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party , the hydrocarbons law, constitutional reform and provincial elections.
“[I]t’s important that all parties move forward in a responsible way in debating these measures, in determining their options and in understanding that swift positive action is going to be necessary to provide the essential political support to back up the Baghdad Security Plan,” he said.
Ultimately, he said, it is up to the Iraqis to make the difficult decisions necessary to bring about reconciliation and stability. He said other countries can help by providing economic and security assistance, “but the decisions themselves are going to have to be Iraqi decisions.”
He encouraged Iraqis to show patience and restraint as the process unfolds. He said taking up arms and seeking revenge against one’s neighbors is allowing the terrorists to win. “[W]e are at a point when the days of the militias should come to an end,” he said. “If a young Iraqi wishes to carry a gun, then he should do so in the uniform of his country, in defense of his country. That would solve a lot of problems.”
Crocker said he looks forward to participating in the Iraq Neighbors Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, May 2-3. In response to Iran’s suggestion that it might not participate, he said, “[T]his is an opportunity for the neighbors to come together and pledge themselves to a constructive endeavor on behalf of Iraq. It would seem to me that if a country deliberately chooses to be absent from those proceedings, then it is telling Iraq, the neighborhood and indeed the world something negative about its intentions.”
For more information, see Iraq Update.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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