US officials indicate committed to Iraq
Iraq-USA, Politics, 3/17/2006

Insurgents and terrorists are intent on carrying out attacks against Iraqi civilians, officials and security forces in hopes of destabilizing the government and disrupting the fledgling democracy, US Ambassador John Bolton said March 15.

Reporting to the Security Council on behalf of the Multi-National Force in Iraq (MNF), Bolton said that foreign countries, especially Syria and Iran, must do more to stop foreign fighters from entering Iraq and to end material and financial support for opponents of the new Iraqi government.

The MNF, he said, remains committed to providing security, training the Iraqi security forces and protecting UN operations in Iraq.

The ambassador said that more than 80 percent of the attacks are concentrated in four of Iraq's 18 provinces -- Baghdad, Al Anbar, Salah ad din and Ninawa -- while 12 provinces, which have more than 50 percent of the population, have experienced only 6 percent of the attacks.

Although 80 percent of the attacks are directed against the MNF, Iraqis suffer 75 percent of the casualties, the ambassador said. "Insurgents have learned to avoid direct engagements with coalition forces, using hit-and-run attacks and attacks from a distance instead. Improvised explosive devices remain the primary insurgent weapon of choice."

The Iraqi security forces continue to "grow, improve and conduct more and more independent operations each day," Bolton reported. As of March, 101 Iraqi army and special operations battalions are conducting counterinsurgency actions, all 28 Iraqi national police units are operational and 65 percent of Baghdad is under control of the Iraqi security forces, Bolton said.

Iraqi forces now total more than 240,000 troops, trained and equipped for counterinsurgency operations, he said.

Iraq's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi, said that the attack on the Shi'ite shrine in Samarra February 22 was a new tactic for the terrorists who want to foment a civil war pitting Shi'a Muslims against Sunni Muslims.

"Yet Iraqis from across confessional, ethnic, and political lines stand united in their horror and condemnation of such attacks, as they condemn attacks on all houses of worship," he said.

Al-Istrabadi said that an integral part of the political stabilization of Iraq must be economic development.

"Iraq has too long been isolated from the world economy. To the extent those who oppose Iraq's political development succeed in keeping Iraq so isolated, they will have accomplished a major strategic aim," he said. He called on donor countries to transfer the sums of money that they have pledged for Iraq's reconstruction.

Al-Istrabadi said that the current security situation has prevented the Iraqi government from making sufficient progress in protecting human rights.

Nevertheless, for the first time in 46 years, nongovernmental groups have unfettered access to governmental agencies, jails, prisons and courthouses, the ambassador said. "When allegations of abuse do arise, they are reported in the media and... are investigated by government authorities," Al-Istrabadi said. He added that police and security forces are receiving extensive human rights training.

Highlighting the rampant sectarian violence, the UN special envoy to Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, said that everything possible must be done now to help complete negotiations on a new government.

"Recent developments have made negotiations on government formation more difficult," Qazi said. "This has created a dangerous and elongated political vacuum."

Qazi said that the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq "stands ready to provide any assistance that might be necessary for the formation of an inclusive government and is fully engaged with Iraqi leaders to support the constitutional review and the effective implementation of the constitution."

Given the grave security, political and reconstruction challenges to the country, Iraq's progress in forming a representative government according to a timetable set by Iraqi politicians and endorsed by the Security Council "is all the more remarkable," Qazi said.

Even though the violence that has followed the bombing of the Samarra shrine has threatened the country's political transition, the UN envoy said, "the calls by a large spectrum of Iraq's political and religious leaders for restraint and peaceful dialogue and the quick concrete action taken by the government of Iraq to bring the situation under control are promising signs that the potential for peaceful political solution still exists."

Meantime, the United States and its allies are engaged in difficult initiatives in the Middle East that will require time, patience and sacrifice, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. 

Rice responded to questions on Iraq and relations with Iran in a March 16 interview with the Australian Broadcasting Company.  She also discussed the rising economic and political influence of China and its role in the Asia-Pacific region. 

Asked about the new Iraqi parliament's failure to form a government, Rice said the Iraqi people have seen remarkable achievements in the three years since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, which ended the regime of Saddam Hussein. 

"Yes, they are experiencing great difficulty in making their way to democracy.  But democracy is never easy," she said, noting that the United States also made mistakes in its efforts to establish a democratic system of government.

Most noteworthy, Rice said, Iraqis were attempting to resolve their differences through political debate rather than through repression and dictatorship. 

"[I]t's hard but they are going to form a government of national unity," she said.  "They are doing that in the face of those who would try and plunge them into civil war."

Rice said she believes the people of Iraq want to avoid a civil war, and that they have refused to be torn apart by incidents like the February 22 bombing of the Al Askari mosque in Samarra, one of the holiest sites in Shi'a Islam.  

Asked about declining public support for the war in Iraq in the United States, Rice said, "I would ask everyone -- my fellow Americans and our coalition partners -- to recognize that what the Iraqis are trying to do is very difficult, what we're trying to do in the Middle East is very difficult."

Rice said the United States and its coalition partners confront an "ideology of hatred" in the region.

"We've won these struggles before," she said, "but it's always taken time; it's taken patience; unfortunately, it's sometimes taken sacrifice." 

Previous Stories:
  US reinforcement reintroduced into Iraq   (3/16/2006)
  Rumsfeld: Iraq situation difficult but not civil war   (3/15/2006)
  Iran and the explosives in Iraq   (3/14/2006)

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