US on Iraq's reconciliation deal; oil law lagging
Iraq-USA, Politics, 8/27/2007

US Department Of State Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said today that the reconciliation deal signed yesterday by Iraq's Sunni, Shiite and Kurds is a welcome development, and the US views it as a good step forward.

Casey said "The thing, of course, as we all know, is that these agreements now need to be implemented and turned into facts on the ground. So I don't want to try and overstate the importance of this, but obviously the fact that these major political factions have been able to come together and reach an agreement on this fairly sensitive issue is something that's welcome and positive. And now what we want to do is encourage them to be able to move forward and take that agreement and implement it, and, again, to do so in a way that it will be -- seem to have meaningful effect and impact on the street in Iraq."

Asked that Iraq's prime minister Maliki was forced to sort of basically come out and use some very strong language and named US Senator's Clinton and Levin by name, Casey said "there's going to be an ongoing debate in the United States about our policies in Iraq and about the best way forward. I know the Prime Minister spoke very clearly about his own views on this, but I think from our perspective, we understand that there are going to be individuals in this country and in our political systems that are going to have and going to speak very forcefully about their views."

He added "From our perspective, what we intend to do is work with the Prime Minister, work with his government, help -- as Ryan Crocker has been doing in Baghdad, as General Petraeus has been doing, help Iraq's security forces, help Iraq's political leaders to make the kinds of progress and the kinds of changes in their own internal system that they need to have to really be able to carry out the mandate that the people gave them when they elected them last year."

Casey added "I think this is all part of the political debate. I'll leave it to others to determine whether it helps or hurts anyone particularly in Baghdad. From our perspective, though, the important thing is that there is some progress being made, including on the political scene, as we've seen with this agreement. And that's something that we want to encourage and we want to be able to continue to work with."

Asked about what more does the US expect the Iraqis to do about deals between the Sunnis and Shiites and Kurds in terms of bringing about greater reconciliation and with the offering the hands of friendship to the Saddam's party members.

Casey said "what needs to happen now, of course, is that that political agreement does need to be implemented. Because again, you can have that basic framework, but if it isn't implemented, if it's not felt on the ground by the people, if it doesn't make an actual change in the situation there, then it won't be complete. So our efforts with the Iraqis will be to focus on helping them to implement these agreements and to develop further ones that may be required to deal with some of the other questions of national reconciliation that are out there."

Casey added "the oil law is something that's out there that still needs to be completed. There's parliamentary action that's required on a number of these issues. And again, having the laws passed by parliament is, again, just another phase in this. Those laws then have to be implemented throughout Iraq and through the Iraqi system."

Previous Stories:
  US - Iran agree to meet over Iraq; differences clear   (7/23/2007)
  Bush urges Maliki to step up political efforts   (7/16/2007)
  Bush: Iraq security improvements sets stage for reform   (7/16/2007)

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