Rice: Iraq transition to stable government two years away
Secretary of State's comments come as US sends 800 more troops to Iraq.
The transition to a stable government in Iraq
could take as long as two years, according to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
CNN reports that Ms. Rice made the comments after she spoke to Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer in Sydney. The talks also included discussions of China, Iran's nuclear program, Indonesia's development and the recent nuclear deal between Washington and India.
"I think that there is a very good chance that the Iraqi people, with the support of their coalition partners, will build a good foundation, a political foundation, for a stable and secure Iraq over the next couple years," Rice said. "This is a difficult task."
She added, "We should express confidence in them because every time they have been confronted with a challenge," Iraqis have risen to the occasion.
In an interview with the
BBC after the new Iraqi parliament opened Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, who has been under considerable pressure to step down, said he would
withdraw his application if that is what the Iraqi people wanted.
"If my people ask me to step aside I will do this," Mr Jaafari said, shortly after attending the much-delayed inaugural session of Iraq's parliament. The Shiite's nomination of Mr Jaafari has been a major sticking point in forming a government as he lacks wider support. He has been criticized for not doing more to curb Iraq's violence.
Despite the meeting of the parliament Thursday, three months after the elections, the
BBC also reports that this is not a sign of accord. The meeting only lasted half an hour because the sides were not able to agree on the appointment of a speaker.
Adnan Pachachi, the oldest member, addressed those gathered, urging Iraqis to avoid a civil war.
"The country is going through very difficult times and it faces a big dilemma after the Samarra bombing and the attacks that followed. Sectarian tension has increased and it threatens national disaster," Mr Pachachi said.
Reuters reports that the formation of a new government could
still take several more months.
Bloomberg reports that UN's envoy to Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, warned Wednesday that the sectarian fighting is
hindering key efforts to rebuild the country.
"The cloud of pessimism that has further darkened as a result of recent developments has to be lifted," [ Mr. Qazi] told the UN Security Council today. "While sectarian fissures have always been an integral part of Iraq's political history, today they have come to dominate and almost define Iraq's politics and its future prospects."
In his first report to the Security Council since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra and subsequent reprisal attacks on Sunni mosques, Qazi said the violence has "created a dangerous and elongated political vacuum" in Iraq. He said the upsurge in violence is a "serious obstacle" to reconstruction.
Speaking to reporters that day after talking to the Security Council, Qazi also said that while violent, the situation has
not deteriorated into civil war, and gave credit to the presence of US and Iraqi troops for keeping the situation under control.
"We certainly have a low grade, vicious sectarian conflict ... I wouldn't go to the extent of characterizing the situation as a civil war, people might say that unless the situation is brought under control, there could be a progressive descent into some kind of ungovernability," he said.
"Iraq is at a very crucial time, and the Iraqi people have to come together to address the challenges that confront them and really to address them within a national context," he continued.
Meanwhile,
The New York Times reports that the Pentagon announced Wednesday that
800 additional troops would be sent from Kuwait into Iraq, and other troops would be repositioned into key areas, to deal with the increase in sectarian violence, and the possibility of increased conflict during a Shiite holiday. The Muslim holy day of Arbaeen falls on March 20.
The [official] statement quoted General George Casey Jr., the senior US commander in Iraq, as saying: "I have discussed this with the Iraqi prime minister and we found it prudent to provide this additional support. This short-term deployment will make a long-term contribution to Iraq's security and political progress."
Officials said the troops "will conduct joint operations in partnership with Iraqi Security Forces in the Baghdad area."
Iraqi and US forces continued what they called their
largest air assault in three years in an area near the troubled city of Samarra. Knight Ridder reports that "at least 1,500 Iraqi and US troops, supported by 50 US attack helicopters, went door to door in the village of Al Jilam, north of Baghdad, searching for insurgents and their weapons."
But Friday,
Time magazine reported that the entire exercise was more of
a media opportunity than a real campaign against insurgents.
...contrary to what many many television networks erroneously reported, the operation was by no means the largest use of airpower since the start of the war. ("Air Assault" is a military term that refers specifically to transporting troops into an area.) In fact, there were no airstrikes and no leading insurgents were nabbed in an operation that some skeptical military analysts described as little more than a photo op. What's more, there were no shots fired at all and the units had met no resistance, said the US and Iraqi commanders.
Also...
•
Iraq's tortuous search for unity (BBC)
•
Canada courts rule against terror suspects (Associated Press)
•
Metropolitan London police chief to be quizzed under caution in shooting of Brazilian (Guardian)
•
Lessons of Iraq War start with US history (Progressive Media Project)
•
Prepare for long Afghan stay: Powell (Toronto Star)
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Tom Regan
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