Word: ambassador
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...close in on you in less time than it takes a bullet to fly from the barrel of a gun. But life in Iraq has become so bloody and death so ever present, random and unpredictable that some Iraqis are nostalgic for Saddam's tyranny. When I told U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad about the killings of witnesses' families in Dujail, he shook his head but said the current loss of life is "different than a government carrying on violence against its own citizens." Iraqis, he says, "have paid and are paying a high price to potentially head in a great...
During his recent visit to Washington, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad stayed out of the roiling political debate surrounding the U.S. presence in Iraq, and President George Bush assured him that that was exactly what he should do. Bush told Khalilzad not to be concerned about the realities of a contentious midterm election season encroaching on his work keeping the nacent Iraqi political process on track. The President assured him, "I'll take care of politics, you don't need to worry about that...
...this will take time, Khalilzad says. But with more and more neighborhoods across Iraq turning into sectarian battlefields, time is exactly what the country doesn't have. If the political haggling goes on too long, and the faith in the current unity government fades away, admits the ambassador, Iraq "will be in a much more difficult situation." Despite all this, Khalilzad knows that getting the groups to hash out differences in the political arena - instead of on the streets - is the best bet for future stability in Iraq. "These are complicated, difficult issues. We have to give them the time...
...Despite a series of press reports about Washington's growing impatience with the Nouri al-Maliki government, Khalilzad told TIME he delivered a positive review of his performance when he met with Bush. The ambassador says he gives Maliki "high marks" for his handling a diverse cabinet made up of rival political parties and for reaching out to groups outside the political process and trying to bring them to the table. He described Maliki as a "strong leader" who is doing his best to steer an unruly, inefficient government that has to do everything by near consensus. "He faces...
...Sadr political bloc that put the Prime Minister in power. But Khalilzad doesn't see Maliki shying away from this responsibility. At the moment, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are searching every neighborhood in Baghdad, but have yet to enter the Jaish al Medhi stronghold of Sadr City. The ambassador doesn't think Maliki will make an exception for his political supporter. "The Prime Minister has not said any particular area is exempt," says Khalilzad. "The militias have...