Word: iraqi
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...Bush Administration has been heartened by the last month in Iraq. Khalilzad leaves as U.S. and Iraqi forces have converged to provide security in Baghdad and, he said, the Iraqi forces seem to be keeping up. Violence in the capital, he said, has "fallen nearly a quarter" since Operation Law and Order began six weeks ago. Iraqis are starting to trust their own security forces, he said, citing a steady amount of useful tips coming in during recent weeks. Also, there are indications, he said, that the tribes and some insurgents are turning on al-Qaeda in Anbar province...
...Khalilzad can at least tout disasters that have not happened as accomplishments: The Sunnis did not leave the government; the country managed to pull back from the brink of a full-blown civil war; the Iraqi parliament - however ineffective - did not dissolve. During the hour-long press conference, Khalilzad, who has made an art of providing quotes so diplomatic and academic that they cannot be sound-bitten, hedged every statement with a well-chosen adjective. Nevertheless, on balance, he saw hope ahead. He said the country was "fundamentally" heading in the right direction. He described himself as "cautiously" optimistic...
...Khalilzad did admit that one of the toughest obstacles he faced was a "culture of consipiracy" among Iraqi politicians, rooted in years of oppression. Each small step in one direction was seen as a huge swing of loyalty. Getting them to trust each other has been an uphill battle, he said, especially when you consider that the Iraqis are faced with trying to do state building and nation building "at the same time...
...Through all of this, Khalilzad said he has tried to impart to Iraqi politicians the impatience of Americans, that the American effort in Iraq is not an open-ended commitment. "We are an impatient people," he said. "I constantly signal to the Iraqi leaders that our patience, or the patience of the American people, is running out" - a point reinforced last week when the House voted to set a timetable for withdrawl of troops in Iraq...
...have been based on a misunderstanding, the British position hardened over the weekend, with Prime Minister Tony Blair denouncing the Iranian action as "unjustified and wrong," and warning that Britain viewed it in a serious light. On Monday Iraq backed London's claim that the incident had occurred inside Iraqi waters, which Britain patrols under U.N. mandate...