Rend Rahim Francke, the newly appointed Iraqi ambassador to the United States, criticized a string of US errors since last spring's invasion but says she is confident they were being put right.(AFP/Sabah Arar)
Posted on 11/24/2003 7:57:40 AM PST by TexKat
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq's newly appointed ambassador to the United States, Rend Rahim Francke, criticized a string of US errors since the spring invasion but said she was confident they were being put right.
"In Washington, there was a great deal of concentration on the conduct of war. Unfortunately it became clear that there was far less focus on the conduct of the post-war period," she told AFP Monday in a Baghdad interview.
"There were a number of mistakes made and these are mistakes that Iraqis have spoken about and that the Americans themselves have acknowledged," said the former rights activist who co-founded the Washington-based pro-democracy Iraq Foundation.
"The prime example in my view is the American reluctance to take Iraqis from the first day of liberation as full partners in the political process and the abridgement of Iraqi sovereignty," she said.
She also criticized "the ambivalence of the US on how much authority and power the Iraqi Governing Council and ministers can have and should have".
"Another mistake was the wholesale disbanding of the Iraqi army.
"I think that the US recognized that these were errors and in the last two months they have been revising policies.
"The whole thing is evolutionary and I think we are on the right path," she said.
Francke, who will start her new job "within days" and head the Iraqi interests section in Washington, which is moving from the Algerian to the Bahraini embassy until Baghdad's own can be reopened, said she would like the United States to stick to a new timetable for political handover.
"I would very much like to see the US administration and the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) to stay the course on this one and also consult closely with Iraqis and not in any way take unilateral decisions.
"Ultimately, Iraqis have to have ownership.
"The other thing, they must accelerate the recruiting and training of Iraqis in the civil defense and security of the nation," she said, stressing that the new recruits have to be "reliable" and "have a commitment to the new Iraq".
"These positions are very sensitive and we do not have much of a margin of error," she said while insisting that "not everybody that worked for the old regime was ideologically committed to the Baath," Saddam Hussein's former ruling party.
Reflecting on the mood in the street, she said "the majority of Iraqis are committed to the new political order.
"They are unhappy with contingent matters such as the lack of security and the slowness of reconstruction, not with the fact that Saddam Hussein is gone, that we now have freedom, a press and we can demonstrate in the street. They are happy with all of that," she said.
Francke said she did not foresee sectarian strife in Iraq.
"There was an erroneous perception in the West that as soon as Saddam goes, Iraq would disintegrate. On the contrary, my view is that there is a sufficent commitment by all of parties to unify Iraq.
"What has happened so far is positive. Today in November the head of the Governing Council -- Jalal Talabani -- he is a Kurd. It is the first time in the history of Iraq that a Kurd has been in that highest position."
"I do not believe disintegration will happen," she said, adding: "It depends on what we do in this country.
"I do not know how it is going to be worked out in the consitution, but it has to give a stake to every group, and every individual must have equal rights and duties."
Francke, who said she was the first woman to be appointed ambassador in Iraq's history, felt "there ought to be specific clauses encouraging or protecting the role of women in decision-making positions" in the future constitution.
"In my view, the positions given to women so far are inadequate, although they are an improvement on what we had in the Saddam era because although women were professionally active, you have to distinguish between that and reaching position of authority."
Three women are currently sitting on the Governing Council and one in the interim cabinet.
Francke offered no firm views on whether there should be a formal separation of religion and state in the new constitution.
"This is certainly going to be one of the issues that is debated. There is no question that Iraq is a majority Muslim country ... that should and probably will be reflected."
Rend Rahim Francke, the newly appointed Iraqi ambassador to the United States, criticized a string of US errors since last spring's invasion but says she is confident they were being put right.(AFP/Sabah Arar)
Criticizing America about the things in the article she criticized seem to be point on. Did anyone really think that the military would do everything right. Sure there were errors, and there most certainly will be more.
This is a fluid situation, but the goal is clearly defined. We're gonna screw up here and there. The sooner we can transfer power to the Iraqis the less blame we should agree to take. We got ourselves into this, and should take ultimate responsibility for everything - good and bad - that stems from our policies. As long as we fix what we screw up everything will be all right.
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