[OESY]

Mr. Khalilzad is the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

[OESY]

The American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, Monday.

[Valin]

bump

[SueRae]

I wish them well and look forward to reading about the ongoing process. 'pressure on neighboring states who foment instability'....The guy is truly a diplomat. This action alone would resolve most of the obstacles.

[joesnuffy]

The future with America is all about who is President and who
runs congress and the senate..

Just like the treaties the 'White Father' (of the moment) made
they were often broken as soon as a new WF came to power..

c'est la guerre

[OESY]

[ValenB4]

Is this guy for real? "The US and the Iraqi government" will do this, that, the other, and so on and so on. Yeah right. Why haven't any of these things been successfully implemented yet, after 2 1/2 years? What could they possibly do differently that they haven't tried before? All of these supposedly great solutions are nothing more than top-to-bottom government planning and management, things that don't work during peace time let alone during a war.

[gpapa]

It is vital that Iraqis build institutions that all communities can have confidence in--that are not instruments of revenge or fiefdoms of patronage of one group or another.....and opposing corruption

A couple of moments of truth in the ambassador's op-ed. Corruption is rampant at all levels of Iraqi society, even in the ranks of the interim government. Judges are as corrupt as everyone else and the judicial system is a mess. It will take a long time, if ever, for the nation formerly known as the Republic of Fear, to create a functioning, stable society in whatever form it chooses. IMO, the only group in Iraq that has a good chance of success are the Kurds, who have over ten years experience in creating a functional society, a working parliament, and the best and most loyal fighters, the peshmerga, to protect their turf.