After Khalilzad…what do Iraqis want from Crocker?
Baghdad, March 31 (VOI) – Dealing with all Iraqi parties in total neutrality, avoiding interference in Iraq’s internal affairs and respecting Iraq as a sovereign country were the most important demands from Iraqi politicians for the new U.S. ambassador, Ryan Crocker.
Crocker, who assumed his new post as U.S. ambassador to Iraq on Friday, succeeding Zalmay Khalilzad, is the fourth U.S. diplomat in the war-torn country after the regime was changed in April 2003.
Several politicians agreed that Khalilzad was playing more than just the role of ambassador for his country and used to interfere in Iraq’s internal affairs, which was viewed by many as the main reason behind his failure.
Sami al-Askari, a member of parliament from the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC), said there are a few things the new ambassador should take heed of. “The new ambassador should steer clear of bias for one Iraqi party at the expense of others and realize that he is dealing with a country that enjoys sovereignty,” Askari told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
He said any behavior that suggests the United States is interfering in political decision-making in Iraq, even on the outward, will tarnish the Iraqi government’s reputation and mar the political process and Iraqi-U.S. relations.
Askari, who belongs to the largest parliamentary bloc, holding 130 out of the total 275 seats, criticized “the former ambassador’s love of the camera.” He added that Khalilzad wanted to show himself off in front of the cameras at each meeting he attended with Iraqi political leaders, which had a negative impact, giving the impression that the U.S. was interfering in Iraq’s decision-making process.
The former U.S. ambassador’s background as a Sunni Muslim was perhaps the reason why some suspected his neutrality.
“Unfortunately for Khalilzad he was a Sunni Muslim. If he said something in favor of the Shiites, the Sunnis would accuse him of betrayal, and if he praised the Sunnis the Shiites would accuse him of favoring his sect,” said Askari, adding that this problem would not be experienced by Crocker, a non-Muslim, who may have a better chance of being viewed as neutral. Hussein al-Falluji, a member of the Iraqi parliament for the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), stressed the need to have a new ambassador with a strong personality who is able to “deal with political opponents and problems originally created by the U.S. administration so that a common understanding can be reached in the future.” Falluji said Khalilzad was not successful in managing the crisis in Iraq.
Mohsen al-Saadoun, a member of parliament for the Kurdistan Coalition, the second largest parliamentary bloc, said the new ambassador must take into account the interest of all Iraqis. “He (the ambassador) is also required to keep his distance from interfering in Iraq’s political affairs and to maintain the good ties binding Iraq and the United States,” said Saadoun. Crocker, 57, was his country’s envoy to Pakistan. He is a career diplomat and well-versed about Middle Eastern affairs. He served the greatest part of his diplomatic career in Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Syria, Iran and Egypt. Crocker speaks fluent Arabic.
Source: Aswat al Iraq
This article is from Aswat al Iraq http://www.aswataliraq.info/
The URL for the original of this story is: here
Indexed under: Aswat Al Iraq Features