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| Hillary Clinton says US will back Iraq after troops pullout | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 26 2009, 09:49 AM (89 Views) | |
| Sayf Udeen Ismaeel | Apr 26 2009, 09:49 AM Post #1 |
Icon by meagan_chelsea @ LJ
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Hillary Clinton says US will back Iraq after troops pullout US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has promised that America will give Iraq the support it needs to stay secure amid simmering violence just weeks before a planned US troop drawdown. Mrs Clinton landed in the Iraqi capital today a day after two suicide attackers killed at least 55 Shi'ite pilgrims at a shrine in the city, and less than 48 hours after a similar attack killed dozens in a northern town. A series of bombings and suicide attacks have claimed more than 250 lives so far this month ahead of a June 30 deadline for US troops to leave Iraqi cities and major towns. Mrs Clinton, paying her first visit to Iraq as America's top diplomat, took questions from an invited audience of about 140 Iraqis, including students, teachers and members of women's groups, some of whom expressed security fears. "We are not going to tell you how to resolve internal political issues, you have to decide that," Mrs Clinton said at the US Embassy organised event. "But we will continue to work very, very hard to give you the tools to make sure that you have a secure country." Mrs Clinton, however, appealed for national unity and said only Iraqis could ensure stability in the long-term and it was up to them to decide if former elements of Saddam Hussein's regime could join the security forces. "The more united Iraq is, the more you will trust the security services," she said. "The security services have to earn your trust. But the people have to demand it." Mrs Clinton, who flew in from Kuwait, earlier met top American military commanders including General Ray Odierno, the top US army officer in Iraq, to hear his assessment of the current security situation. "I want his evaluation of what these kinds of rejectionist efforts mean and what can be done to prevent them by both the Iraqi government and the US forces," Mrs Clinton said, referring to the suicide attacks. She was greeted at Baghdad international airport by the newly-arrived US ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill, the US military commander Admiral Michael Mullen, and Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. Mrs Clinton also held talks with the UN secretary general's special representative to Iraq Staffan de Mistura and was scheduled to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani. She told reporters travelling with her that the recent spate of bombings and suicide attacks did not yet compare to the levels of violence that brought the country to the brink of civil war in 2006. "I see no signs of that at this time, in part because in any conflict there comes a point; sometimes it's far later than we would wish, where a critical mass of people on all sides just says enough," Mrs Clinton said. "The suicide bombings that are lethal and terrible in the loss of lives and injuries they inflict are, in an unfortunately tragic way, a signal that the rejectionists fear that Iraq is going in the right direction." Mrs Clinton's trip came two weeks after President Barack Obama visited Baghdad and warned that the next 18 months in Iraq would be "critical". http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25387904-23109,00.html |
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| Redneck | Apr 27 2009, 04:12 AM Post #2 |
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This is really no surprise. Looking through American history, countries we invade we tend to have some influence with them for decades. |
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9:25 PM Nov 28
