The U.S. ambassador to Iraq has described sectarian violence as the main threat to stability and, warning of the global risk from an Iraqi civil war, said the government must act to curb it within six months.Zalmay Khalilzad, in a speech in Washington on Tuesday, also cautioned fellow Americans that a hasty withdrawal could plunge Iraq into civil war and insisted U.S. political leaders must not block offers of amnesty to insurgents who have killed American soldiers if hopes of national reconciliation are to succeed.
"A year ago, terrorism and the insurgency against the Coalition and the Iraqi security forces were the principal sources of instability," he said. "Violent sectarianism is now the main challenge ... It is imperative for the new Iraqi government to make major progress in dealing with this challenge in the next six months."
| We'd like to see progress in six months. But we don't dare draw a line in the sand. Six months or six more years, what matters is that the militias are brought under control, the Sunnis figure out that violence isn't going to get them back into power, and that the furriner jahadis are run off. Oh, and Tater gets mashed. |
"The central goal," he said, of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's reconciliation plan to bridge that divide was to bring Sunni insurgents into politics -- a process that would require former guerrillas to be given amnesty from prosecution.
"Some in the United States reacted negatively to the concept of granting amnesties," Khalilzad said of strong comments by U.S. senators that killers of Americans must be pursued. "We will work with Iraqi leaders to find the right balance between reconciliation and accountability ... There will not be a double standard that grants amnesty to those who killed soldiers in the Coalition but not to those who killed Iraqis."
| That's the problem every time you transition from war to peace. At some point you let go of the small stuff and figure out how to make things work, while ensuring that the people who were the worst are punished for that. |
"A precipitous Coalition departure could unleash a sectarian civil war, which inevitably would draw neighbouring states into a regional conflagration that would disrupt oil supplies," he said. "It could also result in al Qaeda taking over part of Iraq ... This would make the past challenge of al Qaeda in Afghanistan look like child's play."
The Afghan-born Khalilzad, whom some majority Shi'ite leaders accuse of favouring his fellow Sunni Muslims as he tries to mediate, also said Iraq should curb "excesses" in the process of de-Baathification. Many Sunnis feel they are unfairly barred from office for having worked under Saddam's Baath party regime. Also important for quelling Sunni unrest, he said, would be making good on promises to review the constitution drawn up last year in a process largely boycotted by Sunni leaders.
Iraq's neighbours should help in the process, he added, while Syria and Iran need to stop destabilising the country.
| The Syrian contribution might come to a swift and unexpected end in the near future ... |