Rice Says Iraq Has Entered 'Time of Hope'

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 15, 2008 - Iraq is entering a "time of hope," as its citizens' continue to step forward, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a previously unannounced trip to Baghdad today. Rice, who is traveling with President Bush on his trip to the Middle East, broke off from the party in Saudi Arabia for meetings with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Mahmud Zebari in Baghdad.

President Bush said during a media availability in Riyadh that Rice's trip was to encourage Iraqi leaders to continue to make political progress.

"It seemed to make sense that she ... go and sit down with the leaders and encourage them to continue making progress," the president said.

The Iraqi legislature had passed a de-Baathification law to make it easier for some members of the country's former regime to work with the new government, and is working on revenue-sharing as well as hydrocarbon and election laws.

"I was in the neighborhood, and I thought I should stop by," Rice said during a news conference in Baghdad with Zebari.

Rice said that at every stop the president has made during his trip, he has been asked about the situation in Iraq.

The president "has talked about the importance that Iraq's neighbors support a democratic and unified Iraq," Rice said. "The efforts that are being made here toward democracy and reconciliation are critical, not just for the future of Iraq, but for the future of the region and indeed for the future of the world."

Rice said the current plan to redeploy four brigades of U.S. soldiers back to the United States by the summer still stands. A fifth brigade combat team already has redeployed. What happens to U.S. troop levels in Iraq after that will depend on progress on the ground, she said.

The president's decision will be based on advice from commanders after the situation is "assessed in real terms," Rice said. The assessment will include the capabilities of the Iraqi forces and the capabilities of the enemy.

"The president is going to make those decisions based on what is needed to continue the progress that has been seen," she said. "But he has said that he believes we are on track for the initial drawdown that (Army) General (David H.) Petraeus talked about back in Washington. Anything further he'll have to look at."

Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, made his recommendations in a September report to Congress.

The president's Middle East trip is happening at a time of hope in Iraq, Rice said. Security progress is the most noticeable, "but I must say from the time that I was here a month ago, I've seen also progress on the political front, particularly in the reconciliation that the Iraqi people themselves are carrying out at the grassroots (level)," she said. "You are seeing citizens emerge who are determined to fight the extremists, the terrorists, the foreign fighters who have been a scourge to this country and have endangered the lives of Iraqis and stability of this country."

As the citizens are fighting back and taking control, Iraqi provincial leadership is emerging and moving forward, she said. "I also have had discussions with the national leadership during my time here, and there seems to be a spirit of cooperation to move forward on the national front as well," she said.

Iraqi and U.S. leaders are working on a long-term treaty between the two nations, Rice and Zebari said.

"Until we are able to stand on our feet, the United States is a strategic and strong ally to Iraq," Zebari said through a translator. "The United States has similar agreements with other Arab states."

The secretary noted that the United States has been an important stabilizing force in the Middle East and Persian Gulf for decades. "We look forward to a relationship with Iraq for the long term that would be befitting of friends that have sacrificed together to bring into being this democratic Iraq, and to contributing to the stability of Iraq and the stability of this whole region," she said.

Gates, Rice to Reaffirm U.S. Ties to Gulf Region

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

July 30, 2007 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said his rare and possibly unprecedented joint trip here with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sends a message that the United States has no intention of cutting long-term ties in the region. "I think that it is a statement, first of all, of the importance of this region in terms of U.S. vital interests and the importance we attach to reassuring our friends out here of our staying power," Gates told reporters traveling with him.

The two Cabinet members will meet tomorrow in Sharm el-Sheikh with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The council includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and works to strengthen their cooperation in broad areas, including security. Jordan and Egypt will send representatives to the meeting, too.

Gates told reporters he has four goals for the conference. First and foremost, he said, is "to reaffirm that the Persian Gulf and the Middle East are an enduring vital interest to the United States and that we will continue to have a strong presence in the region, as we have for decades," he said.

The secretary said he also seeks "to intensify our dialog with friends on long-term regional political and security issues." Unlike his previous visits to the region, which centered heavily on Iraq, Gates said he expects a much broader dialog this time that will include Iran, al Qaeda, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Syria, Lebanon, proliferation and other issues.

Gates also said he hopes "to explore new initiatives to strengthen and expand existing security relationships and opportunities for further cooperation among states in the region." He said he intends to see if there's an interest in pursuing dialog on ways to strengthen existing bilateral security relationships.

Finally, he said he wants to reassure regional countries that U.S. policies in Iraq "have had and will continue to have regional stability and security as a very high priority," he said.

A senior defense official speaking on background told reporters the talks are expected to focus heavily on Iraq and encouraging its neighbors to do more to support its new government.

"Instability in Iraq will negatively affect the stability of the region as a whole, and so it is in these countries' own interest to try to bring about stabilization of the political and security situation in Iraq," he said. "And that is a message we will be carrying."

Concerns about Iranian interference in Iraq, its nuclear programs and its ambitions in the region also are expected to weigh heavily in the discussions. There's "broad concern" about Iran, particularly now that two forces that previously countered its ambitions, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq, are both gone, the official said.

"So I would be one to argue it is in your interest to strengthen the government in Baghdad and embrace it in the Arab would so that it is an obstacle to Iranian influence and not a bridge," the official said he will tell participants at the conference.

But the visit is not what the official called "a Johnny-one-note trip" that will be limited to Iraq and Iran. "We also are going to be talking quite straightforwardly about how we can enhance cooperation bilaterally and maybe even multilaterally in terms of defense capabilities," the official said.

U.S. to Increase Civilian Advisory Role in Iraq, General Says

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 19, 2007 – Stepping up civilian advisors' role in Iraq is a key part of President Bush's diplomatic strategy to stabilize the country, the chief operations officer for the Joint Staff said here. In a Jan. 17 interview, Army Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute cited Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Middle East mission as an important part of the equation.

"The most prominent feature on the diplomatic angle is ... Secretary Rice right now traveling in the Middle East," Lute said. "(She is) offering fresh initiatives and seeking Arab support for the American way forward in Iraq."

Equally important is an initiative to embed groups of interagency civilians with brigades at combat level, Lute said.

"(Brigades) will receive the injection of a State Department expert, an economics expert, a law and order expert," Lute said. "They will physically join the brigade team."

Lute also explained the command-and-control arrangement of the embedded U.S. interagency partners. "While they still work for an American chain of command, they are living, sleeping, fighting alongside their Iraqi host unit," he said. "Those advisors are embedded there 24/7."

Additional civilian input is "one of the things that have been most positive in terms of feedback from the field," he said.

He added that interagency partners will help rebuild parts of Iraq that have been secured by military forces. "The 'build' phase that follows 'clear' and 'hold' will have increased promise," he said, "because we'll be teamed with interagency capacity down at the very lowest tactical levels."

Lute said the combined expertise of military, plus diplomatic, economic and legal advice will function like a "patchwork quilt, ... where each of the parts reinforces the other."

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