23 March 2006
Iraqi Government Formation Will Reduce Violence, Rumsfeld Says
Warns it will take time for the Iraqis to learn to negotiate, compromise
Washington – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says terrorists are trying to prevent the formation of Iraq’s new unity government, but when it finally is in place, sectarian attacks will decrease.
Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon March 23 that the formation of a good, competent, inclusive government in Baghdad that represents and serves all the Iraqi people who voted in recent elections would help reduce the existing levels of violence.
Delays in forming the new Iraqi government have not been helpful, he said, and some of the recent violence might not have happened if Iraqi politicians had reached consensus on the government more quickly.
It is difficult for the Iraqis who lived through the repressive regime of Saddam Hussein to achieve cooperation easily, Rumsfeld said. It will take time, he explained, for them to develop the skills needed to do something they have not had a chance to do before: “negotiate and compromise.”
Admiral Edmund Giambastiani, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- who appeared with Rumsfeld -- talked about progress in Iraq and pointed to the successful procession of Shi’ite pilgrims to the holy city of Karbala.
The peaceful pilgrimage of millions of Shi’ite Muslims marking the end of Arba’een – the final day of mourning for the Prophet Muhammad ’s grandson – took place under the watchful eye of Iraqi security forces, Giambastiani said. (See related article.)
Asked about the duration of the U.S. military presence in Iraq following recent comments by President Bush that indicated U.S. troops would remain there into 2009, Rumsfeld said it depends on how fast Iraqi security forces take on added responsibilities.
“We may be helping train and equip some forces in Iraq in 2009,” he said.
For more information on U.S. policy, see Iraq Update.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)