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Deputy Secretary Zoellick and Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari hold a joint press conference in Baghdad, May 19. (©AP/WWP)
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Washington -- Iraq will be remade and its insurgency defeated by combining political, economic/reconstruction and military elements, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick says.
At a media roundtable in Baghdad May 19, Zoellick called the combination a core concept and noted that "all three elements have to be integrated and aligned."
"This insurgency can't win militarily," Zoellick said. "Its goal is to disrupt and to try to take apart. And therefore the response has to be one that is a combination of political, economic and reconstruction and military in combination."
Turning to Iraq's neighbors and their influence on Iraq, Zoellick noted that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "made it quite clear that … we and others are watching how Syria behaves itself." He said Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari was "quite strong" about the need for "Iraq's neighbors and particularly Syria" not to undermine Iraqi stability.
As for Iranian influence, Zoellick said that even though a number of Iraqi government or parliament officials had ties with Iran over the years, "they are Iraqis, first and foremost." Iraqis are proud of trying to achieve a democracy, he said. Zoellick also pointed out that the question of influence goes in both directions. As true democracy succeeds in Iraq, he asked, what effect it might have on Iran?
Zoellick began his remarks by praising his Iraqi hosts as having "special courage and conviction … putting their lives at risk to build a new country." During the discussion, he said that while traveling in Southeast Asia, "I was pleased about the level of interest … [in Iraq] in Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore, and the desire to be supportive."
He said people are very interested to hear about the new government of Iraq when he travels abroad. He said he tells them that he is "continually impressed … not only with the capabilities of the [Iraqi] people that I meet, but with the courage and conviction of what they're trying to establish here."
The transcript of Zoellick's remarks is available on the State Department's Web site.
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