Says Secretary Rice:
The president has outlined a strategy that relies on three main points. First, and most importantly, the Iraqis have devised their own strategy -- political, economic and military -- and our efforts will support theirs. Among Americans and Iraqis, there is no confusion over one basic fact: It is the Iraqis who are responsible for what kind of country Iraq will be; it is they who must decide whether Iraq will be characterized by national unity or sectarian conflict. The president has conveyed to the Iraqi leadership that we will support their good decisions, but that Americans' patience is limited.
Second, we will further decentralize and diversify our civilian presence in Iraq to better assist the Iraqi people. Iraq has a federal government. We must, therefore, get our civilians out of the embassy, out of the Green Zone, and into the field across Iraq to support promising local leaders and promising local structures. This will enhance and diversify our chances of success in Iraq. The mechanism to accomplish this is the provincial reconstruction team or PRT. The logic behind PRTs is simple: Success in Iraq relies on more than military efforts; it requires robust political and economic progress. Our military operations must be fully supported and integrated with our civilian and diplomatic efforts across the entire U.S. government to help Iraqis clear, hold, and build throughout all of Iraq.
We in the State Department fully understand our role in this mission, and we are prepared to play it. We are ready to strengthen, indeed, to surge our civilian efforts. We plan to expand our PRTs in Iraq from 10 to at least 18. In Baghdad, we will go from one PRT to six; and in Anbar province, from one to three, because local leaders are taking encouraging steps there to confront violent extremists and to build hope for their people.
To oversee our economic support for the Iraqi people and to ensure that it is closely integrated with our political assistance and our security strategy, I am pleased to announce today that I am appointing Ambassador Tim Carney to the new position of coordinator for Iraq transitional assistance. Ambassador Carney was formerly our ambassador to Haiti. He has enormous experience in post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction and development. He will be based in Baghdad, where he will coordinate and work closely with his Iraqi counterparts.
Finally, we are anchoring our efforts in Iraq within a regional diplomatic strategy, as the Iraq Study Group recommended. We're supporting The Iraqi government in crafting an international compact with the international community, based on mutual obligations. And we're working with Turkey and Iraq on concerns about terrorism from the Kurdish Workers Party.
Iraq is central to the future of the Middle East. The security of this region is an enduring vital interest for the United States, and our continued leadership in this part of the world will contribute greatly to its stability and success.
Our regional diplomacy is based on the substantially changed realities in the Middle East. Historic change is unfolding in the region, unleashing old grievances, new anxieties and some violence. But it is also revealing a promising new strategic realignment in the Middle East.
The critics were in full shrieking weenie mode before the President even spoke to the nation. You'd think they'd want to at least pretend that they've read the plan before pronouncing it dead on arrival.
Under our system of government, you are free to criticize without knowing what you are talking about. You are even free to think that you know what you are talking about. But it is not ideal.
