Ambassador's remarks and public events

Ambassador Ross Wilson Interview with Mithat Bereket, CNN-Turk

January 11, 2006

QUESTION:  Mr. Ambassador, welcome to CNN Turk.  I think the most important aspect of the new US Iraq strategy is the additional troops to be sent there.  Do you think it will help to sort the problem out or just drag the extra troops into never-ending fighting in the country?  How do you see it? 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  First, let me say that I think the intention of President Bush was to lay out a new strategy for the United States and to some extent for the Iraqi leadership.  It is motivated by the clear perception as the President stated that the situation in Iraq is unacceptable, and that failure there will be a disaster for us, for the Iraqi people, and for the region as a whole.  He has…the essence of his strategy is to try to strengthen the moderate center in Iraq and the majority…the great majority of the Iraqi people who are currently victimized by terrorist violence carried out by those who want to overthrow that government and establish what we believe would be a really awful…an awful tyranny, and a terrible state of chaos for the people of that country.  To strengthen that moderate center the President talked about increasing the troop deployments in Iraq and by the Iraqis themselves.  He talked about strengthening and accelerating some of our political and economic assistance there, and he talked about engaging more effectively with Iraq’s neighbors including, I might note, especially with Turkey.  On the specifics of the troop deployments I think that’s an issue that the President and others will be elaborating over the course of the coming days. What he has said is that US forces will be increased by about 20,000 people, largely in Baghdad, where about 80 per cent of the terrorist incidents take place, and a somewhat smaller number in Anbar province where Al-Qaeda and Al-Qaeda activities have been concentrated for a number of months.  In addition to that the Iraqi authorities themselves will increase their deployments in the Baghdad region from about 15 brigades to 18 brigades -- a significant increase on their part.  How well this will be done and carried out I think time will have to tell.

QUESTION:  Some who are critical of the new plan claim it is nothing new.  Can you tell us what the new aspects of this plan are?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Well there are a number of new elements.  With respect to the troop issue I think the most elements are first a significant increase in forces in particular in the Baghdad region.  US forces there I think currently number about 12 or 13,000.  Those forces will be nearly doubled as a result of these deployments.  Second, some of the effective restrictions on what those forces do and how they carry out their activities will be eased.  There is a clear commitment by the Iraqi authorities that these forces -- our forces and the Iraqi forces -- will be used in an even-handed way to go after extremist violence and go after extremist terrorists whoever they are and wherever they are.  And obviously that’s an important component to assuring all of the people in that moderate core of Iraq -- Sunni, Shiite and Kurd -- that live in Baghdad that they will be protected by their government. 

QUESTION:  Street fighting is a difficult task for a regular army.  Security could not have been established in and around Baghdad in the last three and a half years.  How do you think street fighting will affect this new strategy? 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Well, the essence of the strategy that’s been followed in the past has involved efforts to clear particular neighborhoods, regions of Baghdad of terrorists, and then to try to hold them and protect the people that live in those regions from further violence.  But the problem was that there were not enough troops, and that there was political interference as to where exactly those troops would go.  The increase in US and Iraqi forces that will now be sent to Baghdad will enable us to clear and then permanently hold regions that have been cleared of terrorists and the easing of the restrictions on where people can go ensures that we go after the death squads that have been terrorizing the Iraqi people whoever they are and wherever they come from, whatever part of Baghdad they come from.

QUESTION:  Again, some claim that this new strategy is nothing more than a cosmetic effort.  Do you agree with that? 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Well, of course I’m not going to agree with that assertion.  This is a new strategy.  The President has been very clear in laying it out.  It is clear that there is no magic bullet.  There is no new solution that no one ever thought of before that is going to solve everything in Iraq.  By increasing the security presence in particular in Baghdad and in Anbar province, we can address some of the most critical security issues that have hindered Iraq’s development in particular over the last year by accelerating our economic assistance, by decentralizing our efforts more effectively, by getting dispersed Iraqi moneys that have been allocated for economic development projects and job creation projects we can help to support the domestic economy and the revival of a sense of prosperity and hope among the Iraqi people.  And by engaging more effectively with the international community, through the international compact process through the work with Iraq’s neighbors and in particular through work with Turkey that the President referred to we think that we can open some new doors.  By pursuing all of these elements we can open some new doors and new opportunities recognizing, as the President said, there will continue to be bloodshed, there will continue to be difficulty.  The goal is to try to put Iraq on a more positive path.

QUESTION:  The Iraq Study Group has urged America to immediately engage in talks with Iran and Syria for support for stability in Iraq.  There was no mention of it in the President's speech.  Does this mean more upcoming pressure on Iran and Syria?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Well, I think one important thing I would say is that the President made a very important speech last night.  There will be further remarks by Secretary Rice, by Secretary Gates and others in the coming couple of days.  And then there will be work over the next several weeks to elaborate and implement this new strategy that the President has laid out.  Of course the President did not touch on every single element of what it is that we are going to be trying to do in the coming weeks.  We will see now how that develops.  The President did highlight the importance of the international peace and the international diplomacy connected with Iraq, in particular he highlighted Turkey as I have said before.  With respect to Iran and Syria, the Iraqi authorities themselves have taken on the task of engaging with the Iranians and the Syrians.  For our part, we believe that both Iran and Syria are part of the problem.  They have continued to allow terrorists and insurgents to operate out of their countries into Iraq, Iran and in particular have been a source of supply for the terrorists and insurgents that are carrying out activities in Iraq.  We would like to see that end.  And the diplomacy that I think you will see and the actions you will see will be designed to bring those things to an end. 

QUESTION:  Does it mean that the new US strategy on Iraq shows Iran more sticks than carrots? 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Well, I don’t know that there were a lot of carrots in our approach to Iran, with, I guess, the sole exception of the carrot that we extended last June with respect to Iran’s nuclear efforts -- the offer to engage in negotiations with them.  I don’t know about…I don’t want to speculate about sticks.  What we want to see is for Iran to change its behavior on a number of issues including to see it be more supportive with respect to Iraq and to the Iraq that the citizens of that country are trying to build. 

QUESTION:  The new strategy also mentions resolving the border problems between Iraq and Turkey.  Does it mean the US will bring more concrete results against the PKK?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Well, I think all of us who are involved with Turkey share the frustration that the Government here has and that the people of this country have with respect to the PKK problem that has gone on for 30 years and claimed tens of thousands of lives.  I think it is very significant that in his speech last night the President referred quite specifically to this.  And he talked about the need for the United States to work more effectively with Iraq and with Turkey to deal with the problem on their border.  That means the PKK.  And I think we will see now in the coming several weeks the fruits of some discussions that are going on in Washington to try to see how we can deal more effectively with this.  I don’t want to make a lot of predictions.  Clearly Turkey has the President’s attention on this matter. 

QUESTION:  Where do you place Turkey in such a strategy -- whether Turkey is in the old "disillusionment" part, or the new "let's do it together" part? 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Turkey has for several years been strongly supportive of the efforts of the Iraqi people and of the efforts of the United States and other Coalition partners to help Iraq to stand on its feet economically, to help Iraq sort through some of its political issues in particular to expand the political process there and in ways that now include, in part as a result of Turkish efforts…now include a significant Sunni component.  Turkey has played a very important role on the economic side.  And I would note there in particular that I was shocked and deeply saddened while I was in Washington earlier this week to hear of this tragic accident that occurred when a Moldovan airplane carrying 30 Turkish contractors into Iraq crashed apparently in a fog or due to other technical problems.  We are deeply saddened about that.  But that kind of thing is illustrative of the positive role that Turkey has played.  We hope and I would expect that Turkey will continue to try to play a positive role in fostering stability and promoting the unity and the territorial integrity of Iraq and in trying to ensure its success as a prosperous, democratic and stable state. 

QUESTION:  How do you evaluate Prime Minister Erdogan's statements on Kirkuk?  Turkey seems very sensitive regarding Kirkuk and the upcoming referendum on the fate of the city.  What is the position of the US Administration vis-à-vis Kirkuk and Turkey's demands?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Kirkuk is one of many subjects where we have consulted closely with Turkey over the course of the last year or more since I have been in this country.  We certainly hear what Turkish authorities have to say.  We share a lot of those concerns about the need for Kirkuk to be dealt with in a reasonably consensual manner that supports and certainly does not detract from the prospects for stability and success in Iraq.  I might note that we have other important consultations coming up in the next several weeks.  State Department Under Secretary Nick Burns will be here next week to continue discussions with the Turkish authorities on Iraq, on Iran, on a host of other subjects.  In February Foreign Minister Gul, Defense Minister Gonul, and the Chief of the General Staff General Buyukanit all plan to visit Washington to continue these discussions.  We share a lot of interest in Iraq.  We share important interest and perceptions I think with respect to Kirkuk.  We both want to be and I think need to be supportive of the Iraqis as they sort through their decisions on these and many other issues.

QUESTION:  Two last questions, one is on the plane crash that has happened in Balad near Baghdad.  Do you have information about the reason of the crash coming from the American base there? 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  All of the information that I have received indicates that this was an accident. It was a crash due to heavy fog in the region that prevented our own aircraft from taking off and landing at that time, and presumably pilot error in trying to land in such very difficult circumstances.  I understand that a group from the Turkish Civil Aviation Authority is going down to Iraq to try to investigate this.  I would expect that our own authorities at the base are also trying to investigate to see if there are any other circumstances that we should be aware of.  Clearly it is a tragedy, and our hearts go out certainly my heart goes out to those who lost their loved ones.

QUESTION:  Why have the US forces raided an Iranian representation office in Erbil, detaining five people? 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I saw there were press reports of this just a few minutes before coming here.  I don’t have any of the detail for you I’m sorry.

QUESTION:  Not even a small bit of information that you can share with us?   

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  No, I don’t, I’m sorry.  All I have is the press report that I saw in the Turkish media.

QUESTION: Thank you very much.

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Thank you.