Ambassador Underscores Significance of Iraq's Upcoming Elections

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28, 2005 - Iraq's upcoming national elections will have a major impact on the country, forming a new government that "will act like a magnet and draw people in," the Defense Department's representative to Europe and adviser to the U.S. mission to NATO predicted today.

The Dec. 15 elections will create a new government expected to be seated for the next four years, during which it will "stake out the future for Iraq," Ambassador Evan Galbraith said at the Heritage Foundation here.

"It's the most important political event that's taken place in the Middle East ... in some time," he said.

By bringing together the Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis in a unified government with its new constitution and the backing of U.S. military firepower, the new Iraqi government "is going to be a pretty powerful instrument," Galbraith said.

"And that's a fairly awesome thing to think about when you're plotting to engage in its overthrow," he said.

Galbraith predicted that Iraqis "will want to get on the bandwagon" and support the new government. "They will see that this thing is going to work," and recognize that supporting the insurgents is a losing proposition, he said.

While the political progress under way won't completely eliminate the insurgency, it will help persuade those on the fence to support the new government, he said.

Galbraith was quick to note that Iraq's fledgling government may encounter some "stumbles" along the way as it takes its place on the world stage.

"The challenges are myriad, but the preponderance of evidence is one for success," he said. "And this is an ... underappreciated concept: the significance of this new government ... in the Middle East."

Biography:

Ambassador Evan Galbraith [http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2001/b09072001_bt408-01.html]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Nov2005/20051128_3466.html.

====================================================

Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.

====================================================
Visit the Defense Department's Web site for the latest news
and information about America's response to the war against terrorism: "Defend America" at http://www.DefendAmerica.mil.

====================================================

Unsubscribe from or Subscribe to this mailing list:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/subscribe.html
====================================================