Zalmay Khalilzad: "Success is possible"

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1602881,00.html



"Success is possible," said U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, referring to America's operations in Iraq during his valedictory press conference in Baghdad's Green Zone. His 21-month stint over, the Afghan-born Khalilzad is now headed for his next assignment: chief of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations. Smiling in front of reporters in a navy suit and fine, light-blue silk tie, he looked like a man refreshed rather than a diplomat with precious few victories to point to.

Khalilzad was instrumental in convincing the Sunni parties to participate in the December 2005 elections. But many of the promises that brought Sunnis into the government then have not been realized. The constitution, the writing of which was largely boycotted by Sunnis, has not been amended. And there has been nothing done to reform the vetting process that has blackballed many qualified officials who were tainted by complicity in Saddam Hussein's regime. Indeed, there have been several dramatic low points in Khalilzad's tenure in Baghdad: the bombing of the Samarra shrine that unleashed an unprecedented wave of ethnic cleansing and the mishandled execution of Saddam.

Khalilzad can at least tout disasters that have not happened as accomplishments: The Sunnis did not leave the government; the country managed to pull back from the brink of a full-blown civil war; the Iraqi parliament — however ineffective — did not dissolve. During the hour-long press conference, Khalilzad, who has made an art of providing quotes so diplomatic and academic that they cannot be sound-bitten, hedged every statement with a well-chosen adjective. Nevertheless, on balance, he saw hope ahead. He said the country was "fundamentally" heading in the right direction. He described himself as "cautiously" optimistic.