In Iraq, violence falls dramatically; US returns to its role of supporter

By ROY GUTMAN

BASRA, Iraq — The tourist ship “Peace” was at anchor in the Shatt al-Arab waterway but southern Iraq’s business leaders were eager to explore new waters when Christopher Hill, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, took the podium Thursday and urged them to project positive energy instead of complaining about all the things that are wrong with Iraq.

After declaring Hill an honorary citizen of Basra, the center of southern Iraq’s oil wealth and home to its major port, Hatim al-Machari, the owner of several publications, went on to welcome the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of his country. “We feel proud that America and the multi-national forces have freed our country from the Saddam (Hussein) regime,” he said.

Three months after U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq’s cities and started packing their bags, violence is down dramatically in Iraq, and the U.S. seems to be returning to a role familiar from postwar Western Europe — that of supporter, protector and mentor.

Iraqi military and civilian officials talk about the United States as a strategic partner in a dangerous neighborhood, the facilitator of future business investments, even the solver of problems in the provinces and the dysfunctional central government.

Ehsan Abdul Jabbar, the head of a local government investment council in Basra, told the crowd of 50 aboard the “Peace” the Americans are staying “to lead Iraq to the place where it can develop, to reach with Iraq the edge of safety.”

Hill agreed with a businessman who asked for help convincing the United Nations to revoke 1991 sanctions that still thwart Iraq’s air and sea transportation. “It’s definitely on my radar screen,” Hill said — just what the audience wanted to hear.

“We are sure that if the Americans are convinced of something they will do it,” someone cried out. The 50 or so businessmen nodded agreement as the mood morphed into that of a revival meeting.

It was the first trip to Iraq’s second-largest city for Hill, a veteran diplomat with experience in Eastern Europe and Korea, since he assumed his post in late April. Hill came to Basra to deliver the “tough love” message that Iraqis must start taking over the management of their own affairs, but his own takeaway was the country’s enormous problems could be solved if Iraqis learn to manage their affairs.

His visit took place on the eve of a U.S.-sponsored conference in Washington that’s expected to attract hundreds of U.S. and foreign investors, as well as some 200 Iraqi businessmen in a delegation led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The top ranking-military officer in Basra, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Jawad Hwaidi, in a separate meeting, expressed gratitude for the hearts-and-minds projects that U.S. forces and civil affairs experts are undertaking and asked the U.S. to help defend Shiite Muslim-ruled Iraq in the face of hostile Sunni-ruled countries.

“Neighboring countries in the area will not like to see a strong and secure Iraq,” he told Hill, singling out Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria.