Obama applauds 'courage' of Iraqi voters

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2010 (AFP) - President Barack Obama paid tribute to the courage of Iraqi voters on Sunday but warned of tough days ahead following the country's second general election since the 2003 US-led invasion.

Stepping out onto the White House lawn to make a special statement on the Iraqi elections, Obama hailed the "strong turnout" and said the day would go down as "an important milestone in Iraqi history.


"Today's voting makes it clear that the future of Iraq belongs to the people of Iraq," said Obama, accompanied in the sunlit Rose Garden by Vice President Joe Biden.

Millions of Iraqis shook off the fear of bomb, mortar and rocket attacks that killed 38 people and turned out to vote in elections seen as a test of the war-shattered state's fragile democracy.

"We know that there will be very difficult days ahead in Iraq and there will probably be more violence, but like any sovereign independent nation, Iraq must be free to chart its own course."

Obama promised the US would stick by its timetable for military withdrawal, halving its forces to 50,000 by the end of August and pulling out all troops by the end of next year.

And in a thinly-veiled reference to Iran, he urged Iraq's neighbors not to meddle in a country that Washington clearly wants to become a democratic beacon in a region where free and fair elections are the exception.

"No one should seek to influence, exploit, or disrupt this period of transition," Obama said. "Now's the time for every neighbor and nation to respect Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Full election results are not expected until March 18, and it will likely take months of horse-trading after that before a new government is formed as no single political bloc is expected to dominate the vote.

Baghdad bore the brunt of Sunday's violence, with around 70 mortars raining down on mostly Sunni areas as people voted in the second parliamentary ballot since US-led forces ousted dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Obama had issued a statement earlier, complementing Iraqis on the courage they had shown.

"We mourn the tragic loss of life today, and honor the courage and resilience of the Iraqi people who once again defied threats to advance their democracy," it said.

Those sentiments were echoed in a statement from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who said: "There is no better rebuke to the violent extremists who seek to derail Iraq's progress.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who lost friends and loved ones, and we salute the determination of the Iraqi people to reaffirm their commitment to democracy and to chart their own future free of fear and intimidation."

General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, which oversees American military operations from the Gulf region to Central Asia, said once the new government was in place, there would have to be talks on the future security relationship.

"There's some sense that they may want to continue a security assistance relationship at least, something we have with virtually all the other countries in the Central Command region," Petraeus told CNN.

Asked if he could envisage a new status of forces agreement where the US maintained some 10,000 to 20,000 troops, the general who oversaw the 2006-2007 surge of US troops in Iraq responded: "I'm not sure I would see something anywhere near that large, candidly.

"I think it would be much more along the lines of a traditional security assistance arrangement, a relationship that may include other countries as well."

Obama reserved special praise for US military personnel serving in Iraq.

"I also want to express my admiration for the thousands of Americans on the ground in Iraq, for our civilians and our men and women in uniform who continue to support our Iraqi partners," the US president said.

"This election is also a tribute to all who have served and sacrificed in Iraq over the last seven years, many who have given their lives."


by Andrew Gully
(c) 2010 AFP