Clinton: ‘Iraqis are ready, willing, and able’
Hillary Clinton, Hoshyar Zebari, April 25, 2009 Today’s the supposed big day: U.S. troops are withdrawing from Iraqi cities. While U.S. troops step down, Iraqi troops are supposed to step up. But can they? Secretary Clinton is confident they can. In a press briefing yesterday, she said, “[T]here is a great deal of confidence in ...
Today’s the supposed big day: U.S. troops are withdrawing from Iraqi cities. While U.S. troops step down, Iraqi troops are supposed to step up. But can they?
Secretary Clinton is confident they can. In a press briefing yesterday, she said, “[T]here is a great deal of confidence in the fundamental ability of the Iraqis to begin to protect their citizens.” She added that despite the bombings of the last few weeks, “our assessment is that the Iraqis are ready, willing, and able to step up to this.”
She — seen above with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in Baghdad on April 25 — called the withdrawal a “significant milestone in the responsible withdrawal of our forces from Iraq and in Iraq’s journey to become a stable, sovereign, self-reliant state.”
FP Best Defense blogger Thomas Ricks, however, doesn’t share Clinton’s confidence. Yesterday he wrote:
Yes, Iraqi units are better trained and equipped than in the past. But that was never the problem. Rather, the point of failure was political. Sunni death squads and Shiite militias knew what they were fighting for, while an Iraqi soldier didn’t necessarily.
He ends ominously:
I hope I am wrong, and that Iraq really is embarking on a new course this week. But I don’t think so. So I think the real question now is: How fast will the unraveling occur?
What’s Clinton going to do if Iraq does unravel? She said the United States remains prepared to help out if needed. Obviously, she’s constrained by whatever President Obama wants to do, but if — heaven forbid — Iraq falls apart, she’ll be facing some pretty tough questions at her future news conferences.
Photo: Hadi Mizban-Pool/Getty Images
Preeti Aroon was copy chief at Foreign Policy from 2009-2016 and was an assistant editor from 2007-2009. Twitter: @pjaroonFP
More from Foreign Policy

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose
Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy
The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now
In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet
As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.