Iraq’s foreign minister says “there is a new world now” because of the global financial crisis and he hopes it won’t lead to an immediate withdrawal of the 146,000 US troops in his country.
In an interview, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said a precipitous withdrawal could have consequences for the country and the region that everyone would regret afterward.
Zebari was scheduled to meet yesterday with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in New York, where he was attending the UN General Assembly’s annual ministerial meeting.
He said he didn’t have any indications that the US administration was thinking about pushing for a speedier exit from Iraq, where it has spent more than US$550 billion, because of the financial meltdown.
“But this is the logic of the dance,” Zebari said on Friday. “Nobody anticipated this major crisis, and still there are ongoing efforts to overcome it, to contain its impact, bail out some of these companies with a huge infusion of cash. But the crisis is evident everywhere.”
“This has nothing to do with liking this administration or that administration, or this president or that president, something has landed uninvited,” he said. “I think there is a new world now after this crisis, and one has to be realistic about changes in attitudes and policies due to this huge crisis that has affected the world economy.”
US President George W. Bush’s administration is seeking a US$700 billion bailout — the largest in US history — which has raised widespread concern in Congress and fears that the US is on the verge of a major recession.
Asked whether he was concerned that the financial crisis might lead the US government to push for a speedier exit than Iraq might want, as a cost-saving measure, Zebari said: “I don’t know.”
“We hope it would not have a dramatic impact to cause ... drastic and calculated decisions that everybody would regret afterwards,” he said.
By drastic and calculated, was he referring to an immediate withdrawal?
“Exactly, immediate precipitous withdrawal irrespective of any consequences,” Zebari said. “I think there [are] high stakes for everybody involved in the region, that every administration will take account of.”
Iraq’s top diplomat said the government still hoped to sign a long-term security pact with Washington before the US presidential election on Nov. 4.
“We are talking, the Iraqi and American side, and I think the draft agreement is almost done. What needs to be done is some political decisions by the leadership,” Zebari said.
“The window time is closing because we were hoping to get this agreement by the end of July and now we are in September. We haven’t given up hope at all, but really still there is no final agreement,” he said.
The proposed agreement, which has been under negotiation for most of this year, would replace the UN mandate. Any agreement must be ratified by the Iraqi parliament.
The main sticking points include Iraqi objections to blanket immunity for US troops and private contractors and demands for oversight over US forces during raids and detentions.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition