Iraqi Envoy Calls on U.S. to Strengthen Relationship

Ambassador Faily recently spoke with The New York Times to discuss the relationship between the United States and Iraq.

Ambassador Faily recently spoke with The New York Times where he discussed the relationship between the United States and Iraq and how the two countries can continue to work together to defeat terrorism:

“The United States has an opportunity to strengthen its relationship, in cementing what you already started in democratization and development,” Mr. Faily said. “You have already invested in Iraq. You have already had your boys shed blood in Iraq. We have already shed our own blood, and we have already invested heavily in our own country.”

Mr. Faily said that Americans were no longer viewed as occupiers in Iraq, and that both the United States and Iraq have enormous shared interests, particularly in combating Al Qaeda’s presence in Iraq and in the war that has engulfed neighboring Syria. “We also have a realization that the United States has influence in the region,” he said. “And sometimes our frustration is that it doesn’t utilize that resource and that influence to the benefit of both countries — Iraq and the United States, out of what we called, before, fatigue.”

But Mr. Faily also said that the United States should be more generous in providing other forms of assistance to Iraq, including greater intelligence sharing about security threats; more people-to-people exchanges in fields like culture, education and health care; and expedited delivery of billions of dollars in weapons and equipment that the Iraqi government has ordered.

To Read the article in Arabic click here