Interview: Hajim Alhasani, President of the Iraqi National Assembly

Over at NRO they're running a good interview with the President of the Iraqi National Assembly. Here are some interesting bits.

"Are you worried that the U.S. will withdraw prematurely?

Premature withdrawal would be harmful for everyone. I think nobody should be thinking right now about withdrawing from Iraq. I think that what happened in the Iraqi elections should encourage the people in the United States to stay the course — because the process is becoming more inclusive, which means that we’re going to find ways to deal with the terrorists, more successfully. And that means decreasing casualty numbers in Iraq. The goals in Iraq are too large to think about withdrawing now.

Withdrawal should be a function of building good Iraqi security forces. That’s how I relate withdrawal to Iraq — the building of good security forces."

"What is the role of Syria in Iraq’s problems now?

Syria played a very damaging role. Right now, I think they are a little bit hesitant to play the same role, after all these things have happened to them. But definitely Syria did some great damage to Iraq, after the fall of Saddam.

What is the role of Iran?

You have to understand, a lot of Iraqi politicians — they lived in Iran. They have a relationship with the Iranians. Iran is a major player right now, in Iraqi affairs. Whether that it positive or negative, we have to determine. Our policy should be not to allow any interference from anyone.

What is the role of the U.N.?

The U.N. is very supportive right now. There’s a much different U.N. in Iraq now than we used to have. They played a very positive role in the last election."

Read the whole thing

http://www.nationalreview.com/impromptus/impromptus200602090818.asp