U.S. envoy in Baghdad says Iraq violence is not civil war

WASHINGTON – America’s top envoy in Baghdad on Tuesday denied that Iraq is now embroiled in a civil war but acknowledged growing concern that sectarian clashes could derail the new government if violence is not brought under control. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad also said the new security crackdown in Baghdad has been a disappointment and is being reviewed to make “adjustments.”

“I do not believe that what’s happening could be described … as a civil war. But there is significant sectarian violence, there’s no question about that,” he said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “There is a risk that the sectarian conflict will expand, state institutions will be overwhelmed. And that’s what needs to be avoided.” For now, however, he said the government is holding together, and political parties are committed to trying to prevent a full-blown war.

Khalilzad also warned that a “precipitous” U.S. withdrawal could ensure a sectarian war drawing in neighboring states, disrupting oil supplies and expanding current fighting into a regional conflagration. The next six months will be critical to the transition, he said.

“Given the risks of – kind of an abandonment strategy for Iraqis, for the region and for the world, we need to do everything prudently we can to help them stand on their own feet, contain the violence,” the envoy said.

Khalilzad, in Washington to give briefings and organize a visit by new Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, also said the United States and Iraq have set up a new commission to outline terms and conditions for the U.S. withdrawal of troops, bringing Iraq into the decision-making process for the first time. Khalilzad and Gen. George Casey Jr., the U.S. commander in Iraq, will meet with al-Maliki and other top Iraqi officials when he returns to Baghdad to begin the process.

Khalilzad’s comments came on the same day that two Democratic senators just back from Baghdad warned that Iraq is close to civil war. Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., Del., who is ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and has visited Iraq seven times, described Baghdad as “a city in tatters.”