Guess Who Didn't Come to Annapolis
Karl, Jonathan
Guess Who Didn’t Come to Annapolis Bush asked the Iraqis to attend the peace conference. Why didn’t they? BY JONATHAN KARL With security improving in Iraq, it’s possible for the first time in...
...Amazingly, they had an easier time dealing with Syria, a government that barely has diplomatic relations with Washington...
...That is not to say that an independent Maliki government is going to be controlled by Iran, but it isn’t controlled by the United States either...
...We thought that they could have made a positive contribution...
...and Israel...
...Syria was in town, and Maliki still hadn’t made a decision...
...Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari wanted to go, but Maliki refused to make a decision on whether to participate...
...Still unable or unwilling to make the decision, Maliki convened a secret cabinet meeting on the day of the conference to vote on whether to allow alSumaydi to go to Annapolis...
...And unlike the American embassy, where almost none of the diplomats speak the language and almost all serve for terms of only 12 months, the Iranian embassy is staffed with people who have spent their entire careers working with some of Iraq’s Shia political leadership, dating back to when those leaders were in the opposition—many of them in exile in Iran...
...Asked at the conference about Iraq’s absence, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, “We invited them...
...No one will say how the vote broke down, but a senior offi cial tells me it wasn’t even close...
...a senior offi cial revealed that the vote wasn’t even close...
...Senior offi cials lobbied hard, making the case that Iraq needed to be there to show the world that a maturing Iraqi government is ready to be a regional player...
...An Iraq that can stand on its own is an important goal for the United States, but we shouldn’t be surprised when it doesn’t stand exactly where we want it to...
...The second largest embassy in Baghdad is the Iranian embassy...
...Jonathan Karl is senior national security correspondent for ABC News...
...The Iraqis didn’t turn down the invitation, they simply failed to respond to it...
...They chose not to come...
...Iran loudly condemned the conference and called for a boycott...
...In the end, the one Arab country the Iranians seems to have had enough infl uence to convince to boycott the conference was Iraq...
...offi cials still did not have an answer...
...And it would be an Arab country willing to deal with Israel...
...It was then suggested that the Iraqi ambassador to the United States, Samir al-Sumaydi, represent Iraq at the conference...
...Well, Iraq was the major no-show at the Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in Annapolis last month...
...In fact, the Bush administration did more than just invite Iraq to Annapolis...
...The Kuwaitis were also a no-show, but they were not lobbied to attend like the Iraqis...
...It would be a reliable ally of the United States...
...Unable or unwilling to decide whether the Iraqi ambassador should go to Annapolis, Nuri al-Maliki convened a secret cabinet meeting on the day of the conference to vote...
...It would be democratic...
...The Annapolis conference was designed in part to isolate Iran, the only country in the region not invited...
...The public reason they gave for nonattendance was a “scheduling confl ict...
...Long ago, advocates of the war hoped the post-Saddam government would be in the vanguard of a changed Middle East...
...President Bush personally asked Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to send a representative— a fact the White House does not like to advertise...
...Ambassador al-Sumaydi, his briefcase packed, was ready to take the drive to Annapolis as soon as he had a green light from Baghdad...
...But there is a more convincing reason: Iran...
...The United States has 160,000 troops in Iraq, but Iran also has real infl uence...
...Maliki faced a dilemma: skip the conference and offend the United States or attend the conference and offend Iran...
...A majority voted against attending...
...On the morning of the conference, frustrated U.S...
...As Iran’s government spokesman said after the conference was announced, “Regarding our brotherhood relations with Islamic countries, such as Saudi Arabia, we are not interested in these countries standing next to the U.S...
...A majority of the cabinet voted against attending...
...The conference date approached, and it became too late for Zebari to travel to Annapolis...
...BY JONATHAN KARL With security improving in Iraq, it’s possible for the first time in a long time to think about the role a sovereign Iraq will play in the Middle East...
Vol. 13 • December 2007 • No. 15
