Secretary of State Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq

Stresses President Obama’s Commitment to Its Sovereignty, Stability

by Mary Beth Sheridan

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 25 – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton flew to Iraq on Saturday, stressing the Obama administration’s commitment to the country as a series of horrific suicide bombings fanned fears about its precarious stability.

Clinton’s visit — including scheduled meetings with Iraqi leaders, citizens and the American military–was intended to show that the new U.S. government remains focused on Iraq even as it prepares to draw down its forces here.

"We want to display and reinforce our continuing commitment to the Iraqi people and to the stability, sovereignty and self-reliance of Iraq," Clinton told reporters on the eve of the trip, her first here as secretary of state.

Clinton flew into the Iraqi capital on an Air Force C-17 cargo jet for her unannounced visit. She arrived after two days of suicide bombings that left over 115 people dead in Baghdad and the northern province of Diyala.

While the attacks have alarmed Iraqis, Clinton said she saw "no sign" they could re-ignite the sectarian warfare that ravaged the country in recent years. She described the bombings as "a signal that the rejectionists fear Iraq is going in the right direction."

Violence in Iraq has dropped dramatically since the worst days of the war, with about 27 attacks per day occurring in January, down from 180 in June 2007, according to the Government Accountability Office. That decline is attributed to the U.S. counter-insurgency campaign of the past two years, a cease-fire by many Shiite militants and the decision by many Sunni fighters to switch to the U.S. side.

But the death toll has spiked lately because of the unusually lethal bombings, which have shown insurgents still have the power to obtain explosives and outwit security forces.

Many attacks are believed to be carried out by Sunni insurgents, who recently announced a campaign of violence code-named "The Good Harvest." They appear to be trying to destroy the credibility of the Shiite-led government.

Clinton’s visit comes at a critical time in the Iraqi conflict, which has claimed the lives of nearly 4,300 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

The Obama administration is preparing to begin phrased withdrawals of its approximately 140,000 troops this summer, with all but about 50,000 scheduled to leave by mid-2010.

They will leave a country whose police and army forces doubled in size from January 2007 to October 2008, to over 600,000 members, according to GAO. But the army is still relatively weak, and Iraq is still riven with sectarian tensions and unresolved disputes over oil revenues and land.