U.S. in no hurry to leave

last updated 8 January 2015

Baghdad

Iraqi self-government can’t be rushed, Secretary of State Colin Powell said this week on a visit to Baghdad. Rejecting a French proposal that Iraq start governing itself under U.N. auspices within a month, Powell said a new Iraqi government would not be seen as legitimate until elections had been held and a new constitution approved. Members of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council said they hoped to accomplish those things by the middle of next year. “We’re not hanging on for the sake of hanging on,” Powell said. “The worst thing that could happen is for us to push this process too quickly.”