US wants to encourage American investment in Iraq: State Department spokesperson

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The US wants to foster American economic investment in Iraq, US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told Rudaw on Friday.

“We want Iraq to be a place that American businesses want to invest [in] and feel confident in doing business,” Ortagus told Rudaw TV late Friday, adding that they want to move their current relationship with Iraq to a “new era,”looking beyond military and security issues.

The US has handed over many military bases to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) but provides air support in military operations against the Islamic State (ISIS). 

The comments follow the start of strategic dialogue talks between Baghdad and Washington, in which the US affirmed its commitment to reduce its troop presence in Iraq. 

However, Ortagus said that “we will remain guests of the people of Iraq as long as they will have us in order to ensure the final defeat of ISIS.”

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

 Rudaw: Yesterday, the first round of talks between the US and Iraq took place. Is the State Department satisfied with the outcome of the meeting?

Yes, we are … this strategic dialogue between the United States and Iraq is just the first step. It is a very positive step but this is what we see as the way forward into our more mature relationship with Iraq. We have been present in Iraq for almost two decades, and we have been always very focused on the military and the security aspects. We have done something together - the United States, the Government of Iraq, all of our Coalition partners and the Kurds as well - we have done something incredibly significant in the past few years, which is to defeat the territorial caliphate of ISIS (the Islamic State). That’s incredibly important. It cannot be stated enough and we will remain guests of the people of Iraq as long as they will have us in order to ensure the final defeat of ISIS. Saying that, it is time to move on to a more sophisticated phase of our relationship, and that phase involves focusing on not just military and security, but focusing on the political, the diplomatic, the cultural relationship between our two governments, and focusing on the economic and financial relationship as well.  We want Iraq to be a place that American businesses want to invest [in] and feel confident in doing business, and that’s why we hope to move this relationship forward into a new era.  


According to Iraq’s constitution, balance between ethnic groups  must be considered in the running of the state. In the joint statement, the US emphasizes its support for the return and reintegration of displaced people, especially the smaller components of Iraqi society that were targeted by ISIS. Does this support include the implementation of the constitution which many components of Iraqi society, especially the Kurds, say is not being fully implemented? 

We are certainly going get to get into the weeds on those issues. Not just in Iraq, but around the world, making sure that Internally Displaced People are respected and are allowed to go back to their homelands - that’s something we think is important for security and stability. When you look at this relationship holistically, it is important that the United States and all of Iraq’s neighbours and countries that have vested interests in Iraq are focused on the stability and security of Iraq. That means focusing on bringing all elements of society and all groups together. We know that not every country has Iraq’s best interests at heart. We know Iran, for example, often tries through their Shiite militias to foment sectarianism, to drive Iraqi against Iraqi. We are against that. We want to bring all sides of Iraqi society together, we want their neighbours to be responsible and the United States wants to remain a positive force for good in Iraq. 


The joint statement emphasises organizing free, fair, and credible elections. Does the US support holding elections as scheduled, or snap elections as per protestors demands?

We are going to keep some of our conversation with our counterparts in Iraq confidential but I would say that holistically what we are supportive of in the United States is a thriving and functioning democracy in Iraq. That’s why we were encouraged by the new prime minister [Mustafa al-Kadhimi] and his team willing to take, so far, these issues seriously. We know that a democracy like the United States and those around the world people are accountable to their governments, and people are accountable to their people and democracies. You have rule of law. You have ease of doing business because businesses know there is a thriving judicial sector, there is a thriving regulated economic sector. All these things are important. So what we want for Iraq is not a country that remains at war. We do not want that. We want the final defeat of ISIS. We want a country that moves into a new era, a country that has a stable and functioning democracy. That is why we are always willing to support the outcome of democracy in Iraq because we believe in the sovereignty of the Iraqi people through the democratic process to choose what’s best for their country, and that is what we will keep pushing with our counterparts in the government of Iraq.  


Since 2010, Iraq has headed from federalism toward a more central state, which contradicts the Iraqi constitution. In the joint statement there is no mention of federalism. Is federalism still important from the US perspective?

I think that what is important for us is to have a thriving democracy…a thriving central government but  I think it is very important to know that the United States seeks to see that all parties, all peoples and all cultures within Iraq are represented fundamentally and fairly within their central government. We also have federalism [in the US]. We have states and local municipalities and we come together in Washington in the central government area. So, it is possible to achieve this but Iraq won’t be able to achieve this as long as they have neighbours that are fomenting unrest in the region, that are trying to foment sectarianism  and to pit Iraqis against each other. So that's why it is so important for us to focus on strengthening democracy and strengthening the ability, through elections, for the Iraqi people to make decisions that are best for their own futures.  


Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the decline in oil prices and problems between Erbil and Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government can’t pay civil servant salaries on time. How much does the US want to end the problems between Erbil and Baghdad? 
 
That’s really something our ambassador and all of our diplomats on the ground will be focused on.  The United States remains the largest humanitarian assistance donor to Iraq, more than any country in the world - that’s something that we are incredibly proud of. I mean it is not just Iraq [that suffers due to the drop in oil prices]. It is countries around the region. The United States as well suffers from low oil prices because we are an exporter and energy exporter as well. So we certainly understand the predicament that many countries, including Iraq, face when you have competing priorities for thinner budgets. That’s something we hope to help the government of Iraq deal with…this is a conversation that we are having, not only with Iraq, but with a lot of countries in the Middle East who face the same competing priorities.  

Interview by Hawraz Golphy

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