Morning, i am Vice President of studies at the Carnegie Endowment for international peace. I want to thank you for joining us for this important discussion of the future of her rack of iraq. And for joining the conversation with his excellency, ambassador lukman faily. Cover much of the events in iraq in the last monthm, including the capture ofos mosul;. Ago, they announced the of part of the iraqi state. These development have put Prime Minister maliki under intense pressure, international as well as domestic, to form a new government as soon as possible. Hopefully, that will include representation from the sunnis in order to give the government additional credibility in its fight against isis. Host, we are honored to ambassador lukman faily to discuss the challenges facing a new inclusive government as well against isis. Sincebassador has served since july, 2010. He also lived in the United Kingdom for 20 years working in Information Technology sector and serving in Senior Management positions for two Major National companies. Thank you again for joining us today. Let me remind everyone that the ambassador has asked to speak wrigley for 10 minutes in order to allow the opportunity for you asask as many questions possible. He will have to leave at 1130 a. M. I would appreciate it if we would all remain seated while the ambassador leaves right of course,emarks and the questionandanswer session. Faily. Dor fa [applause] good morning, everybody. Thank you very much for introducing me. And thank you for giving me an opportunity to talk at this procedure split space. It is always an honor and opportunity for me to be here. Also, an important time where my country is coming back as the focal point in d. C. As you mentioned, the iraqi people are under direct assault by those who are committed to safe haven that does not respect any viable rule of law and target anybody, including many muslim brothers and sisters who do not swear allegiance to their extremist views. Another level in which isis declared them as themselves as the only rule in toq, which is a challenge the region and to the globe. This cannot be solved militarily. The current climate can only be solved through a conference of strategy that includes security, political, and Economic Reforms as well. Minister has stated that they are committed to building a National Unity government that embraces and empowers all segments of the Iraqi Society regardless of religious ethnicity and regional backgrounds. Of religion, ethnicity, and regional backgrounds. I will talk about Security Issues as well as our relationship with the United States. The Prime Minister has already rejected the idea of forming a as a violation of the constitution in april 30 election. There have been many calls for us to have a salvation government and other types of governments. Establishing a government outside the political process would undercut votes cap cast by millions of iraqis and potentially further destabilize the country. Ironically, forming a government that disregards the election the sameould promote thing isis is trying to perpetrate. Undermined or alienate wouldacy and institutions lose confidence in the elected government and it would send a message that the issue should be resolved with bullets and not with ballots. We are in the process of forming a new government and it must not be delayed the recent terrorist gains. It Means Nothing and violence means everything. Elected parliament, which met early today, will start the formation of the government as a top priority. Build working to institutions of government that. An serve all of the people that process is underway and will not be undermined. Meanwhile, iraqi people are under immediate and direct , an immediate and direct threat from the terrorists. And the terrorist threat must be defeated. Thehe security aspects, Prime Minister and National Security team are working to counter the current threat to the iraqi people. We desperately need the United States assistance to stand aside. The Iraqi Government welcomes the decision from obama to send 300 troops of counterterrorism experts to support our armed forces. However, the institutions on the the situation on the andnd is developing rapidly there are potential regional implications. The third is the common name been common enemy of the andi people, our neighbors [indiscernible] and we must work to defeat that. We believe that immediately , includingassistance targeted airstrikes, are crucial to deal with the growing threat. Time is not on our side. Nor on our neighbors side, nor on the United States side. It will only benefit the terrace. The terrorists. Relationship is governed by this strategic framework agreement, which we do not have it any other country. Naturally, we have always saw positive relations with other. Ountries as well precarious situation we are now facing, it is to deploy offers of help from any of the countries our position. Fought theays resistance, however the situation on the ground may require us to support acquire more support from our neighbors. Our first choice was to buy americanmade f16s, but the process of delivering those does not meet the immediate threat we face. We will nevered, choose to replace the partnership we have with the United States with any other country. Morevernment has purchased than 10 billion worth of necessary military equipment from the United States and we have promised to buy more. Tiedountries are forever together, because of the lives weve lost and the treasures we spent in both countries in the last decade. Finally, i cannot underscore the fact enough that the people of iraq are being threatened, intimidated, and to and killed by terrorists that are committed to maiming as many innocent people as possible, regardless of their religion, ethnicity, identity, in an continue the terrorist cause. As is not just a threat to iraq, but to the region and beyond. If allowed to consolidate their gains further, isis will have a safe haven in the heart of the middle east spanning western , fromrom two syria which they can launch attacks on the iraqi people, its neighbors, and eventually beyond. Thank you. I will he happy to answer any questions. [applause] thank you very much, ambassador. You started your talk by emphasizing that problems cannot be solved militarily, but i cannot help but notice that most of years each youre talking about military issues. You have not given us most of talkingech you are about military issues. You have not given us a clear vision of what will happen in her country to get iraq out of this crisis. Today, many people fear the future of iraq as a state, not just because of isis, but also because of the kurds now undeclared intention to basically separate from iraq. We are talking about a situation in which the very concept of iraq as we know it might be in danger. You can enlighten us about the political process that you see that could convince all the side, the sunnis, the kurds, as well as the shiites, of that they want a unified iraq more than anything else. Immediate one where we need to change the terrain on the ground more effectively. We are all aware that we need to have a political process andgside a military process development. However, the military support from the United States in which we have a strategic agreement that talks about the democratic protection about the democratic processes of iraq. The integrityout of the state being at risk, i do mean that. Iraq has never faced such a challenge since its foundations as a state in a early 1920s. For that as you mentioned, there are a number of Players Behind that. What is the social cohesion . The other is the aftermath of the dictatorship and its impact of on society. It destroyed the middle class and affected the fabric of society. And most importantly, it did not give the society a vision of what it means to be an iraqi. The shia say they were ethnically cleansed. The sunnis say they were marginalized. You have that issue. We have past 10 years, tried to bring those communities into a cohesive, effective government. And we have challenges to that. The effectiveness of parliament, the fragmentation of the political processes in iraq, those are all challenges that we ow however what we face now is different altogether. It has to do with terrorists that do not believe in any does nothesion and believe in the other, and does not expect other. That is the key threat. Not home grown, but transnational. Which means it will have an impact, if not already, on the region and the globe. The iraqis hav own domestic challenges back home, yes. We move one step forward, two steps backward. We knew that. And that is natural for a new democracy. It just takes time. Is in the the balance areaing our agreements or disagreement, im ok with that. But when you have threat from terrorist organizations who have access to any type of wealth, cash, itil, or actual can damage the region and the globe. This is what we are talking about now. It is not an issue of internal dominance. Yes, the kurds have their ambitions. These issues will be resolved in due time, provided it is a mutual process, which we have agreed on. Bearing in mind that in any other society, having such an parliamentety taking and elections place, all signs that people want democracy. And the me say again, the threat is immediate to us and to the region. This is what has to be talked about today. The other issues will take significant time. We are not disregarding them, but we are saying, there have to be priorities. Clear, thethings isis advancement has happened in where there is marginalization and not necessarily because isis has a lot of military power. In your view, does iraq see the defeat of isis as a necessary first before a political process is established . Or do you see the work the two working in parallel . They are in parallel. The Political Parties are more or less pushing back on the lack of development, the challenges , and they are seriously fighting back on that. We need to have a political process alongside the military process. Thater the issue is not on track. Truck it is manageable. With the military, which means that we have to mobilize the people. We have challenges with we theot cope with organization. We cannot play the same game. They go into residential areas. What do we do . We just bombard those residential areas . Crit talked about to willt as a town where we april we were able to clean up the town and the university. But they are able to move in because of boobytraps and everything, which means literally houses are boobytrapped. They are unable to get near their. That type of destruction, we. Annot match that as a state, we cannot match that. We have challenges. We need technology, better capabilities. These have to be priorities to address the threat now. But the political priorities have to go alongside with that. Do the political priorities have to mature . Yes, they have to. It takes time to change a culture. Do we ignore everything because of the political process . I think that is a responsible of the is the response ability of the government and of the region to deal with the threat. The next question might be unfair. The political process that im talking about, if it becomes clear and im saying that the of Prime Minister maliki is going to stand in the way of a unity or national government, is there a scenario where you would still respect the elections, but mr. Malikis party or some coalition might agree, not of course ignoring the results of the election, but in the interest of the iraqi envision ald you with the prime investors name . There is no agreement over the next Prime Minister. The shia bloc has not talked about a name yet because they want to wait until the parliament. Would prime and mr. Maliki get the votes . He has 300 seats in parliament. He can become Prime Minister, yes. Is that set . No, that is democracy. We will have to wait and let it take its shape. Problem for Prime Minister maliki . I would say, no. Premierlenge behind the position is much more than political issues. The Political Class is new to democracy, new to governing. They are taking their time through that. And i would say that the issue should never be personalized. Solution to blame somebody and say, well, its his problem. That is unfair and unrealistic. And i would even say, unachievable. And you would say, the person who has 100 seats should not even put his name forward . I would say we need to work through the process. And i would say that personalizing it would not benefit anyone. It is easy to blame. I think that is a bit unfair. One more question and then we will open it up. The Iraqi Parliament met yesterday to first agree on a speaker, which did not happen. On, i would imagine they also need to agree on a president. From what we are seeing the tendency among the kurds to ,ithdraw from iraq as a state that the parliament would agree on, lets say, a kurdish president , and that the kurds would go along with that even when many believe it is their not goon to separate and back to where they used to be before this crisis . Iraqis on agreed as the constitution, that included the kurds. Aroundarticipation was 95 of the kurds saying, we agree to this constitution. Until a new constitution is talked about, than the current discourse will still mean that the kurds will play a significant role. And the parties have now agreed for the presidency to be occurred, and the speaker to be to be a kurd, and the speaker to be a sunni arab. Yesterday morning, they were and theyto agree disagreed at the last moment as to a person. What they are saying is we allow each block, or eat entity to decide. Two or threeu have for the presidency, two or three for the premiership, and two or three for the speaker. That is a halfway solution. That is ongoing. The kurds have already made it and the kurdish are seekingid they they arence, however still under the constitution. And until a new social contract is defined, we expect the kurds to play a role in the positive clinical process and the security of iraq. That is the obligation on every citizen of iraq who believes in a constitution and political process. That is still ongoing. It has its own challenges, geopolitical as well as other challenges. We will leave that to they a new constitution is talked about. If not, then we expect every citizen to play their respective role. Ok, lets open it up. Please, keep your questions short. Identify yourself. We will take three or four at a time in the interest of allowing as many of you as possible to ask questions. My name is dr. Donna wells also im an expert in russian language internet. What would you say is the objective in isis taking baghdad, and is that an immediate concern . Ok, in the back. Two questions, if i could. The first is the mother has been a lot of negative press in the United States on the russian deal with the fighter jets sent to iraq. I would like it if you could please explain that deal, which to my understanding was made in 2012. In second question is, many the United States has said that this is fundamentally an issue that has to be resolved regionally and not just within iraq. What are we going to do with the regional partners that we have, which include states such as iran, saudi arabia, the gulf monarchies, who according to peter mont sort, former aide to general petraeus, said some of these states believe it is in their strategic interest to have. Little bit of terrorism how do we get a regional comparable cooperation out of that makes . How do we get a Regional Cooperation out of that mix . Do you think it is possible to compare the situation in mali with the situation in iraq with the french army or any other army not ready to come to solve your problems . I will take these questions. Isis and others are ideologists who do not believe in the existence of the other, period. And when i say other, i mean anyone who is different than the traditional understanding of islam. To them, we are too soft. Theyre too on the fridges fringes of islam. Honest, i would think that elsewhere in the globe they would think they have to go above that. That is their belief. They cannot coexist with others, nor can cut nor can others coexist with them. That is the reality. Question of russia, we have already asked again and of the United States for helicopters i think about two years ago was that request. And until recently it was stuck in the congress. And we as a state were stuck between the white house and the congress as we make the decisions and other compromises internally. We never wanted to be part of this internal u. S. Discourse as to additional weapons and strategic capabilities to iraq. However unfortunately, that was the result. The aftermathw is of a slow response to the situation in iraq. Stipulated to, he all levels of the state and the white house in others and others that we needed help. And if we cannot provide you with our own give abilities, you do it. And we will provide you with others. And unfortunately, that was not , or received positively until the situation came up in the last two weeks. And we all lost that opportunity. It was clear cut as to where the bad guys are. As far as the russian purchase, the purchase from russia, ive said before as publicly as we do not have choices. Situations on the ground are forcing us to choose whatever is available to support us on the ground. Iraqe aware of the processes within the United States institutions for approval and there are stakeholders who have to approve. Yes, we expect that. But we expect the other to respect our own choices. From thechoice is need, rather than desire. And i assureg list you that no one would want to go to a secondhand purchase if he can get the best. We have these purchases them prime in the pipeline, but the timeline will not help us. The regional sol