White House Sees Diplomatic, Political Opportunities

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, left, and Maliki smile at a news conference about Zarqawi's death. The United States wanted Baghdad to make the announcement. (Pool Photo By Samir Mizban)

The killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi opened an opportunity yesterday for the White House to show that its military mission can still prevail in Iraq, and administration officials moved quickly to try to seize the diplomatic and political initiative.

In an early-morning appearance in the Rose Garden to hail Zarqawi's death, President Bush announced that he was summoning his top advisers to an unusual meeting at Camp David on Monday and Tuesday to chart a way forward in Iraq, with the focus on how to deploy American resources to bolster the fledgling government. Troop reductions are not on the agenda, the White House press secretary said.

Administration officials said a range of issues will be on the table, including developing a new security plan for violence-ridden Baghdad, spurring reconciliation between warring Sunni and Shiite populations -- perhaps with some kind of amnesty plan for insurgents -- and the possibility of new international economic assistance for Iraq.

White House officials were clearly elated by the good news from Iraq, which also included the announcement from Baghdad that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had filled critical security posts in the new government. With support for Bush on Iraq at a low ebb, and much of the news in recent weeks dominated by grim reports of sectarian violence and deaths, the day's developments seemed to present a chance to change the story line, bolster public support at home and have a strong launch for the new government.

The Iraq enterprise is now largely in the hands of that country's untested political leaders, and administration officials believe that a successful start -- after six months of bickering and rising violence after the December elections -- is their last reasonable chance to steady Iraq for the foreseeable future.

"There's going to be a window of opportunity for this new government to sink or swim," White House counselor Dan Bartlett said. "They are going to have to demonstrate to the Iraqis and the rest of the world that they are competent leaders who can meet the needs of the Iraqi people."

While Bartlett offered no specific window, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, has put the time frame at six months. In an interview this week with Der Spiegel, a German magazine, Khalilzad said, "The next six months will be critical in terms of reining in the danger of civil war. If the government fails to achieve this, it will have lost its opportunity."

Past opportunities to change the story in Iraq, such as the capture of Saddam Hussein in December 2003, have proved fleeting. Support for Bush on Iraq bumped up after that news, but it quickly receded -- and administration officials were careful yesterday to gird the public for more setbacks, even without Zarqawi in Iraq. "We can expect the terrorists and insurgents to carry on without him," Bush said at the Rose Garden. "We can expect the sectarian violence to continue."

On Capitol Hill, rhetoric was less restrained. "The military has chopped off the head of the snake, and I think we're all going to be much safer as a result," said House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

Boehner also told reporters that the House will consider some kind of resolution next week supporting the mission in Iraq, setting up a vote aimed at embarrassing antiwar Democrats. The Senate could also take up a defense spending bill, and Democrats may look to that as a vehicle to criticize the administration.

Politics aside, lawmakers in both parties expressed satisfaction with the turn of events. "I think any day the headline is anything but another car bombing is a good day," said Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). "Taking out the second-best-known terrorist killer in the world and getting the Ministries of Defense and Interior settled, thereby completing the government, is a good day. Even the most bitter critics of the war have to concede that these are important developments."

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the killing of Zarqawi is "not a turning point, but the administration could take advantage of it."