Bush Names Envoy for ‘Free Iraqis’
Signaling President Bush’s goal of replacing Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the White House on Monday announced the appointment of a special envoy and ambassador at large for “free Iraqis.”
Named to the post was Zalmay Khalilzad, who already serves as the president’s special envoy to Afghanistan.
A White House statement said Khalilzad will be the administration’s liaison to the Iraqi opposition and “preparations for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.”
Creation of the post reflects the administration’s attempt to mobilize the Iraqi opposition, which consists of widely disparate groups with different religious and ethnic backgrounds. Most of the groups are based outside Iraq and have had trouble working together.
Bush’s focus recently, as he stressed Monday, has been on enforcement of a new U.N. resolution requiring Iraq to disarm itself of suspected weapons of mass destruction.
But Khalilzad’s appointment, according to a White House spokesman, “demonstrates the president’s determination not only to see Saddam’s regime disarmed, but to stand with the Iraqi people as they chart a peaceful, democratic course for the future.”
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