the vice chair of the committee and chair of the middle east subcommittee will preside you're in that time i also wanted to make clear our committee's policy on handling protests we have no objection to audience members wearing t shirts and hats expressing their views and to but to maintain order in the hearing room we requested the audience members do not hold up or wave signs make gestures to attract attention stand up in protest shout or yell their use or otherwise disrupt the hearing we will ask the capitol police to remove anyone from the room violates this policy and it is the policy of the capitol police to arrest anyone who is ejected from a  hearing well now recognize myself for an opening statement six months ago president obama set out his vision and timetable for u s involvement in iraq since that time christopher hill one of our most talented and skilled diplomats was appointed and confirmed as the u s ambassador in baghdad we are very pleased to welcome him back to the committee for the first time in his new role and look forward to his assessment of whether the president's vision is taking hold and whether is timetable is on track in his february twenty seventh speech you can platoon president obama emphasized that all u s combat forces will leave iraq by the end of august two thousand and ten a little less than one year from now under the agreement reached with the iraqi government in the final weeks of the bush administration we are in fact obligated to remove all our forces from iraq sixteen months after that by the end of two thousand and eleven president obama also made clear that iraq is have been given what he called quote a precious opportunity to shape their own future  quoting again here the long term solution in iraq must be political not military and that the most important decisions about iraq's future must now be made by iraq twenty ten will be a milestone year for iraq as well as united states in january iraqis will go to the polls to elect a new government over the following seven plus months our combat forces will depart we've already withdrawn from iraq he said these as of june thirtieth based on the most recent figure we are currently at the pre surgery level of roughly one hundred thirty thousand well over half of those troops will be withdrawn by this year by this time next year mr we would like to and we would like to know will the iraqi security forces be able to maintain order and protest their borders as the u s presence dramatically dwindles are the iraqis ready to step up more broadly we'd like to know whether iraq is are in fact seizing the opportunity they've been given in his capital jeanne the june speech president obama also noted too many fundamental political questions about iraq's future remain unresolved mr ambassador we'd like your assessment was this remains true today do the iraqis have the political will to maintain national cohesion do they share sufficiently a national vision that will sustain peace with their neighbors but independence from the encroachments of neighbors such as iran that would dominate them what is the attitude of iraq's neighbors as we prepare to withdraw how strong is iran since phones and what our intentions is syria harboring iraqi baptists who direct acts of terrorism as baghdad claims and still facilitating transit of anti iraqi terrorists across its border do you foresee any pitfalls ahead in turkey's relations with baghdad and particularly with iraqi kurdistan which have here two of war developed in a positive direction that would have surprised us just a few years ago and what sort of relationship should we anticipate with iraq politically economically and militarily in the wake of our withdrawal and are the iraqis committed to repatriating in the fairest and most humane way possible the millions of their citizens used his notable skills as a negotiator to ensure passage of the iraq refugee act of two thousand and seven we will make sure that the u s continues to offer protection to those who have risked their lives on our behalf i so if he would be kind enough to step in for me when when we depart thank you thank you for holding this important hearing mr chairman the last time the full committee reviewed u s policy toward iraq on april qaeda strangle strongholds are experiencing normal life similarly iran supported shia militias in basra baghdad and throughout the southern portion of the country were confronted by the iraqi government and u forces in march two thousand and eight and have since seen their capabilities greatly reduced even with great recent gains in security both al qaeda and affiliated insurgent groups as well as  rainy unsupported militias remain potent threats in iraq and there can be no room for complacency ministration must reinforce a policy which demonstrates that success in iraq remains and national priority in a speech earlier this year the president stated that by august thirty one twenty ten our combat mission in iraq will end he also asserted his intention to remove all u s troops from iraq by the end of twenty eleven however the united states strategy must look at more than just when and how quickly u s forces should and must be removed a conditions based strategy must be developed and implemented to ensure that u s strategic interests are preserved beyond the departure of u s forces the u s mission is to execute a transition over the period up to twenty eleven and beyond that will create a strong democratic independent iraq that will be a strategic partner in bringing further security and stability to the goal the u s must prepare to make the transition to a civilian lead that is backed by an adequate mix of u s resources and capabilities one thing is certain the united states cannot sit by and allow the situation in iraq to determine its own course u s involvement particularly the role of our diplomats in shaping and achieving an outcome supportive of our national security priorities is vital the u s strategy must include a training mission that will help iraq become truly independent not only of u forces but in dealing with the ambitions of all of its neighbors with respect to those neighbors particularly array and i'm concerned about iraqi actions being undertaken at the behest of the iranian regime with respect to ashraf and on that issue mr ambassador what specific measures have been undertaken in the interim to ensure that the rights of the residents in the camp are being situation how is the united states protecting ashraf residents from physical and other harm and as we can see we have some folks in the audience who are concerned with that as well mr ambassador these requirements raise the following questions does the u s have a strategy and an integrated civil military plan that is operational or overseeing the transition from a defense department to a state department led mission how will the state department take over the lead from the u s military what has the administration identified as the actions to be taken the resources required and the estimated benefits and measures of effectiveness for carrying out such a transition while we understand that some of this planning is already underway with the u s team in iraq could you elaborate on how much of the planning has been completed iraq bringing the total loss is the one thousand two hundred and sixty one and in the pain of their families and that of their tens of thousands of wounded wounded comrades the human cost rises past measurement the loss of american lives and expenditures of such colossal some should attract more public attention but iraq is no longer something americans want to think about collectively and i conclude congress here we've disengaged far more rapidly than our troop withdrawal plan suggests and probably much faster than our national security interest should allow just because we've committed to withdrawing our combat brigade by next summer and our invite advisors and trainers a year later does not mean iraq is no longer our concern truly great us if we should turn our backs on this country as we chose to ignore afghanistan and pakistan follow the defeat of the soviet tomorrow is the eighth anniversary of nine eleven a lesson we should have learned that day is that it even if we don't visit  neighborhoods they can still visit us the planet has become a very small place because of its size its resources its population and location iraq is not a nation we can safely ignore either iran or al is going to forget about iraq and also we too let's not forget about iraq since may iraq has suffered from growing violence as the reality of u s the part you're seeing said the movement of u s troops out of iraqi cities was a day of celebration among iraqis and a key milestone for ourselves but that moment was also a signal to all the players in the country in the region that the rules had changed in the future of iraq was back in play and not every player wants to see iraq succeed within the constraints of absolute respect of iraq's sovereignty and the spirit of partnership i believe we must maintain for our own national security in an ongoing effort to help iraq merge as a truly independent sovereign state capable included mr chairman the iranian government still are involved in iraq and they have explosive formed projectiles in to iraq and it was reported i think just today i'm not mistaken that they have found these iranian produced e f t s in afghanistan as well and the president's anticipating sending more troops over there and we must stop iran's involvement in both iraq and afghanistan and so mr chairman you know how much i admire you and you know how much i respect you i respect you so much that i'm co sponsoring your bill called  sanctions act and we tried to get a number of ways bring that bill to the floor and you said we had to wait till september well mr chairman september and we sure would like to have your bill to the floor and i want you to know i will do everything in my power to work with you to make sure that bill gets passed and i want to thank the ranking member of the full committee mr ross slayton for opening remarks because i think it covered most of the things that we need to discuss today but nevertheless i'm rooting for  have a prepared statement i'll just enter into the record i want to welcome the ambassador here today i had the opportunity to travel to iraq and every i'm most eager to hear the ambassador's assessment of the situation in iraq obviously things when i was there seem to have stabilized since then we've seen a number of additional attacks which raises questions about the stability of the country and the ability of the of the iraqi security forces to be able to try to to move us toward a more stable situation and so i'm going to be looking forward to a bass or hills assessment of that situation this morning and i thank you mr chairman for holding these hearings time the gentleman has expired the gentleman from california m rohrabacher thank you very much mr chairman there are many of us who supported president bush when he initiated this action in iraq and some of us  feel that perhaps that support was something that we now regret quite frankly we have the american people have given the iraqi people a chance a chance to have a better life a chance to have a more democratic system chancellor and some modicum of freedom and democracy but we have paid an awful dreadful price to give those people those twenty or thirty million people of iraq this opportunity mr chairman what is most disconcerting about this whole episode in american history is here we've paid the price in blood and treasure trillion dollars but we see so little gratitude from the people of iraq and now they seem to be giving the economic benefits of a relationship to the communist chinese doing business with our own best time of the foreign service is a tribute dedication to this nation and your experience dealing with difficult regimes if you will in the past certainly makes you a wonderful candidate for this post i would just like that i think it's been stated  already but just the concerns that we have about the growing influence of iran in iraq and if you will speak to that at length and you know i think we all believe we have to stand strong against iran it poses a major security threat to israel and to sunni arab recognition gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute thank you mr chairman i am concerned about in right iranian influence in iraq directly and indirectly the violence or calls in and also the influence on now the iraqi security forces specifically camp ashraf when all in july the twenty eight security forces came into camp ashraf killed eleven people captured thirty six now holding them even though it iraqi judges order individuals to be released two weeks ago they're still in captivity and what obligation other than a letter that has been sent by the state department to the iraqi govern to do the right thing and obey the law  that's obviously been filed what are we doing to make sure we have the ability to secure the safety of these people especially as we turn down our leave the area next year in the year after we have a moral and legal obligation to secure the what is happening now and with the situation and a relationship that's impending with the border states of iraq and syria with blame being placed on the former hussein bath this combination of that and sonis the arguments between now the president of iraq and the prime minister of iraq all of this boughs of formular of yemen that disaster and in the midst of all of that were the troops our troops who are maintaining order and security in the region have a laugh we've got the issue of the refugees needing protection so it begs the question at what point is there a tipping point is there any indication where we could get to that point where we alter the schedule of withdrawal of troops in the face of the need to maintain order is there that point is there that set of circumstances the gentleman from south carolina mr inglis is recognized for one minute thank you mr chairman and i think others have mentioned this mr ambassador we look forward to hearing from you about what's happening at camp ashraf and  join in expressing concern about the violation of the geneva convention and i hope that the united states can put appropriate pressure on the iraqis to  the gentleman from california mr costin is recognized for one minute thank you very much mr chairman for this important hearing mr masur obviously with the comments that members of made i'm interested in your testimony on those points like others have been in iraq a number of times over recent years i'm interested in also in your testimony a focus on how well this effort to put together democracy what it's never existed before is coming together and what your outlook for potenti success with future elections they haven't made progress yet on carbon build up or share the wealth but it seems to me that the success of this government is all about sharing power and sharing the economic well like to testify previously as assistant secretary of state for east asian and pacific affairs and which capacity also was the lead us to go shooter at the six party talks on north korean nuclear issue immediately prior to his arrival in baghdad and bass service to ambassador u s ambassador to south korea poland macedonia and his special envoy to kosovo earlier in his career he completed tours in warsaw sol and served on the state department's policy binding staff and as senior director for southeast european affairs at the national security he has twice received the secretary's distinguished service award the department of state's highest award for his work in bosnia and in the korean peninsula he also received the robert s frazier award for peace negotiations for his work on the kosovo crisis is no stranger to capitol hill ambassador l as an american political science association fellow in the office of congressman steve solarz some years ago graduate of boden college with the being academics and a graduate degree from the naval war college and bass as a peace corps volunteer in transition from a military mission and about our efforts to develop a long term normalized relationship with the country in the middle east this is the start of a twelve month period at the end of which all u s combat forces will be withdrawn from iraq very critical twelve months to twelve months in which we will have to work very carefully and very closely together to ensure that  representative accountable government over time as our programs make progress on these economic and political goals we will significantly reduce our civilian presence both in the provinces and at the embassy in baghdad january two thousand and ten the council of representatives that is their parliament is working on an election law to govern the conduct of the elections commission has begun to register voters and political parties are negotiating a real game changer for the country iraq really needs to focus on its economy i would put economy right up there with security and political situation is going to be successful i can assure you we will delegations of government officials in that conference will hold several high level several high level iraqi officials here for dialogue on economic cooperation which is a bilateral economic policy seventy it could be that engine that would help the regional autonomy indeed to the world beyond bilateral economic issues i want to stress that iraq issues do not exist in a vacuum a look at a map clearly show that iraq is located in the center of a highly complex neighborhood iran's influence is a reality i look forward to discussing that with members of the committee we recognize that elements of a ron's  by the president timetable and that in their place will remain a very strong healthy relationship between the u s and iraq one that has moved from a military phase to a political phase and a relationship relationship we also have something called a strategic framework agreement which lays out all the elements of a relationship that we intend to have with iraq for decades to come mr chairman i  would say to you this year is going to be absolutely crucial it's absolutely crucial that those of us who serve in iraq can talk to members of your committee and make very clear how we see the situation on the and the iraq and the iraq course a very crucial element of the cohesion of iraq i'm pleased to say that it's an issue that is a great deal of attention by our military but also by the embassy we also have on the other hand seem to be very appreciative of the efforts that we've made and as american troops were withdrawn from the cities recently in iraq there were celebrations those people celebrating our withdrawal doesn't sit well with some of us who know how much suffering we've had here among our own people people losing their sons and daughters having their faces blown  about possible moves against the kurds we need to make sure that we send a very strong signal that is unacceptable and what stronger signal could we but to join realistic matter is going to get done this fall i do believe they are going to get foreign investment in the oil field they have a lot of work to do on infrastructure which is falling down they have a pipeline problem i think it's very encouraging that they're doing this because  iranian government iranian government wants to develop nuclear weapons they are involved in iran involved in iraq directly and indirectly that calls mischief they kill people and now they're involved in camp ashraf with influence on the iraqi government they were apparently united states knew that there was trouble in camp ashraf that there might be some type of problem and of course there was a problem with the invasion of the iraqi security forces killing eleven people capturing thirty six others men ordered by a judge to release these people they're still in captivity and we have the legal and moral obligation right or wrong we're in that situation to protect camp ashraf we're on our way out how do we know that this camp with these iranian dissidents will be secure that their lives are not in jeopardy is the fourth the geneva convention going to use this is a designated persons and make sure that we as the united states push to protect these individuals my personal opinion is our quarrel is not with iranians either responsibility of the iraqi government and because of that we saw from them written assurances they would treat them humanely and that they would not forcibly repatriate them where they would be they could be tortured or persecuted based on their religious or political belief doesn't appear that they had been treated humanely eleven of them were murdered thirty six were arrested well on july twenty eighth iraqi forces went to try to set up a police station they regarded monitor the treatment of the thirty members who are arrested on charges related to the rioting and illegal in iraq so we have we have continued to monitor them and we have we have very clear to the iraqi government i think this committee very clear as well that we are interested in the well being of the people were interested in the preservation of human rights who were interested in the fact you see that there may be a problem with prime minister maliki putting on the ballot in the upcoming elections a referendum prime minister this is what he wants to do and this is what he is going to do to hold a referendum on the united states status of forces agreement on maliki the tensions appear to be criticizing one another what is your take on that relationship  parties in iraq because they're worried that the iranians are backing shia parties and i think that would be very dangerous and i think people in iraq worry about so i think it's very important  turkey has been very active in iraq and they've decided to be active in a positive way they've decided to go in there what they can do to help help iraq i hope that other countries will come to the view that it's better to be kurdish communities within turkey how would turkey's efforts to ease the decades old tension received in northern iraq and do you think turkey severance will aid in its battle against a terrorist group which has killed as you know over thirty thousand civilians since th mister thank you very much for a very long service and i don't think anyone can deny the commitment that you had to the american people we most grateful we're grateful to this president and we're grateful shown by polling numbers in europe on how many of them out allies believe that we are handling our foreign policy and the attitudes that we have internationally you're speaking to someone that you're obviously aware had no stomach for the iraq war not because i'm a wimp i'm not because i don't believe in american values and don't support in  y the valor and courage of our young men and women who are on the front lines and i think we who oppose the war got it right solidly linked with our soldiers and public servants civil servants and others who are on the front line many of us have visited iraq afghanistan pakistan in places where our soldiers were we never can be quite our visits to the tough conditions that they live in and so i hear my question as relates to where we are in iraq you're in the diplomatic arena assume that you are meeting constantly with the  foreign policy representatives the head of state i hope to be in iraq over the next couple of weeks to assess for myself but my first question quickly is is iraq maturing and is the sufficient maturity to really handle their own business frankly i want all of our troops out of iraq and i would say to you that they have been an enormous disappointment you have to put a good face on it but as far as i'm concerned they are a complete failure why they pushed out i'm glad to be gone not enough of us are gone and they have done nothing but create havoc tolerate bombers  and spew venom on us now i'd like to add to my question on the camp ashraf and we note that there are thirty six detainees who are arrested and being held after the raid where are they and why are we just monitoring the situation we need to do something about it what has happened to the thousand women that have been attacked by him i'm told iraqi national there is no excuse for these individuals who are minding their own business who are not threatening iraq that have to be condemned and attacked my own constituent has a person  any reason to believe that well as i understand it part of what happened over the last several years is that the united states has helped to inject money  important is that the iraqi authorities and the iraqi people have understood that they cannot allow them to get away  course opposed the war but also i oppose the authorization to use force in afghanistan what is happening now as it relates to afghanistan and i think we are beginning to see that this blank check has got to be looked at in a different way unfortunately i hope that well i don't want to see afghanistan go the same direction as iraq but i'm not sure that that first of all and so i believe we have an obligation to help rebuild and reconstruct again i did not support the bombing and the invasion occupation but one kurd i believe that we do have to make sure the country become