Yesterday, as we were focused on events in Iran, news came through of the deadliest attack in Iraq this year, with 80 people dying in a suicide truck bombing in Kirkuk.

That incident may put into perspective the appearance on the US Ambassador to Iraq, Christopher R. Hill, in Washington two days earlier. Hill confirmed the interests of Iran and Syria in Iraq while striking a delicate balance: the two countries contributed to Iraq’s insecurity, but dialogue with them was important to an Iraqi future.

Meanwhile, thanks to the engagement policy of the US, Hill said, the dialogue among different factions in Iraq had played a significant role in the overall downward trend of violence. Hill added, though, “But I don’t want to sound Pollyannish about that because these are trends that are fragile and ones that need to be nurtured every day.”

AMBASSADOR HILL: It’s a pleasure to be here and not talking about North Korea. (Laughter.) That was a preemptive strike. But I’m back for a few days of consultations and some personal travel, and I will be getting back to Baghdad next week.
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Tags: Baghdad, Barack Obama, CENTCOM, Christopher R. Hill, Egypt, Iran, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Kirkuk, Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Kuwait, PKK, Saudi Arabia, State Department, Syria, Turkey, United Nations, United Nations Security Council

Related Post: Baghdad as a “Walled Fortress Town”

Wednesday: Major General David Perkins tells reporters, “Attacks are at their lowest since August 2003. There were 1,250 attacks a week at the height of the violence; now sometimes there are less than 100 a week.”

Thursday: “At least 22 civilians were killed and 38 other people were wounded Thursday in a Baghdad car bombing….A parked car bomb blew up near a bus station and a hospital in Shaab, a Shiite neighborhood.”

Tags: Baghdad, David Perkins, Iraq