Alleged Talks Between U.S. and Iraq Insurgents Being Investigated

Iraq announced late on Friday evening that it is investigating reports that U.S. delegates met with Sunni insurgents in Turkey at some point during 2009 in an effort at reconciliation, and noted that such talks, if they took place, represented a challenge to Iraqi sovereignty. The U.S. State Department did note that talks took place, but further claimed that Iraqi officials knew about the talks at the time they occurred.

Said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, "We intend to make sure the Iraqi government is fully informed of any such activities, whether they are sponsored by another party or come from any other source. We want to be sure that we have a close working relationship and we have a very clear line of communication." Though the issue raised some concerns, the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki noted, "I have been given a commitment that the administration will not negotiate or reach any agreements with those who killed American soldiers, Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi people."

The entire issue is angering some officials in Iraq, a country trying valiantly to assert its independence, especially in the wake of a world view that sees the U.S. largely as benefactors to the fledgling democracy. Abbas al-Bayati, a member of the security and defense committee in the Iraqi parliament, summed up such thing succinctly, saying, "Nobody can make decisions on behalf of Iraq, which has a legitimate government. We want to know if these armed groups are included in the national reconciliation project and whether their hands have been stained in Iraqi blood."