Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) emerged from a meeting with Iraq's president Saturday,
saying all Americans wanted the democratic experiment in Iraq to succeed and hoped politicians here would quickly form a new government. McCain, an Arizona Republican who backed the U.S.-invasion,
headed a delegation that included Sen. Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who opposed the war in Iraq. Feingold did not speak, but nodded in agreement as McCain spoke about the future of Iraq."The American people, no matter what party they are associated with,
want the experiment of democracy to succeed," said McCain. The McCain delegation was in the country just four days after another powerful group of American politicians visited to press for the quick formation of a new government.
President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, has formed a coalition of with Sunni and secular politicians a second term for Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a move that deepened the stalemate more than three months after the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. The McCain delegation was to meet al-Jaafari later Saturday. On Tuesday, Sen. John Warner , a Virginia Republican who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Michigan Sen. Carl Levin , the ranking Democrat on the panel, delivered a tough message to Talabani and al-Jaafari.
They warned that Americans were running out of patience with delays in forming Iraq's government and could force U.S. leaders to decrease troop strength. Kurdish, Sunni and some secular leaders argue al-Jaafari is too divisive a figure and accuse him of doing too little to contain a wave of reprisal violence triggered by the Feb. 22 bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra. The Shiite United Iraqi Alliance is itself divided over al-Jaafari, nominating him by just one vote last month. At a community sports center Saturday, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told Iraqi athletes the country was at a crossroads. The main challenge was "to overcome the strife that threatens to rip apart Iraq," he said.
"As I speak Iraqi leaders are struggling to form a government of national unity. This is a critical step for the future of Iraq, it's a defining moment," Khalilzad said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060325/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraqNO MCCAIN americans were not for an experiment of democracy with people's lives
They were told Iraq was a threat now it was an experiment in democracy