years, that's the emergence of politics as opposed to violence. as the basic means of settling disputes and advancing interests. now, we all know and we've seen and read about the series of political cry sees over the election law, election itself, government formation, that have plagued iraq in recent years but at an earlier phase would have erupted into all out violence. and the fact is it didn't. each and every time iraqi leaders resolved their differences at the negotiating table with the steady support of our embassy led by one of our toughest diplomats, jim jeffrey. in december after more than eight wrenching years president obama kept his promise to end the war in iraq responsibly. let me describe a scenario that played out in iraq. i think it will sound familiar. a leading sunni arab political figure is charged with terrorism

related offenses by a shia arab led. go rhetoric escalates on all sides a. group of lawmakers walk out of parliament grinding the political process to a halt and sparking fears of a return to sectarian war. well, i know it sounds familiar and it should, but it happened in the summer of 2007, when the culture minister, not to be confused with the current vice president, was accused of ordering the assassination of a fellow politician. as you all know a rather similar series of events took place recently in the wake of our troop withdrawal. the current vice president and members of his security detail were charged with terrorism-related offices. the iraqi government inflamed a tense situation by televising confessions of some of the guards t predominantly bloc walked out of the parliament and the council of ministers. once again, we heard dire predictions of imminent civil

war and breathless, baseless accusations that american disengagement in the absence of our military forces was somehow to blame. here's the reality. the stand-off sparked no increase in violence. the political process continued. with the parliament maintaining a quorum. iraqi leaders convened by the president and others continued to negotiate across partisan and sectarian divide, an independent judicial panel was formed to review the evidence against the accused. meanwhile, our embassy worked relentlessly with all sides to prevent escalation. senior washington officials, vice president, others made nearly daily phone calls to iraqi leaders urging calm, respect for rule of law and the constitution and the political process. gradually, the tension diffused. in the end, the main difference between these two incidents, the one in 2007, 2008 and the one today is in 2007 the boycott

lasted more than eight months. this time it lasted less than two months when we had no troops in iraq. so, i thought it's useful to provide this extended comparison because it offers context that in my judgment has largely been lacking from public discourse on iraq since the war ended. if you read the newspapers, listen to the media, it would suggest that as our troops departed iraq, so did american influence. and our administration allegedly has shifted its focus away from iraq. for example, it's been reported that our ambassador can't get in and our dip plo matt mats can't leave the compound. our engagement increased not decreased since the withdrawal of u.s. forces. so far this year ambassador jeffrey has been in to see the prime minister nine times and he's seen his top aide dozens of

times. that's far more access than virtually all of our ambassadors in other countries get to the most senior leadership. our embassy team is engaged with other leaders. president talabani. many others, virtually every day. movements from the embassy increased to more than 1200 in january of this year, about 40 a day versus about 30 a day in the last quarter of 2011 when we had troops in iraq. our engagement from washington kept pace. the vice president made multiple trips, dozens of phone calls, president obama's request he has hosted a monthly cabinet level meeting on iraq. an extraordinary i think unprecedented level of engagement by the second most senior official. and to support these efforts i and other senior washington-based officials including the deputy national security adviser dennis mcdonagh, the deputy secretary of state, the deputy energy secretary and others made

multiple trips to iraq during this period. in virtually all of the meetings we have including when the prime minister was here in december to meet with the president we made clear to iraqi counterparts that continued u.s. support requires that they compromise across sectarian lines, respect the rule of law and uphold their constitution. we know from these efforts and from this engage thamt despite the troop drawdown, the demand for our engagement from iraq leaders of all political stripes remains undiminished. i witnessed this first-hand during the lengthy government formation process. the embassy team, senior officials from washington, shuttled among the parties for weeks, indeed months, the president and vice president were deeply engaged. and when the deal was finally sealed, one photograph captured that engagement. there were four people in the room when that deal was sealed. prime minister maliki, iraqi

leader allawi, leader bar zani and the united states ambassador to iraq. during the recent political standoff the united states remained the indispensable honest broker and the only one trusted by and in regular communication with all of the leading blocs in iraq. much of this engagement takes place quietly, unadvertised. but just because you don't see it, just because we don't say it, doesn't mean we're not doing it. we've also seen, i think in recent weeks, significant progress on a number of issues. every day we're cooperating with iraqis on the security threats that iraq still faces, on boosting and protecting iraq's vital energy sector, and supporting iraq's emergence as a member of the international community in good standing and responsible regional actor, and as i said there is progress on all of these fronts. for example, oil production is now at about 2.7 million barrels

per day up from 1.8 million a day in 2005 and headed to over 3 million barrels a day by the end of this year. oil exports have provided much needed revenue that enabled lawmakers to pass a $100 billion budget in mid february. we've also seen unprecedented steps toward reintegrating iraq in this region. the appointment of a nonresident saudi ambassador for the first time since 1990. visits by national security adviser, visits to baghdad, prime minister maliki's visit to kuwait that end add thorny dispute over aircraft confiscated by saddam hussein. and now, plans to host the arab league summit in baghdad later this month on march 29. while iran and iraq i will be more entwined than we and many

of iraq's neighbors would like one thing we learned over eight years in iraq is this. the vast majority of its leaders including the prime minister, are first and foremost iraqi nationalists and resist tant to outs influence from any quarter including iran. baghdad repeatedly acted contrary to iran's interest including with the support for the arab league and resolution on syria, its pressure on shia militants, and the patience it has shown despite pressure from tehran during efforts to relocate the residents of camp ashraf. so all of this progress is real. but so, too, is the peril. iraq faces profound challenges about fundamental issues. we see them with clear eyes, finding ways to share power. stamping out the violent extremists who launch outrageous attacks on security forces and foreign diplomats who are just

trying to do their jobs. resolving long standing disputes about the country's internal boundaries, ensuring the necessarily, and financial framework are in place to allow the energy sector to further flourish. the level of violence while it is diminished and remained diminished remains unacceptable to the iraqi people. enhancing and maintaining iraq's commitment to democratic principles is going to require hard work and constant vigilance. it's regional relationships remain tenuous and fraught with mistrust and the spector of iran looms large over iraqi affairs. these and other problems are not going to be solved overnight. but, i think perspective is in order. given the country's past, more than 30 years of dictatorship, international conflict, economic isolation, sectarian violence, a few short years ago that nearly tore the country apart, discounting its progress toward

a more normal political existence means turning a blind eye to the facts so. what about going forward. well, i would argue that we have the people in place and the structures in place to deepen our engagement with iraq. our embassy and consulates and basra, will lead the effort to continue our partnership with iraq under the framework agreement which unlike our security agreement continues. to boost that effort, in december vice president biden and prime minister maliki chaired the first meeting of the so called high coordinating committee since 2009, that oversee as series of smaller committees that are led from senior officials on both sides in iraq and the united states on a broad variety of important issues, defense, security, energy, trade and investment, education, politics, law enforcement, services, technology, environment and transportation. this is well under way.

let me give you a few examples as we close this out. to our office of security cooperation, we're helping the iraqis acquire major weapon systems, tanks, helicopters, heavy artillery, our goal is enable iraq to protect itself from external threats. the judicial institute that we help the iraqis establish has provided continuing legal education, for more than 1700 judges. we funded the anti-corruption strategy, a work in progress and we provide training to antibiotic corruption bodies like the commission on integrity which played a key role. we also help build the iraqi museum, preserve the historic site of babylon. we expect to bring about 3,000 students, iraqi students, on iraqi scholarships to the united states this year to study. and this year for the first time since 1988, we participated in the baghdad international trade

fair. the u.s. pavilion featured companies, the largest single country presence in iraq. if that sounds less like war footing and more like the type of programs we have in countries around the world, countries with whom we have normal relationships that's exactly the point. our goal is a close strategic part they'reship with iraq but we also seek a more normal relationship between two nations bound together by shared sacrifice, by common interests and by commitment to a better future. simply put, while our war in iraq is over our work in iraq and with iraq, a country that remains at of so many american interestsant cos. with that let me stop talking and start listening and taking questions. thank you. [ applause ]

>> thank you very much for your remarks, tony. i think we've got some questions that we'll get right into that. let me ask a few -- take prerogative of the chair and ask a few, then open it up to our audience. i think you're right, getting the regional politics squared away after almost a decade of tension and then the 30-year reign of saddam hussein t 91 war, the iran iraq war, all of these things. so give us your sense of what the go forward strategy is to make sure that this hard fought and security for iraq is protected from external threats. >> rudy, i think the key thing or some of the steps that we've begun to see and that is iraq's integration into its region.

the fact of the matter is after a period where iraq was frozen out, we are seeing important signs of a thaw. i alluded to some of them in my remarks, the fact that we had now the saudis finally appointing a nonresident, ambassador, to iraq for the first time in years. travel to saudi arabia by the most senior iraqi officials, the progress with kuwait on resolving the remaining long standing issues in kuwait this week. a half a billion dollar airplane dispute over airliners that were confiscated by saddam hussein resolved. a commission going forward to work on the remaining outstanding issues. the others all starting to engage. that's critical because grounding iraq in its region as a responsible actor is one of the key factors for stability and security. there are other things as well. a lot of this goes to resolving iraq's own internal conflicts.

this is something we continue to work on day in day out, united nations is working on as well. and then finally i think the oil piece is important. the vice president likes to say that oil can literally be what holds iraq together, the glue that holds iraq together but they have work to do to resolve fundamental problems in the way they decide the allocation of resources and the production. so an oil law is very important. further investment is important. you put those things together, regional integration, our efforts to help them build capacity, the oil piece, all of that i think will increasingly stabilize iraq as long as the politics hold. >> i think that's a good point. i think that the oil production is a measure of the economics and i think we're all watching those very carefully. but let's stick in this regional neighborhood for a little while. and give us your perspective on

al qaeda and iran. >> one of the things we've seen in recent months is that in terms of violence in iraq, the violence from iranian backed shiite groups has dropped dramatically. i think that's a function of two things, one, iraqis made clear to the iranians that violence from these groups is unacceptable and prime minister maliki at one point told the iranians he considered an attack on americans in iraq to be an attack on iraqis and iraqi interests. and the fact that our troops are gone, has taken away a rationale how ever ill founded for some of these attacks. what we've seen are repeated continued attacks from al qaeda in iraq. they retain capacity. the iraqis also have a real capacity that's been developed over the years to deal with these problems. a counter terrorism capacity that's effective and significant and security forces that get better and better. maybe most important despite the repeated attacks by al qaeda in

iraq and the violence that they perpetrate, we have not seen a cycle of sectarian violence spiral up again. we have not seen sunni arabs rally. they reject it. i think as bad as some of these attacks are, and that's the thing that gets in the newspapers still, when you look at the larger factors in play, that should be something that can be managed and hopefully eventually dealt with. and then in terms of the shiite militia that some of whom are backed by iran, we've seen a significant diminution in their activities, it would be good if any groups that are actually reconcilable and can be brought into the system do that, some are beyond that. the fact is at least in recent weeks and months that violence is diminished. >> thank you. you know, let's stick in this neighborhood. this is a tough neighborhood.

syria. how do you think the iraqi views and their stance on syria is, is evolving. i think the arab league summit is scheduled for baghdad. so that will certainly be one measure of how closely aligned iraq is with sort of the regional politics and the region nol diplomacy and u.s. interests in the region. give us your sense on the current view from baghdad as far as syria goes. >> let me first start with something that you said. i mentioned but i think it's very important the arab league summit is scheduled to take place in baghdad. that's a remarkable development. march 29th. it's a summit that baghdad was up next in the rotation, it had been put off for a couple of years. this, assuming it goes forward, is a profound sign, a symbol as well as practical manifestcation

of iraq in the region. they have government fears that they could see sectarian spillover, that this could agitate the sunni population in iraq and create sectarian tension in iraq so they are very concerned about it. as we've said on numerous occasions to iraqi leaders, the cause of the instability in syria and twhaus creates the greatest potential for the spill over is assad. once the silence stops and he's gone there is a much greater potential to avoid exactly what iraq hopes to avoid. iraq has supported the arab league consensus on syria. they voted for the saudi-backed u.n. general assembly resolution on syria and they stood up to some iranian pressure on syria

so they are in a different position but thus far have been with the arab league. i think you'll see at the arab league summit in baghdad, this consensus for consolidating on the need to end the violence in syria and for assad to go. >> thank you. i've got to few more. let me start to engage our audience. i will ask you to wait until the microphone is there and then please identify yourself. let's start here in the front row. >> thank you. nice to see you. i was hoping we could pick up on some of the threads you were talking about now, the sectarian issue and how syria is already seems to be affecting the government's position while yes, it has supported the arab league consensus it seems to have done so reluctantly and that does seem to have got at any sunni population in some areas upset

and fearful because they clearly are supporting the opposition. so, do you anticipate iraq making a very sharp break with president assad? i'm not sure we've seen that yet. and just to follow on the sectarian angle i think you touched upon it but there does seem to be still a lot of sectarian tensions in the country as evidenced by the incident that though it didn't break into violence i think there are a lot of fears that sectarianism in the country, a lot of calls for federalism which at one point the vice president supported as a senator. so, do you see the various sects moving farther apart or can al maliki, i think there are doubts on that. >> the fact of the matter is that voyk a country that has been divided by sect and by

ethnicity in the past. tensions of course remain. significant. figuring out how to share power across political blocks, also across sectarian and ethnic groups is an ongoing challenge. no doubt about it. there is also no doubt that certainly conceivable that sectarian tension turns into violence, or ethnic tension turns into violence. what is so sporpt to date it hasn't. the the most profound development in iraq over the last three years is the emergence of politics as the basic means of transactioning business and protecting interests. if you go back and look at each of the cry sees i mentioned over the de-baathification process, over the election, over government formation, i would bet you that in each and every moment folks wrote in newspapers, reported on tv, that's it, the sky is falling.

iraq is about to descend back into sectarian violence. each time, never pretty, never linear, with help from us, the iraqis stuck with the political process, didn't abandon it and use it to keep moving forward. based on that, not just a month or two but the last two or three years, i think that we can take some hope that this will continue and that despite the tensions that you are right to allude to, they can be managed as long as the iraqis stick with the political system. as to syria, this is fraught with difficulty for iraq because of the concern for p potential spill over and who might follow. those are understandable concerns. despite those concerns iraq has rallied to the arab league consensus. the arab league summit is meeting in baghdad in a couple

of weeks. i think you'll see that consensus hold. >> ma'am. >> trudy rueben. from "the philadelphia inquirer." tony, the iraqis who work for our military and our civilians as you know were promised 25,000 visas by congress in 2008. and as you also know, there has been a terrific bureaucratic blockage over security requirements. there are thousands of these people, many of them under death threat and the numbers are not moving. though u.s. officials have told me for the past eight months that the numbers would increase, they are basically frozen. can you tell me whether there is ever going to abserious move to unlock that blockage which certainly, don't you think, would give future allies reason

not to want to work closely with us and to distrust us. and many of these iraqis have had many security checks, they worked for our military and i'm deluged from e-mail from senior military officers and these iraqis about the terrible conditions they are now living in waiting in limbo for the visas that don't come. >> trucy, we owe these people. we have a debt to these people, we have an only gags to these people. they put their lives on the line for the united states. we're working on that, we're acting on that. as you said it makes sense because if we don't deal with this problem it will have a chilling effect on people around the world to cooperate and work with our missions. and by the way, you go to any embassy around the world, a

critical component of our ability to work there, but as i said it's more than that. it's a moral debt. they put their lives on the line. you're right, this is not something that has moved as we would have liked. we issued about 70,000 visas. of those 7,000 were the so-called special immigrant vivas for those who worked in some capacity for the united states. that's fewer than we would have liked. one of the things, security concerns began to emerge about the potential for extremist groups using the refugee program or the special immigrant visa. we looked at the program to make sure we were doing two thing, we were making good on our obligation and our debt especially to those who worked for us, and just as importantly that we were providing for the

security of the united states. over the last two or three months i and many of my colleagues spent hours in the situation room with all of the agencies working through this problem. what i can tell you i think we have a way forward that will show demon trabl progress in bringing more to the united states while making sure our security is upheld. in the first part of the recent fiscal year we issued more visa than all the previous. there has been movement. i think what we've done recently will demonstrate in the months ahead real progress with more people getting visas. that will become clearer as we go forward. >> 114 of the visas were granted

in february. there are thousands on the waiting list and the 7,000 number also includes family members. there's far fewer in primary visas so only a low 4,000 number. can you give a little more detail about what is going to be done now that is going to make the situation different from the past 8 months since officials have been working very hard all this time, yet the numbers don't budge. >> all i can tell you is that -- watch what happens, my very girl prediction, you'll see a significant step forward in the issuance of visas and people coming to the program and in a way that preserves our security. all i can say watch, let's talk again in a few months. if i'm wrong i'm sure you'll let me know it. >> let me take a second and impose a question. we talked briefly about iraqi

oil production coming up. that could have a significant impact on global oil markets as the sanctions program against iran continue to have real teeth. give us your sense of how close. you mentioned encouraging numbers out of iraq. we had a start and stop. >> the potential is tremendous, the problems are tremendous. we've seen we'll progress in terms of iraqi production. they are up to 2.7 million barrels a day. the trend if it continues, it will top 3 million barrels a day. we've done a careful assessment. sent out the deputy secretary of energy, and others and we have a very good team at the