Washington, March 06: Nearly seven years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the US Senate approved Thursday a symbolic bill vowing to help make the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections a success.
In the non-binding measure, the Senate also “reaffirms the United States’ strong commitment to building a robust, long-term partnership with Iraq that strengthens Iraq’s security, stability, economy, and democracy.”
And it “recognizes the United States’ clear and enduring interest in partnering with the people of Iraq in building a stable, representative, successful, democratic state.”
Democratic Senator John Kerry and Republican Senator John McCain co-wrote the resolution, which passed unanimously.
The measure urges US President Barack Obama’s administration to make Iraq’s March parliamentary elections a success and calls on Iraqi political parties not to cast doubt on the vote’s legitimacy or fan sectarian flames.
In a thinly-veiled message to Iran, it urges Iraq’s neighbors “to refrain from exercising malign and destabilizing interference in Iraq’s internal affairs; and to allow the people of Iraq to determine their own future.”
The resolution also praises Iraq’s people for “the courage they have shown; the sacrifices they have endured and the hard-won gains they have made in fighting terrorism, finding peace and building democracy.”
—Agencies