BAGHDAD, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said this week's congressional power shift will not bring immediate change to U.S. policy in Iraq.
Speaking to reporters in Baghdad, Khalilzad said despite Democrats gaining control of the U.S. Congress in midterm elections, Republican U.S. President George Bush remains "the architect of U.S. foreign policy," a Washington Post correspondent reported.
Opinions among Iraqis in Baghdad varied.
"It will be the same policy and the same ideas. Only the faces will change," said Firas Saleh, 33, a Baghdad shop owner.
Saad Obeidi, 38, a Sunni Muslim who owns a fashion shop in central Baghdad, saw the power shift as a positive.
"I'm optimistic. I think the Democrats will not accept the chaos in Iraq," Obeidi told the Post.
Ban Muhammad 24, a student in Tikrit, the home town of ousted leader Saddam Hussein, said he reveled in the results.
"I was so happy when the Democrats won, because I saw Bush's face when he gave a speech after the failure of his party, and he was so angry," Muhammad said. "We hope he and his party always lose."
