Iraq debate shifting, U.S. says

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. mission in Iraq moved beyond debates over the invasion and is focused on rebuilding the country, a top U.S. official said.

The U.S. relationship with its transatlantic partners has moved beyond "the bitter debate that we had in 2002 and 2003 over the issue of whether or not there should be a military intervention in Iraq," Undersecretary for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns said in an interview with the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.

Burns extended his appreciation to the countries that maintained a troop presence in Iraq and asked other countries to remain "politically active to support the Iraqi government" by providing economic and other trade relations to the burgeoning country.

"This, we believe, is in the self-interest of the European countries, to see a stable, peaceful, successful Iraq in the future," Burns said.

The improved relationship between European nations and the United States is exemplified in the way the United States has found ways to discuss Iraq on positive terms, the secretary said.

Speaking to the Foreign Press Association in London, Burns emphasized the role of the international community in rebuilding Iraq by singling out "the political engagement of our government, and especially our Ambassador" to Iraq, Ryan Crocker.