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Heard on the Street

A Call for Diplomatic Leadership

posted on 04/23/08

Christopher A. Kojm, former senior adviser to the Iraq Study Group and deputy assistant secretary of state for intelligence policy and coordination, event at the Center for American Progress titled “Iraq: Examining the Diplomatic and Political Tools to Achieve Progress and Stability,” April 21, 2008:

"So I don’t fault the American public for being focused on the military question. I just sure wish our leaders would focus a little more broadly. That includes the candidates in the debate. … But also the President of the United States—under the Constitution, the power to negotiate the conduct of American diplomacy rests with him. He surely should be giving a greater emphasis than he has. We need a balance, we need to use American forces, but we also need to engage the use of force and American power on behalf of diplomacy, on behalf of our goals. And in the absence of a strong diplomatic push I just don’t see how we’re going to achieve our goals in Iraq.”