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Secretary Madeleine Albright delivered the keynote address, "Iraq: Promise, Performance, and Prospects," at the Middle East Institute’s 58th Annual Conference in Washington, DC. Albright, a former US Secretary of State, is currently the head of the Albright Group.

Albright noted that while the current Administration promised that regime change would be a decisive first step in transforming the Middle East and fighting terrorism, there is a gap between these promises and the current situation. In discussing what went wrong in Iraq, she pointed out that while the US went in with sufficient force to win the war, it did not provide enough forces to win the peace. Furthermore, Albright argued that the Bush Administration has failed to learn from past experiences in nation building by refusing to ask for help from the international community until the situation has grown desperate.

Security, Albright noted, is a key ingredient missing in Iraq today. She questioned the size of the insurgency and whether it could be easily be identified and isolated. She acknowledged that there are no easy answers, but one solution that is not feasible is to divide the country. She stressed the importance of reassuring the various Iraqi ethnic and religious groups that their needs can be met and rights protected in a new, united Iraq. Albright also suggested several important strategies for improving the situation in Iraq, such as increasing money flows for reconstruction, and noted that most Iraqis want democracy, prosperity, and peace.

In a question and answer session following her speech, Albright addressed the Middle East peace process and its relationship to Iraq, Turkey’s role in the peace process and US interaction with other Arab countries and their role in helping Iraq. She urged the US to become more engaged with the regime in Iran and encouraged a US-EU partnership that would work together to change Iran’s policy towards the supporting of terrorism, it’s opposition the peace process and it’s nuclear proliferation. Responding to another question, Albright stated that the attempt to equate Afghanistan and terrorism with Iraq was a distraction from the war on terror. It was this connection that lead to a war against a country that was not an imminent threat, and that the job in Afghanistan was not yet finished. In regards to Sudan, she stated that rather then ignoring the issue and leaving it solely to the African Union, the US should be providing logistical support.

When asked if Arab attitudes towards the US would change if Senator Kerry were elected, she pointed out that US credibility is being questioned under Bush, and that Abu Ghraib has damaged the US’s moral standing. Albright stated that she believes that there will be a difference if there is a new president, even though it will still be difficult for him to repair the damage that the Bush Administration has done to US credibility overseas.