Christopher Hill: The Negotiator

Christopher Hill had been in Iraq a month and a day when he received a reminder of the frustrations of his old job--and the perils attending his new one. North Korea's nuclear test on May 25 threatened to undo everything Hill had worked on as point man for the U.S. in the six-party talks with Pyongyang. But as the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, he was focused that evening on bad news closer to his home: a roadside bomb in Fallujah had killed a senior State Department official working on Iraq's reconstruction and two others. Hill had given a speech earlier in the day about American sacrifices on foreign soil; here was proof that such sacrifices were far from over.

The death of the reconstruction official served notice that as the U.S. military begins to withdraw its 130,000 troops from Iraq, it is Hill's people--about 1,000 foreign-service officers and many more civilian contractors--who will step into the front line. And they will do so soon. An agreement with the Iraqi government requires all U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq's major cities and towns by the end of this month, and a national referendum planned for January will probably bring forward the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops to mid-2010. The U.S. military footprint has already shrunk significantly. Even the Green Zone, once an American fortress, is now guarded mainly by Iraqis. The generals have handed off responsibility for nonmilitary duties, such as managing power stations and water supplies. "There's been a shift from a military lead in reconstruction and policy efforts to a much more civilian lead," says a senior U.S. official. A top Iraqi official puts it more bluntly: "The American soldiers had already started packing their bags before Hill unpacked his."

The military pullout will inevitably change the nature of the U.S. role in Iraq and that of its ambassador. Hill, 57, cannot play the plenipotentiary, as his predecessors did. U.S. civilian assistance to Iraq, now about $500 million a year, is a far cry from the $20 billion Paul Bremer, Washington's first postinvasion envoy, had at his disposal. "Without 120,000 soldiers behind him and a blank check from Washington, you can say [Hill] is the first real American ambassador to Iraq," says the Iraqi official, who asked not to be named. "And we will treat him with respect but not with deference."

Yet the U.S. still has interests in Iraq and will need to see them advanced if it hopes to turn its adventure there into a success. Washington wants Iraqis to build on the gains of the past two years--to clean up their government, speed up political and social reconciliation and pull the economy out of its state-controlled stasis. The U.S. can't afford to see Iraq turn into an Iranian satrapy or become a haven for cross-border terrorism. But without thousands of soldiers and billions of dollars at his disposal, Hill will have to persuade Iraqi officials to do Washington's bidding using old-fashioned diplomacy.