By Alicia Langley
Washington File staff writer

Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky has told a group of exiled Iraqi women that the United States will support the Iraqi people's -- and in particular Iraqi women's -- efforts to develop democracy in Iraq.

"We want to help Iraqis take back their country and build a foundation for a better democratic society, a society based on Iraqi tradition and culture, but one founded on the universal principles of freedom and liberty," said Dobriansky.

"However this turns out, it is clear that the women of Iraq have a critical role to play in the future revival of their society. They bring skills and knowledge that will be vital to restoring Iraq to its rightful place in the region and in the world," she added.

Dobriansky spoke March 6 at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, along with eight exiled Iraqi women representing "The Women for a Free Iraq" who briefed journalists following their visit to the White House with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.

Tanya Gilly, a Kurd from northern Iraq and an advocate of democracy, said their meeting with Rice lasted almost an hour and was "very fruitful." She said the women asked Rice, and later Cheney, questions about what guarantees on security could be offered in the event of a war, and if the United States would later help to build a democracy in the aftermath of war.

"They were very responsive to our concerns," Gilly said. "They answered all of our questions."

During the briefing, some of the women talked about their participation in the failed uprising in Iraq in 1991, when the United States withdrew its troops without supporting the removal of Saddam Hussein. In 1991, U.S. policy was to liberate Kuwait, not to change regimes within Iraq.

Esra Naama, a young woman whose family fled to Saudi Arabia from Iraq when she was 10 years old, was granted political asylum by the United States in 1992. She now lives in San Diego, California. She said she has been fortunate to know democracy. She expressed her gratitude to the U.S. troops who may fight a war in Iraq, especially the Marines who had been deployed from bases in her home state of California.

Women for a Free Iraq also participated in a forum on Capitol Hill March 6 hosted by House Republican Conference Chairman Deborah Pryce (R-OH), U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL), and U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI).

Women for a Free Iraq group describes its purpose as providing "a public education campaign by women from Iraq to educate the American public about Saddam Hussein's tyranny and the Iraqi people's desire to be liberated."

"Those who have taken to the streets with signs reading 'No War in Iraq' are misled," says Women for a Free Iraq. "It is Saddam who has been waging war on the people of Iraq. Every day that this war continues, more of our brothers and sisters will suffer from Saddam's totalitarian and racist policies."