The series of bomb attacks in Iraq over recent days will not reignite sectarian violence there and will not disrupt that country's slow progress toward its own form of democracy, the man who served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq ffrom 2007 to 2009 just told NPR's Melissa Block.

Retired ambassador Ryan Crocker, now dean of Texas A&M's George Bush School of Government and Public Service, told Melissa that al-Qaida "is an equal opportunity killer. ... But what they haven't been able to do is turn Iraqis against each other, and I don't they'll succeed this time either."

Sunday's national elections in Iraq, Crocker predicts, will go forward. "I don't think this is going to succeed," he said of efforts to disrupt the voting.

Still, he cautions, "these elections, as important as they are, are really a prelude to what is probably going to be a difficult and protracted period of government formation. ... Iraq is at the beginning of this new chapter in its history. You are not going to get Jeffersonian democracy in Iraq anytime soon. You didn't get it in American right from the 'git go. We're still working on it."

Here's an audio clip of Crocker:

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Much more from their conversation is due on today's edition of ATC. Click here to find an NPR station near you. Later, the as-broadcast version of their discussion will be posted here.