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Iraqi Prime Minister's Silence is Telling
President Bush called a crackdown on militias critical to success in Iraq, but Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been noticeably silent perhaps because the plan would mean confronting the same violent radicals who have been helping Shiites expand their political dominance.In announcing a new Iraq policy Wednesday night, Bush said earlier efforts -- three since May -- to tame the bloodshed in Baghdad had been snarled by "political and sectarian interference (that) prevented Iraqi and American forces from going into neighborhoods that are home to those fueling the ... violence." "This time, Iraqi and American forces will have a green light to enter those neighborhoods," Bush said. "Prime Minister Maliki has pledged that political or sectarian interference will not be tolerated." But whatever he said in private, Al-Maliki, a devout Shiite, so far studiously has avoided making that pledge in public. Instead, he has stuck with formulaic utterances, saying that anyone illegally carrying weapons would be dealt with harshly. Announcing his vision of the new security plan last Saturday, al-Maliki said he would fight against "safe haven for any outlaws, regardless of (their) sectarian or political affiliation." He said the same in October, but then he ordered U.S. forces to pull back from attacks on Sadr City, headquarters of the Mahdi Army. The violent Shiite militia is headed by his key political backer, radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Al-Maliki instead has encouraged the Americans to go after rival Sunni insurgents, especially in the territory west of Baghdad where few Shiites live. Experts say that even if al-Maliki assures Bush of support, his behavior illustrates that he's not as Bush described, a man whose primary concern is bringing peace and prosperity to his country. "The Bush administration has one view of Iraqi reality in which Maliki is ... an honest broker," said W. Patrick Lang, a former head of Middle East intelligence at the Defense Intelligence Agency. "In my view, Maliki is one of any number of Shiite Arab activists who are seeking to consolidate Shiite control." Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-01-13 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=177633 |