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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Iraqi Shiite figures blame Jaafari for Iraq's deterioration |
| 2005-07-31 |
| Iraqi Shiite figures in London are holding the government of Dr. Ibrahim Jaafari, the leader of the Islamic Al-Da'wah Party, responsible for the deterioration of fundamental issues, the most important of which are those of security, services, and financial corruption. The Shiite figures told 'Asharq al-Awsat' that Jaafari's Government "does not have experience and has no connection to the streets of Iraq." One of them called on Jaafari to resign and to pave way for somebody more competent. Dr. Ibrahim al-Ani, the dean of Higher Islamic Studies in London said, "Services and security have significantly deteriorated under Jaafari's Government. The voters had higher expectations from the government after it won the majority of votes." He pointed out that the government's failure is not confined to these two issues but also includes that of foreign relations. Al-Ani said, "Iraq's relationship with the Republic of Egypt significantly improved under the former government of Iyad Allawi. But we now see that it has notably deteriorated under this government following the kidnapping and murder of Egyptian Ambassador to Iraq, Ihab al-Sharif, by the terrorist groups and the resulting arguments that have caused much damage to the relationship between the two countries." He called on the Iraqi Government to take stricter measures on the issue of financial corruption and this leads us to demand stricter measures in security. Abd-al-Husayn al-Mu'mini said, "I visited Iraq several times, especially Baghdad and the Babil, Kerbala, and Najaf Governorates. I come from the city of Najaf and have just returned from there and personally, I felt the lack of services, the lawlessness, and the deepening crises, especially concerning fuel, water, and electricity as well as the non-distribution of the complete food rations and this is putting economic and mental strains on the Iraqi people." With regards to Jaafari's Government with its Shiite majority, Al-Mu'mini said, "The government and the people are worlds apart." Like the Iraqis are asserting, Al-Mu'mini pointed out that Jaafari's Government has no control over the overwhelming majority of state and country's affairs. He added, "The majority of cities in southern and central Iraq, apart from Baghdad, are under the control of the political parties and ruled by the militia of these parties. Whilst northern Iraq, Kurdistan, is under the control of the Kurds who are enjoying an almost independent rule and their Peshmerga militias are in control of the security situation there. Whatever is left of Jaafari's control is mostly under the control of the US forces. He added, "The services issue has deteriorated noticeably and there are no treatments because the government is remote from the concerns of the Iraqi citizen. Jaafari rules a small part of the Green Zone." Engineer Muhammad al-Darraji from the Development Studies Center said, "This government lacks experience despite being an elected one. The partisan, religious, or ethnic quotas are the main reason for allowing the situation in Iraq to reach this state. As an Iraqi, I do not believe in sectarianism or partisanship and like many others, I am opposed to quotas." He pointed out that the ideal solution for Iraq is the adoption of the state of institutions as the foundation for building a state and society. He went on to say, "The present government does not adopt the principle of the state of institutions or rely on technocrats. By the term technocrat, I do not mean the specialist only, but rather the unbiased specialist who is not a party member, as this would make him loyal to his party. His loyalty should be to the country. What the parties in this government are doing at present are appointing technocrats from their parties and saying, "Here are the requested technocrats who are also members of our party." This is why the government is failing in the security and services fields." He added, "We are not demanding superhuman achievements from this government because it is transitional and has only a few months left. But we are looking forward to the upcoming elections and hoping that the results will be better." He said, "I reject partisanship and sectarianism. As an enlightened Shiite, I do not care who is the prime minister or the president. What I care about is to have a fair person who genuinely cares about the country that he governs. I want to see an efficient government by way of a paved street, services such as electricity, water, and sanitation, and the right security situation. I want concrete results from a government and as for its affiliations, I do not care." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 Please remember that while it is good in the short term that Iraq should have a government that can do the many things a government needs to do, it is far more important in the long run that they have a government that *can't* do things easily. The US government, for example, is organized and set up to *prevent* new laws and regulations, not encourage them. So that the process is slowed, and the majority cannot push their undivided agenda without the cooperation of the minority. Certainly it sounds disordered and confusing, but it results in a far greater consensus and centrism. A good president is fine, but Iraq must be able to survive both a mediocre president and a dishonest or power-grabbing one. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-07-31 10:50 |
| #5 Actually, Phil, you've reduced a common thread in the news to just a few words. The more general version is, "Things would be better if they were not bad." Come to think of it, that's sort of the liberal world view. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2005-07-31 09:38 |
| #4 Note that this came from London; specifically, from someone called the "dean of Higher Islamic Studies in London." I'm uncomfortable reading the double-standard stuff like "Things would be better between our government and Egypt if the guys who keep trying to blow up our government didn't also kidnap and blow up the Egyptian ambassador." Verlaine's there and I'm not, so I'll have to take his word for it that Jaafari might be incompetent. It's just that the criteria being given here, where the Iraqi Provisional government is held responsible for the actions of the terrorists revolting against it, doesn't seem very sound. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-07-31 01:59 |
| #3 Hey, Bubba! Been worried about you. FoxNews TV reported an explosion (mortar?) at one of the Palaces, but I didn't hear any followup and saw no story reporting it. Glad to hear you're still smokin' n' strokin', heh. I, too, hope Allawi makes a "comeback", but I don't hold out much hope. Sigh. Is it too pessimistic of me to be thinking this is going to turn out about 75% wrong? I'm trying to sit still until they finish the final Constitution draft, but it's hard - and much of what I've seen of early drafts is actually not very encouraging. 5 years or so from now, ± 2 yrs, I fully expect to see Kurdistan beginning to separate. They'll make a good go of this - and prosper, fighting the asshat Sunnis (and others?) all the way - the others won't. I believe it will be obvious, by then, that they shouldn't be shackled to the losers. Just my gut instinct. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-07-31 01:23 |
| #2 What you said, .com. The good news is, Allawi is actually the most well-respected politician across Iraq, to include Sunni regions. Depending on the electoral structure they adopt, that gives hope that competence will play a role in the next election. |
| Posted by: Verlaine in Iraq 2005-07-31 00:50 |
| #1 It's very easy to bitch from afar, I do it all the time, lol, but I believe al Ani's dead right. Jaafari isn't fit to shine Allawi's shoes. The idiotic sectarian bullshit that resulted in one from Column A for Prez, one from Column B for PM, blah³ has crippled Iraq's emergence from war - and kept it hamstrung, waffling, and limping. It's their call, however, sink or swim. I despise weakness - and the Iraqi Govt personifies it. Allawi was more of a man that the current lot added together. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-07-31 00:27 |