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| Iraq |
| The Iraq Government's Political Approach Has Succeeded |
| 2007-10-08 |
| From an interview of Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani, conducted by Kathleen Ridolfo, an Iraq analyst at Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. al-Mashhadani: .... Iranian influence [in Iraq] is clear and present. As parliamentarians, we cannot do anything but open dialogue with the Iranians and urge them not to interfere, and insist on our demands that they should not interfere. Concerning the security level, there are the executive bodies -- the ministries of Defense and Interior. These have some kind of agreements on reducing the arms smuggling. The ideal solution is an Iraqi solution -- dismantling of the militias and their canceling. .... If all rivals are brought to the parliament and to the political arena, and all the militia-like or terrorist groups that reject the political process are decapitated, then no one will be able to interfere in our internal affairs. .... RFE/RL: Let me ask you about the ... the Sunni resistance. .... Will there be some kind of reconciliation coming? Al-Mashhadani: In fact, we have reached a really great achievement in the separation of the resistance from Al-Qaeda. .... Now, we are on the way to opening talks with them [the resistance] so that they can join the political process. .... There are some obstacles. There are some people from the resistance who have got involved in certain crimes similar to Al-Qaeda. There is dialogue on how we should deal with this group whose majority -- we believe -- can be drawn in the political process. Through that, we would put an end to military operations, for instance by setting a timetable for a real withdrawal, sovereignty, and a full independence. We see that their demands are reasonable .... Moreover, they have representatives in the parliament. [Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Imam] Al-Mahdi Army has its representatives in the parliament, the Islamic Army has its representatives in the parliament -- all of them have their representatives in the parliament. But, their representatives in the parliament work hard to persuade them [to lay down arms in support of] the political process. .... Our situation now is that the political approach has succeeded and prevailed over the language of a military approach. And this is a really great achievement. RFE/RL: The deposed Ba'ath Party of says that it is working to liberate Iraq. .... What is their role on the ground in Iraq? .... Al-Mashhadani: A part of the Ba'ath Party has fled from Iraq, another part is imprisoned, another part is fighting, and another part has quietly and peacefully infiltrated government institutions to work there and make a living. The part that has fled from Iraq does not interest us. It does not have any influence. As for the part that has stayed in Iraq fighting, we have started to get closer to them in slow steps and we understand what they want. We have the law on responsibility and justice [that has replaced the old de-Ba'athification law], which they, I think, are now somewhat rejecting. We can persuade them that this is the best we can offer them. Also, they resist the occupation. Well, if we get full sovereignty and our genuine forces are built up, and if real democracy is established through the Iraqi parliament, which is now close to succeeding in the democratic process, then they will no longer have any justification for saying, "We are convinced in the democratic process, but we believe that the foreign presence has caused problems to us." We are now close to solving the obstacle of the foreign presence in Iraq. By agreement of the parties involved, we try to foster the role of the United Nations; there is a wish that a schedule for the withdrawal is set; there is a wish that the [foreign forces] do not stay. All this will depend on whether we manage to control the security in Iraq." RFE/RL: ... Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi ... has made some statements in recent days that he is in talks with some other political parties in the parliament to push a new national compact, a national-unity agreement. Is this agreement going to take hold? .... Al-Mashhadani: ..... it seems that the national compact was already made when we agreed on the political program, on the basis of which we formed the government. And that is a successful program. But the problem is in implementation, not in written programs. I can write programs that you will like. But who will implement the program? And what is the will for its implementation? What is the mechanism for making decisions on the implementation? That is where the disagreement is. |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #1 JOE BIDEN OP-ED > FEDERALISM CAN WORK IN IRAQ, IF THEY/WE WANT IT TO. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-10-08 19:30 |