frustration in Washington
[This contradicts the line, favored by Leninology among others, that
the violence is mainly the work of Washington’s stooges.]
Los Angeles Times - September 16, 2006
U.S. Frustrated by Pace of Change in Iraq
Officials praise many of Prime Minister Maliki’s goals, including
quelling militias. But his political ties make it difficult for him
to pursue that aim.
By Paul Richter, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Four months after Iraq’s new government took office,
U.S. officials are growing impatient with leaders in Baghdad and
pushing them to move more quickly on the difficult agenda confronting
them.
The top U.S. goal in Iraq is to help the regime led by Prime Minister
Nouri Maliki to suppress sectarian violence, strengthen the fragile
government and economy and move toward national reconciliation,
senior officials say. One of those officials, in a recent interview,
praised goals Maliki had set in several of those areas, but suggested
more could be done.
“The rhetoric has to be matched by concrete action,” said the
official, who asked to remain unidentified, citing the sensitivity of
the subject. The Iraqi government “needs to begin acting, on the
ground, on its own behalf.”
Though the administration has confidence in the new prime minister,
U.S. officials “are frustrated … there is a little bit of
impatience,” another senior U.S. official said.
President Bush has voiced similar sentiments, stressing U.S. patience
and pledging continued support in an Aug. 31 speech, “as long as the
new government continues to make the hard decisions necessary to
advance a unified, democratic and peaceful Iraq.”
U.S. officials maintained that the election of a full-term government
last December would finally enable Shiite Muslims, Sunni Arabs and
Kurds to agree on political accords, opening the way to peace and
stability. So far, however, the Iraqi government continues to be
divided by factional quarrels, and sectarian violence is spiraling.
More than 30 bodies of victims slain execution-style were found
Friday. Over the last five days, 142 such killings have been
reported. In addition, two U.S. troops — a Marine in Al Anbar
province and a soldier in Baghdad — were reported killed. The U.S.
military also announced a soldier had been missing since Thursday,
when a bomb exploded west of Baghdad and killed at least two troops.
U.S. and Iraqi officials announced a new effort Friday to cut off the
flow of weapons and bombs into Baghdad. The plan, announced by Bush
during a White House news conference and confirmed by Iraqi
officials, is to dig a series of trenches that would form a perimeter
of about 60 miles around the city. Checkpoints on every road leading
in would restrict entry into the capital, Interior Ministry officials
said.
Overall, Iraqi government services have not improved and the most
contentious decisions lie ahead.
Maliki, whose government was installed May 20, succeeded Ibrahim
Jafari, another Shiite leader for whom the Bush administration at
first had high hopes. But Jafari failed to deliver essential
services, and it became clear that he had only vague plans for
leading the country out of its predicament. U.S. officials lost
confidence in him.
Should a second government fail, it would not only raise questions
about Maliki’s effectiveness but might indicate that anyone would
have difficulty leading Iraq. Few in the U.S. government so far have
suggested anything as drastic as another change in the leadership,
although some, frustrated by the lack of progress, have voiced a
private view in recent weeks that Iraq might be better off under a
traditional Middle Eastern strongman.
“But that’s not the policy,” said the second senior U.S. official,
discussing the idea of changing governments again. “The policy is to
prevent that from happening by making this government succeed.”
A key element in Maliki’s program is the effort to reconcile the
country’s warring sects, tribes and militias. Committees have been
formed and some tribal meetings have been convened. Yet the program
remains in its early stages nearly three months after Maliki unveiled
it.
The first senior U.S. official said that reconciliation was “a tough
issue, but progress has got to be made.” He said places such as
Northern Ireland, Liberia and Ivory Coast had faced much the same
challenge.
“Without a reconciliation deal, without a package which deals
decisively and comprehensively with nongovernmental armed groups …
you don’t bring an end to any conflict anywhere in the world,” the
official said.
The Bush administration disagrees with the Iraqi prime minister on
some issues, including Maliki’s condemnation of Israel’s July
invasion of Lebanon to confront the Shiite militia Hezbollah. Maliki
also disagrees with the U.S. military’s efforts to strike at the
paramilitary forces of Shiite leader Muqtada Sadr, who is one source
of Maliki’s political support. And this week, Maliki visited Iran,
whose long-strained relations with Washington have grown increasingly
acrimonious.
Despite their growing desire for action, U.S. officials say they
recognize the difficulty Maliki faces in trying to lead a fractious
government with only the narrowest base of public support. For
example, though a top goal of both the Bush administration and the
Maliki government is suppressing sectarian violence, it is difficult
for the prime minister to try to bring pressure on groups associated
with Sadr.
“People here recognize that it’s a political reality that he depends
on the votes of groups which, while not all dirty, have some ties to
Shia death squads,” the second senior official said. “He’s a decent
man, a serious person, but there are realities.”
In addition to action to stem sectarian violence, U.S. officials want
the Maliki government to move on a new investment law to bolster the
economy as well as legislation to restructure the state oil company
and set new rules for investing in Iraq’s petroleum industry.
In an appearance at the Brookings Institution’s Saban Center in
Washington this week, Deputy Iraqi Prime Minister Barham Salih said
the government had imposed a “very tough timetable” on itself for
action on the legislative agenda.
He said parliament should pass the investment law this month, and
next month should vote on a law to allow former members of Saddam
Hussein’s Baath Party to return to government and society. In
December, the government will introduce its proposal for managing its
petroleum reserves and adopt a law on the disarmament and re-
integration of former anti-government militants, Salih said.
Analysts say the issues all are divisive and that action will be
difficult. “There’s no secret about what needs to be done, in broad
terms, to put Iraq back together, in a national consensus,” said
Nathan Brown, a specialist in Arab politics at the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace. “The question is, can it be done? The
American frustration is only natural.”
Another regional specialist said the Americans may have domestic
reasons for publicly pushing the Iraqi government to move faster.
“The goal here may be, ‘Don’t blame us — blame them,’ ” said Juan R.
Cole, a veteran observer of Iraq at the University of Michigan.
U.S. officials say that also at the top of their agenda for Iraq is a
renewed effort to draw financial and political support from regional
governments and major world powers.
American government officials and their Iraqi counterparts have been
frustrated by the reluctance of other countries to help what they see
as the weak government of a troubled land.
The first U.S. official said that neighbors “have been very slow to
move” to give political support, direct aid or even debt forgiveness.
“That needs to change,” he said.