Iraqi Government Shake-Up to Pass US-Demanded Legislation
| Thu Aug. 16, 2007 6:33 AM PDT
Yesterday, a report in Dubai-based Gulfnews forecast a Baghdad govenrment "shake-up":
Under pressure from the Congress, Arab states and Sunni Iraqi leaders, the US administration on Tuesday set the stage for "major" political changes in Iraq.
The changes will be in "the structure, nature and direction of the Iraqi state," a senior American official in Baghdad was quoted by AP as saying.
He did not give out details, but the plan is expected to be high on the agenda of a 'crisis summit' which would be attended by key Iraqi leaders who seek to save the crumbling national unity government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki.
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Today, the AP reports, Iraqi leaders have formed a new majority alliance:
The Iraqi prime minister and president announced a new alliance of moderate Shiites and Kurds in a push to save the crumbing government Thursday, saying a key Sunni bloc refused to join but the door remained open to them. ...
At the news conference announcing the political accord, President Jalal Talabani and al-Maliki were flanked by the leader of the northern autonomous Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, and Shiite Vice President Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi.
The four men signed a three-page agreement they said ensures them a majority in the 275-member parliament that would allow action on legislation demanded by the U.S.
A cynical observer might predict: a rush of legislation being passed by the reengineered Iraqi parliament just in time before the September non-Petraeus Petraeus report, fulfilling several of the Congressionally-mandated benchmarks.
Comments
The entire point of the political changes Bush said our soldiers were fighting and dying to give the Iraqis "breathing space" to accomplish was to ease tensions between the Shiites and the Sunnis. The main point of contention with the Sunnis was the lack of adequate representation in the government and their contention that the Shiite-dominated regime was bent on their community's destruction.
Now that Maliki has reshuffled his regime and replaced the Sunnis who walked with Shiites and Kurds, there really can't be any effective reconciliation forthcoming. That makes the deaths of the 700 or so Americans who fought and died to give the Maliki regime 'breathing space' a tragic waste. The move also makes any suggestion of continuing on with a defense of this stacked alliance of Shiites and Kurds a complete ruse.
There should be zero expectation of any reconciliation with Sunnis which would lead to any reduction in resistant violence now that Maliki's Shiite-dominated regime has decided to completely turn their backs on the Sunnis and their demands.
Submitted by Daniel (not verified) on Thu Aug. 16, 2007 6:47 PM PDT.
I think Maliki's battle is a hopeless uphill struggle. I have more to say about this at my website at: www.tiptopwebsite.com/danblog27
