.Analysis: Iraq PM Challenged by Insurgency
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - With just one month in office, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has more going for him than both his post-Saddam Hussein predecessors combined. One of the most frequently asked questions is whether al-Maliki can succeed where others have failed. And it is far from certain that he can give Iraq what it needs more than anything else - security.
What sets al-Maliki apart from his predecessors and their fruitless attempts to improve security is his conviction that force alone will not improve the situation.
In announcing a massive security crackdown in Baghdad this week - 75,000 troops on the streets, an extended nighttime curfew, and a weapons ban - al-Maliki also said he wanted counterinsurgency to go hand-in-hand with better services and humanitarian aid.
He spoke of the need for national reconciliation, ordering the release of hundreds of mainly Sunni detainees. And he extended a conditional offer of talks with insurgents and indicated they may be eligible for a limited pardon.
But the challenges ahead were made apparent Friday, when a suicide bomber struck a heavily fortified Shiite mosque in Baghdad, killing at least 13 worshippers and wounding 28. The attack shattered a relative lull in violence in the first two days of the Baghdad security crackdown.
He is also facing problems in his governing coalition, with some politicians speaking of a lack of trust between its Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab components.
"There isn't 100 percent trust between the Sunnis and Shiites in government, but we cannot say relations are that bad either," said lawmaker Kamal al-Saadi of al-Maliki's Dawa party.
Al-Maliki, 50, has many years of experience as an opposition leader in exile, but does not have the oratorical skills and scholarly air of his predecessor Ibrahim al-al-Jaafari, or the Washington connections and charisma of Ayad Allawi - Iraq's first post-Saddam prime minister.
He has other assets, however.
Al-Maliki talks tough but without Allawi's swagger. He is said by associates to be serious-minded and persuasive. He is also reaching out in earnest to the Sunni Arab community, whose support is crucial to improving security.
He already won some accolades from Sunnis when he recently used unusually strong language to upbraid American troops for what he said was their lack of respect for the lives of Iraqi civilians. He endeared himself further by vowing to disband Shiite militias blamed for the death of hundreds of Sunnis in reprisal killings.
"There is no need for them to continue to exist," he said of the militias. "Everyone will be protected by the government."
President Jalal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd who had publicly chastised al-Maliki's predecessor for failing to stop abuses by the mainly Shiite security forces against Sunni Arabs, has hinted that similar violations during the ongoing Baghdad security campaign will not be tolerated.
"We want it to cover all of Baghdad so citizens don't feel that the security measures are targeting a certain party," Talabani said.
"The Prime Minister has been saying some encouraging things," Adnan Pachachi, one of Iraq's Sunni Arab elder statesmen said in a television interview. "We have to...give him some time to see whether he will be able to do something concrete"
Adnan al-Dulaimi, another Sunni Arab lawmaker and leader of parliament's largest Sunni bloc, also counseled patience. "Nothing happens overnight. There is no magic wand," he said.
Time may not be on al-Maliki's side.
In the three years since Saddam's ouster, extreme levels of violence are a daily fare in much of Iraq, with the focus of attacks shifting from U.S. forces to Iraqi civilians.
Security worsened considerably after a Feb. 22 bombing destroyed a major Shiite shrine north of Baghdad, unleashing Sunni-Shiite reprisal killings that continue to this day.
But al-Maliki can count, in part at least, on President Bush and America's troops in Iraq.
Bush flew to Baghdad Tuesday with assurances that al-Maliki's government had Washington's unflagging support, and Iraq's most feared terrorist was killed in a U.S. airstrike June 7.
"Al-Maliki is strong and is getting a lot of support from the Americans," said Redha Jawad Taqi, a senior Shiite politician and lawmaker.
"The success of his security plan for Baghdad and later other troubled areas is essential to the government's credibility."
MyWay
Personally, I think I like this guy, he reminds me of the Kurdish president. He acts, he doesn't sit around twittering his thumbs.
He said he would have a cabinet, and he put it together, maybe a little late, but he did it. And it's like he went right to work.
The thing is he's starting at rock bottom, which is good, there's not to far to fall, and plenty of room to grow.
What sets al-Maliki apart from his predecessors and their fruitless attempts to improve security is his conviction that force alone will not improve the situation.
In announcing a massive security crackdown in Baghdad this week - 75,000 troops on the streets, an extended nighttime curfew, and a weapons ban - al-Maliki also said he wanted counterinsurgency to go hand-in-hand with better services and humanitarian aid.
He spoke of the need for national reconciliation, ordering the release of hundreds of mainly Sunni detainees. And he extended a conditional offer of talks with insurgents and indicated they may be eligible for a limited pardon.
But the challenges ahead were made apparent Friday, when a suicide bomber struck a heavily fortified Shiite mosque in Baghdad, killing at least 13 worshippers and wounding 28. The attack shattered a relative lull in violence in the first two days of the Baghdad security crackdown.
He is also facing problems in his governing coalition, with some politicians speaking of a lack of trust between its Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab components.
"There isn't 100 percent trust between the Sunnis and Shiites in government, but we cannot say relations are that bad either," said lawmaker Kamal al-Saadi of al-Maliki's Dawa party.
Al-Maliki, 50, has many years of experience as an opposition leader in exile, but does not have the oratorical skills and scholarly air of his predecessor Ibrahim al-al-Jaafari, or the Washington connections and charisma of Ayad Allawi - Iraq's first post-Saddam prime minister.
He has other assets, however.
Al-Maliki talks tough but without Allawi's swagger. He is said by associates to be serious-minded and persuasive. He is also reaching out in earnest to the Sunni Arab community, whose support is crucial to improving security.
He already won some accolades from Sunnis when he recently used unusually strong language to upbraid American troops for what he said was their lack of respect for the lives of Iraqi civilians. He endeared himself further by vowing to disband Shiite militias blamed for the death of hundreds of Sunnis in reprisal killings.
"There is no need for them to continue to exist," he said of the militias. "Everyone will be protected by the government."
President Jalal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd who had publicly chastised al-Maliki's predecessor for failing to stop abuses by the mainly Shiite security forces against Sunni Arabs, has hinted that similar violations during the ongoing Baghdad security campaign will not be tolerated.
"We want it to cover all of Baghdad so citizens don't feel that the security measures are targeting a certain party," Talabani said.
"The Prime Minister has been saying some encouraging things," Adnan Pachachi, one of Iraq's Sunni Arab elder statesmen said in a television interview. "We have to...give him some time to see whether he will be able to do something concrete"
Adnan al-Dulaimi, another Sunni Arab lawmaker and leader of parliament's largest Sunni bloc, also counseled patience. "Nothing happens overnight. There is no magic wand," he said.
Time may not be on al-Maliki's side.
In the three years since Saddam's ouster, extreme levels of violence are a daily fare in much of Iraq, with the focus of attacks shifting from U.S. forces to Iraqi civilians.
Security worsened considerably after a Feb. 22 bombing destroyed a major Shiite shrine north of Baghdad, unleashing Sunni-Shiite reprisal killings that continue to this day.
But al-Maliki can count, in part at least, on President Bush and America's troops in Iraq.
Bush flew to Baghdad Tuesday with assurances that al-Maliki's government had Washington's unflagging support, and Iraq's most feared terrorist was killed in a U.S. airstrike June 7.
"Al-Maliki is strong and is getting a lot of support from the Americans," said Redha Jawad Taqi, a senior Shiite politician and lawmaker.
"The success of his security plan for Baghdad and later other troubled areas is essential to the government's credibility."
MyWay
Personally, I think I like this guy, he reminds me of the Kurdish president. He acts, he doesn't sit around twittering his thumbs.
He said he would have a cabinet, and he put it together, maybe a little late, but he did it. And it's like he went right to work.
The thing is he's starting at rock bottom, which is good, there's not to far to fall, and plenty of room to grow.
posted by madtom at 11:01 PM
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