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Iraq |
The Battle in Baghdad - CFR |
2006-07-21 |
![]() A much-touted security clampdown in the capital, which coincided with the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, "has not produced the results I expected so far," admitted U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad in a recent speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Part of the problem, argues Kenneth M. Pollack of the Brookings Institution, is the Iraqi government is trying to secure Baghdad with half the number of troops necessary to bring order to a city of six million inhabitants. Khalilzad has outlined a strategy of "focused stabilization operations" meant to restore order to Iraq's urban areas and root out sectarian militias while building municipal institutions, improving governance, and jump-starting the local economy. Much of that approach was spelled out by Andrew Krepinevich—who famously called it an "oil-spot strategy"—last fall in Foreign Affairs. In this recent podcast, Krepinevich assesses the implementation of his strategy one year later and finds it working but requiring more time. Some of the blame for the recent bloodshed in Baghdad has been placed on Moqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shiite cleric whose militia, the Mahdi Army, has carried out reprisal killings against Sunnis and lures many of its recruits from Sadr City, a Baghdad slum. Yet the so-called Sadrists, despite their spoiler status, "cannot be reduced to an unruly mob, fired up by a populist leader," says Peter Harling, an International Crisis Group senior analyst. "It is a phenomenon with deep roots in contemporary Iraq and expressing a large number of justified grievances." Opposing them is a collection of insurgent fighters and suicide bombers who remain capable of devastating attacks (AP). |
Posted by:DepotGuy |
#2 This article makes it seem like fighting between Sunni and Shiite is a bad thing. |
Posted by: ed 2006-07-21 18:02 |
#1 The problem is we have never aknowledged that Iran is our main enemy in Iraq. The crackdown was directed at Al Qaeda in Iraq, but now the main enemy is Sadr (financed by Iran). Until the Coalition and ISF focus on Iran's assets in Iraq, there will not be any progress. Al |
Posted by: Frozen Al 2006-07-21 17:11 |