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Iraq
Maliki pushing us out of govt: Sunni Arabs
2007-07-31
BAGHDAD - IraqÂ’s biggest Sunni Arab group accused Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday of pushing it out of the government by failing to consult it on key issues, escalating a row that threatens reconciliation efforts.

The Sunni Accordance Front has threatened to pull out of MalikiÂ’s shaky coalition government this week unless he meets a list of demands, including a greater say in security matters. It comes at a time when Washington is pushing IraqÂ’s leaders to work together to push through a package of reforms aimed stabilising the country and reconciling Iraqis. Parliament decided on Monday to go on summer recess until early September.

“He (Maliki) is simply closing the doors on reforms and therefore the Front will be excused if it goes ahead with its plan to withdraw from the government in the time it has set,” the Front said in a statement.

The war of words has become increasingly personal, with the Front accusing Maliki, rather than his ruling Shia Alliance, of marginalising Sunni Arabs and acting unilaterally. The fallout has further damaged a government weakened by the pullout of fiery Shia cleric Moqtada al-SadrÂ’s political bloc, also one of the biggest groups in parliament.

Relations between Maliki and Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a leader of the Accordance Front, are also famously frosty, with Hashemi frequently complaining that Maliki doesnÂ’t listen to him.

A Sunni Arab lawmaker and a government official revealed what they said was the main reason for the FrontÂ’s decision last week to suspend the work of its six ministers in the government. They said the decision was sparked by a tense meeting between Maliki and the Iraqi presidency council, which includes Hashemi. When the Sunni politician asked to discuss security matters, Maliki refused and then walked out.

A spokesman for Maliki was not immediately available to comment on the report.

The increasingly acrimonious verbal exchanges saw government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh accuse the Front on Friday of obstruction and blackmail following its threat to pull out of the government if its demands were not met. But the Front said DabbaghÂ’s comments represented MalikiÂ’s views, not those of the government. It said Shia and Kurdish factions within the government were sympathetic to its demands.

“The prime minister is ignoring those who are concerned and is sidelining them by not consulting them on sensitive issues,” the Front said. “Maliki is acting unilaterally. He does not share with us any sensitive matters, as if we are not a part of this process. We are fed up with that,” a Sunni Arab official told Reuters.
Posted by:Steve White

#14  Sorry about double posting.
Posted by: gromgoru   2007-07-31 20:08  

#13  #7 In lieu of more-thoughtful/knowledgeable person, here's my 2 cents worth.
Nations are Nations, tribes are tribes---the differences are unmistakable. Sometimes Nations die. And sometimes tribes become Nations (the ancestors of current day west Europeans were tribesmen a 1000 years ago). Since the conquests of Muhammad's successors, Arabs had 1200 years to evolve Nations---they evolved bobkes.
Posted by: gromgoru   2007-07-31 20:07  

#12  #7 In lieu of more-thoughtful/knowledgeable person, here's my 2 cents worth.
Nations are Nations, tribes are tribes---the differences are unmistakable. Sometimes Nations die. And sometimes tribes become Nations (the ancestors of current day west Europeans were tribesmen a 1000 years ago). Since the conquests of Muhammad's successors, Arabs had 1200 years to evolve Nations---they evolved bobkes.
Posted by: gromgoru   2007-07-31 20:07  

#11  we would do well to recruit a Kurd to be PM of Iraq

The one real virtue in that is how everybody else would be unhappy with such a solution. That certainly speaks very well for the idea in general.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-07-31 18:30  

#10  Actually, I think we would do well to recruit a Kurd to be PM of Iraq : the whole of Kurdistan is much better than anywhere else in Iraq. And several of the top politicians in Kurdistan have shown political maturity, even embracing old blood enemies for political advantage.

Besides, I think people are trying to push the Iraqis too far too quick. Think of Iraq like Chicago in the 1930s : the people don't begrudge a politician a little honest graft, as long as he get the job done. What they don't want is a corrupt politician - one who takes the money and then the streets don't get cleaned, the sewers don't get fixed, etc. As long as the politico is just bumping the contracts up to 103% of true cost and pocketing a chunk of that, the people will be happy as long as the items get built, the garbage is picked up, etc.
Posted by: Shieldwolf   2007-07-31 17:19  

#9  Zenster, any alternative candidates?

It won't matter, in the long run, because any alternative candidate would still be Muslim as well as the populace he would be charged to lead. Muslims aren't capable of effective self-government--the proof lies in every shithole in which they hold power.
Posted by: Crusader   2007-07-31 14:50  

#8  there's nobody in Iraq capable of foresight & enlightened self-interest.

Then we should declare Iraq a failed state and make it—like the Philippines in the early 1900s—into a suzerain or protectorate. Install our own Western led government at gun point. Then pump out enough oil to compensate us for wasting our bloody time and use them as a forward operating base to crush political Islam.

Which means, nobody in Iraq whom USA can trust without a gun stuck to his head.

That can be just as accurately applied to all Muslim majority countries.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-07-31 14:08  

#7  Since there isn't actually an Iraqi Nation

Is there really a lot of NATIONS, outside of western countries (though some could argue that, say, Belgium is not or hardly a Nation), and a number of asian countries with long-standing national identities? Couldn't many, many african and arab "Nations" be instead termed artificial constructs out of tribes? I'm serious, I'm really asking that so a more-thoughtful/knowledgeable person will input his reflexion.
Western Nations are busily being deconstructed, top-down by transnational ideologies, and down-top from massive immigration from alien cultures, and the ideas of Nation and Identity are something I like to think about, not always with great results, to try and make sense of it all.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2007-07-31 11:51  

#6  Maliki won't talk to them about security matters because he thinks the secretly support the Sunni insurgents. Remember the suicide bombing in the green zone? It was carried out by the bodyguard of a sunni politician.
Posted by: Apostate   2007-07-31 08:57  

#5  I suspect much could be learned about our future course by talking to a man named Alowi.
Posted by: Besoeker   2007-07-31 08:26  

#4  Zenster, let me tell you a secret.
Since there isn't actually an Iraqi Nation, there's nobody in Iraq who gives a f*ck about Iraq. More that that, there's nobody in Iraq capable of foresight & enlightened self-interest. Which means, nobody in Iraq whom USA can trust without a gun stuck to his head.
Posted by: gromgoru   2007-07-31 07:14  

#3  Zenster, any alternative candidates?

Absolutely. Someone younger, not as well-connected and less contaminated by the politics-as-usual process. Much the same can be said for American politicians. Term limits have begun to winnow out the hardcore pols here. Bullets will most likely have to do the job abroad.

High context societies thrive upon the sort of influence and corruption that Nour al-Maliki trails in his wake. However drastic it might sound, we need to scrape away an entire tier of MME (Muslim Middle East) leadership that is incapable of transcending the usual internecine tribal bloodshed and usher in an era of more enlightened individuals who are willing to reach some sort of negotiated compromise.

I do not care if this requires ousting or eliminating every government officer and employee in the MME who is above age 45 and earning more than 50K$-100K$ per annum. The West is suffering endless terrorist attacks due to their mere existence and all our hopes for rehabilitating the MME are being thwarted by these same exact same ossified, hidebound and recalcitrant individuals. They are too happy to play the role of warlord and Somalia should have already taught us the worth of their sort.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-07-31 06:38  

#2  Zenster, any alternative candidates?
Posted by: gromgoru   2007-07-31 05:56  

#1  Only an idiot would be surprised by this. Maliki's a Shiite and getting revenge on the Sunnis—even at the cost of paralyzing the nation he is sworn to lead—comes first. This is why Maliki needs to get his ass capped along with Moqtada Sadr.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-07-31 02:41  

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