Senator Levin Says Prime Minister Maliki Needs to Go

Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) is the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and one of the more responsible leaders in Washington. He and his colleague John Warner (R-VA), another reliable foreign policy hand, have just returned from Iraq-Nam, and they have issued a joint statement that is, at best, mixed in its assessment of the situation. After issuing the statement, Senator Levin told journalists, “I hope the parliament will vote the Maliki government out of office and will have the wisdom to replace it with a less sectarian and more unifying prime minister and government.”

The joint statement by the senators praises the military efforts of the soldiers on the ground. “We visited forward operating bases in Mosul and Baghdad. In these areas, as well as a number of others in Iraq, the military aspects of President Bush’s new strategy in Iraq, as articulated by him on January 10, 2007, appear to have produced some credible and positive results.” And “Most important, we continue to be in awe of the dedication, commitment, and courageous performance of our troops, wherever they are in Iraq, and government and private sector civilians who risk their lives daily to give Iraqis the chance to build their nation. Their heroism cannot be overstated.” Moreover, “We note the continuing improvement in the ability and willingness of the Iraqi Army to conduct combat operations against the insurgents.”

However, this was never a war about winning battles and occupying territory. It has been, and continues to be, a war to create a government in Baghdad for which the people of that country feel sufficient loyalty to fight, kill and die to protect. The loyalties appear to be to religious sect rather than nation, to the traditional regional powers rather than the elected central figures and institutions created by the recent constitution. The Iraq-Namese government for which US and allied troops are dying is, in short, not keeping its end of whatever the US thinks the deal may be because the people of Iraq-Nam don't support it sufficiently.

That raises the question, then, of whether any other Iraq-Namese leader could do better. One is doubtful, not because Prime Minister al-Maliki is such a wizard politico but because the situation is so dreadful. In the election that established the current Iraq-Namese parliament, more than 50% voted for Shi’ite religious parties, and another 20+% opted for Kurdish parties that prefer independence (or as close as they can get to it), and close to 20% of the nation voted for Sunni religious parties. The ambitious men are not those who are seeking national unity, but rather those who want to run their own fiefdom. Centrifugal forces are overpowering the national government.

This statement foreshadows what is likely to come out of General David Petraeus’ report next month. There is military progress, which gives those in favor of continuing this exercise in quagmire studies grounds to argue their case. There is no political progress at all, but there is hope (most likely forlorn) that a new cabinet and prime minister could change that. The new guys would need time to get results, which drags this war out another six months at least. Naturally, the new team would look like Washington’s puppets, meaning they won’t have any credibility.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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