Green Zone Officials Say Iraq-Namese Reconciliation Unattainable

The cornerstone of President Bush’s policy in Mesopotamia has been to have the US military secure the country to allow the Green Zone government to settle the political situation so that rebuilding can occur. This week-end, several Iraq-Namese leaders said the political situation wasn’t going to get settled. That being the case, there is no reason to keep spending American money and wasting American lives. The US policy goal is not achievable.

Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, a Kurd, said, “I don’t think there is something called reconciliation, and there will be no reconciliation as such. To me, it is a very inaccurate term. This is a struggle about power.” The Iraq-Namese believe that the power equation in their country is a zero sum function. Thus, power sharing is unrealistic as an objective.

Tariq al-Hashimi, one of Iraq’s two vice presidents and the most influential Sunni in government, agreed, “There has been no significant progress for months. There is a shortage of goodwill from those parties who are now in the driver’s seat of the country.” Salam Z. al-Zobaee, Iraq’s second-highest Sunni official explained what the trouble is, “I, as deputy prime minister responsible for the portfolio of security and services, until now, have never been consulted on any security operation taking place in Iraq. The Sunnis, even if they’ve been participating in the government, are still marginalized in decision-making.”

Mr. Salih noted the problem was the very idea of a national unity government. In a true democracy, there is such a thing as a loyal opposition. He said, “Iraq cannot be ruled by this notion of a national unity government, because that has been a recipe for paralysis. We need a government of majority, comprising the moderates, representing the key communities of Iraq and delivering to its constituents, and willing to take on the extremists.”

Thus, Iraq-Namese President Jalal Talabani has backed the US Senate’s proposal to make Iraq-Nam a federal state. He’s made it clear that Kurdistan won’t become independent as that upsets too many neighbors (Turkey and Iran for example), but autonomy is good enough for him. Unfortunately, Prime Minister al-Maliki hates the idea. What the Kurds would gain the Shi’ites would lose – zero sum thinking. The Iraq-Namese government has admitted it isn’t doing what Washington wants it to do, so surely, there’s no purpose in protecting it any longer. It’s past time to go.

© 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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