Patriotic occupiers
Is there a way out of the dilemma in Iraq? Doaa El-Bey looks for answers
Britain and America this week tried to play a more active role in encouraging political parties to form a government in Iraq. Analysts looked at the role and at the deteriorating situation in Iraq and concluded that a national unity government was the only option.
Abdel-Wahab Badrakhan did not rule out that George Bush would visit Iraq in order to push the winning parties to form a government. However, he added that the Iraqis, not the Americans or any other party, should be keen to form their own government. "A national unity government requires a sense of patriotism among all the Iraqi parties. If that sense is lacking, there is no hope. Since the results of the elections were announced, Baghdad witnessed manoeuvres to impose a principle -- that the winning party must dictate its conditions and that the rest have no option but to accept," Badrakhan wrote in the London-based daily Al-Hayat on Monday.
He cast doubt that the recent surprise visit to Iraq by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw would push aside all the obstacles facing the formation of the government, adding the recent American-British move to resolve the dilemma gave the impression that the occupying forces are more patriotic than the political parties and sects in Iraq.
In its editorial on Monday, the United Arab Emirates daily Al-Bayan expressed serious concern about the deteriorating situation in Iraq, saying the organised deportation of ethnic minorities, the migration of educated families and youths, and the assassination of academics and scientists have reached unprecedented levels. Yet, the winning parties have failed to reach a national unity government four months after the election.
The newspaper questioned whether Rice came to Iraq to impose a US-tailored government on the Iraqis. "The way out of the current crisis is a national unity government. If that government was needed in the past, it is the only option today in order to put an end to the immigration and deportation Iraq is witnessing," Al-Bayan said.
Thomas Friedman reiterated that the formation of a national unity government that represents Sunnis, Shias and Kurds was the only hope for Iraq. In the London-based daily Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday, Friedman wrote that putting more Iraqi and American forces on the street would put an end to the state of havoc and stop the assassinations. "If a national unity government is not formed immediately to put an end to anarchy and instability, there is no hope for building a secure and stable state in Iraq," he said.
Abdel-Rahman Al-Rashed commented on Rice's statement that the US strategy in Iraq was sound but that thousands of tactical mistakes had been made. In Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday, Al-Rashed described some of these mistakes: the US took the decision to invade Iraq in the absence of a UN umbrella; the US dissolved the Iraqi army and security forces after the invasion, leaving public security in the hands of the militias; the appointment of Paul Bremer as governor; and subsequent marginalisation of the Iraqi opposition that had resided outside Iraq until the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Al-Rashed added that the US attempt to play a bigger role in Iraq through Rice and its Ambassador in Baghdad Zalmay Khalil-Zada is too late because America's tactical mistakes are many and mostly fatal.
"The crisis in Iraq today reflects the fact that these mistakes have spoiled the US strategic success in Iraq. The Iraqis voted for their government but the winning parties failed to reach an agreement to form one," he wrote.
Jabir Habib Jabir ascribed the failure of the Iraqi parties to form a government to the reciprocal fear of each other and the absence of mutual trust that they inherited from the despotic regime of Saddam.
"Years of dictatorship, injustice and involvement in futile wars failed to unite the Iraqi people and induce them to form a national unity government," Jabir wrote in Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday.
Jabir blamed the Iraqi failure to break the vicious circle of violence, unemployment and instability on the government and political and religious leaders. "The government is responsible for its weak performance and corruption. Political and religious leaders failed to stop the armed forces from using their controlled zones as safe havens," he added
Jabir sounded optimistic when he concluded that a new era of possible cooperation rather than fighting among the factions could dawn. He did not elaborate on how this could happen.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/789/pr2.htm