Monday, February 26, 2007
Al-Hashemi - security plan failed so far
Security, Politics
(AP) Iraq's Sunni vice president said Monday the Baghdad security plan has so far failed to respect human rights and treat all groups equally, which he described as flaws that doomed the two major crackdowns in the capital last year. Tariq al-Hashemi also told The Associated Press that the publicity that preceded the operation cost the authorities the element of surprise.
U.S. officials also have said they believed many Shiite militiamen and Sunni insurgents left the city after President Bush announced plans to send 21,500 U.S. reinforcements, most of them to Baghdad. The operation began Feb. 14 but the last of the U.S. military units earmarked for Iraq are not due here until May.
Although sectarian death squad killings appear to have fallen sharply, violence remains high. During an interview in his Green Zone headquarters, al-Hashemi said he had not expected a marked improvement in security in the capital "simply because the requirements of the plan are not in place."
"Up to now, legal procedures have not been observed," he said. "The human rights of Iraqis have not been respected as they should be. In this regard, this plan is being implemented in the same way the previous ones were. This is surely regrettable. Al-Hashemi and other Sunni leaders have complained that military operations have been centered on Sunni neighborhoods while the Sadr City stronghold of radical anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has been largely spared.
Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia has been blamed for much of the sectarian violence, which surged after the bombing last year of a major Shiite shrine in the Sunni city of Samarra. "The problem is will the plan be implemented equally on all Iraqis? Will it respect human rights," al-Hashemi asked.
He also said the weeks before Bush's announcement and the arrival of the first new U.S. and Iraqi units had given extremists time to prepare. "I was hoping that the security plan would be announced along with all the requirements for success," he said. "One of those requirements for success is the element of surprise, that the plan should start without advance notice so that justice can reach militia leaders, terrorists, death squads and those involved in organized crime." He added: "This very regretfully did not happen."
U.S. officials also have said they believed many Shiite militiamen and Sunni insurgents left the city after President Bush announced plans to send 21,500 U.S. reinforcements, most of them to Baghdad. The operation began Feb. 14 but the last of the U.S. military units earmarked for Iraq are not due here until May.
Although sectarian death squad killings appear to have fallen sharply, violence remains high. During an interview in his Green Zone headquarters, al-Hashemi said he had not expected a marked improvement in security in the capital "simply because the requirements of the plan are not in place."
"Up to now, legal procedures have not been observed," he said. "The human rights of Iraqis have not been respected as they should be. In this regard, this plan is being implemented in the same way the previous ones were. This is surely regrettable. Al-Hashemi and other Sunni leaders have complained that military operations have been centered on Sunni neighborhoods while the Sadr City stronghold of radical anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has been largely spared.
Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia has been blamed for much of the sectarian violence, which surged after the bombing last year of a major Shiite shrine in the Sunni city of Samarra. "The problem is will the plan be implemented equally on all Iraqis? Will it respect human rights," al-Hashemi asked.
He also said the weeks before Bush's announcement and the arrival of the first new U.S. and Iraqi units had given extremists time to prepare. "I was hoping that the security plan would be announced along with all the requirements for success," he said. "One of those requirements for success is the element of surprise, that the plan should start without advance notice so that justice can reach militia leaders, terrorists, death squads and those involved in organized crime." He added: "This very regretfully did not happen."
Labels: Operation Law and Order, Tariq al-Hashemi
