Friday, July 13, 2007
Iraqi leaders insist progress is being made despite negative White House report
Politics
(AP) - Iraqi leaders insisted they were making military and political progress, defending their efforts after the Bush administration gave the Baghdad government a spotty report card on a series of benchmarks aimed at bringing stability to the war-torn nation. War critics in the U.S. Congress have seized on the assessment as proof that President Bush's strategy in Iraq is failing, and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted Thursday to withdraw U.S. troops by spring 2008 despite a veto threat from Bush.
A top adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rankled at the assessment, saying Bush supporters and opponents in Washington "will both blame Iraqis" for the shortcomings. Sami al-Askari said the government was serious in passing a series of political reforms aimed at bringing national unity and drawing greater Sunni Arab support for the political process. "From now until the end of the year, draft laws related to national reconciliation will be finished," al-Askari told U.S.-funded Alhurra television late Thursday.
But the reforms have been held up for months by political wrangling between Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish members of al-Maliki's coalition. Sunnis and Kurds have deep differences over a draft law to equitably share control of the oil industry and its profits, one of the centerpiece reforms, and no compromise is in sight. The even tougher benchmark of amending the constitution, which many Sunni Arabs see as the most important of the reforms, remains on the back burner, relegated to a parliament committee. Sunnis want to water down the constitution's provisions on federalism, but Kurds and Shiites want only limited changes.
At the same time, al-Maliki's administration has been severely weakened by a Sunni Arab boycott of his Cabinet and parliament over separate political disputes. Talks to overcome the walkout, and negotiations over forming a new, more streamlined Cabinet, have so far brought no results. President Jalal Talabani said there were "positive developments on the political level," particularly in the effort to reshape the Cabinet to establish "a front of moderate forces committed to the political process and democracy in Iraq."
He also said the military offensives being waged by U.S. troops in and around Baghdad were making progress. "A successful campaign is on to eliminate terrorists and so far large areas of Diyala and Anbar have been cleared," Talabani said Thursday evening, referring to provinces north and west of the capital. The U.S. offensives have brought a relative easing in attacks in the capital in recent weeks, though it remains far from calm, with occasional car bombs and police still reporting 20 to 30 bodies a day found dumped in the city, apparent victims of sectarian slayings.
A top adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rankled at the assessment, saying Bush supporters and opponents in Washington "will both blame Iraqis" for the shortcomings. Sami al-Askari said the government was serious in passing a series of political reforms aimed at bringing national unity and drawing greater Sunni Arab support for the political process. "From now until the end of the year, draft laws related to national reconciliation will be finished," al-Askari told U.S.-funded Alhurra television late Thursday.
But the reforms have been held up for months by political wrangling between Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish members of al-Maliki's coalition. Sunnis and Kurds have deep differences over a draft law to equitably share control of the oil industry and its profits, one of the centerpiece reforms, and no compromise is in sight. The even tougher benchmark of amending the constitution, which many Sunni Arabs see as the most important of the reforms, remains on the back burner, relegated to a parliament committee. Sunnis want to water down the constitution's provisions on federalism, but Kurds and Shiites want only limited changes.
At the same time, al-Maliki's administration has been severely weakened by a Sunni Arab boycott of his Cabinet and parliament over separate political disputes. Talks to overcome the walkout, and negotiations over forming a new, more streamlined Cabinet, have so far brought no results. President Jalal Talabani said there were "positive developments on the political level," particularly in the effort to reshape the Cabinet to establish "a front of moderate forces committed to the political process and democracy in Iraq."
He also said the military offensives being waged by U.S. troops in and around Baghdad were making progress. "A successful campaign is on to eliminate terrorists and so far large areas of Diyala and Anbar have been cleared," Talabani said Thursday evening, referring to provinces north and west of the capital. The U.S. offensives have brought a relative easing in attacks in the capital in recent weeks, though it remains far from calm, with occasional car bombs and police still reporting 20 to 30 bodies a day found dumped in the city, apparent victims of sectarian slayings.
Labels: benchmarks, Jalal Talabani, Sami al-Askari, White House report
