Iraqi Premier Faces Revolt Within Party

[Evermore]

Lets throw more troops and money at it!

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 6:33 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

BAGHDAD (AP) — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki faces a revolt within his party by factions that want him out as Iraqi leader, according to officials in his office and the political party he leads.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari, al-Maliki's predecessor, leads the challenge and already has approached leaders of the country's two main Kurdish parties, parliament's two Sunni Arab blocs and lawmakers loyal to powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Al-Jaafari's campaign, the officials said, was based on his concerns that al-Maliki's policies had led Iraq into turmoil because the prime minister was doing too little to promote national reconciliation.

The former prime minister also has approached Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, proposing a "national salvation" government to replace the al-Maliki coalition. The Iranian-born al-Sistani refused to endorse the proposal, the officials said.

"Al-Jaafari is proposing a national and nonsectarian political plan to save the nation," said Faleh al-Fayadh, a Dawa party lawmaker familiar with the former prime minister's contacts.

Other officials, however, said al-Jaafari had only an outside chance of replacing or ousting al-Maliki. But they said the challenge could undermine al-Maliki and further entangle efforts at meeting important legislative benchmarks sought by Washington. They spoke of the sensitive political wrangling only on condition of anonymity.

The officials would not give details of the rift between al-Maliki and al-Jaafari, saying only that it began two months ago when a Dawa party congress voted to replace al-Jaafari with al-Maliki as its leader.

Al-Jaafari and other senior Dawa members are questioning the legality of that vote and the former prime minister has since boycotted all official party functions, said al-Fayadh.

The usually secretive Dawa, which is made up of two factions, has 25 of parliament's 275 seats but draws its strength from being a key faction of a large Shiite alliance.

Ali al-Dabbagh, the government's spokesman, declined to comment on the rift between al-Maliki and al-Jaafari, arguing that it was a matter for the Dawa to deal with.

"There should be no objections for a figure like al-Jaafari to try and put together a new political bloc provided that this will be of service to the political process," he said.

Al-Maliki, a tough-talking Islamist, has so far failed to make significant progress on some of Iraq's major problems 14 months after his "national unity" government took office. Security remains tenuous in much of the country, services are near collapse and soaring crime and unemployment continue to take their toll.

Al-Jaafari's own record in office was not any better, but al-Jaafari was widely perceived as an open-minded Islamist who is at total ease dealing with his American backers.

To the Sunni Arabs he is courting now, the officials said, al-Jaafari was proposing a change in Iraq's sectarian, power-sharing formula. He wants the president's job, now held by Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, to be given to a Sunni Arab to achieve a better balance between Iraq's ethnic and religious factions and to improve ties with Arab nations.

To win the support of the Kurds, al-Jaafari is pledging the implementation of a clause in the constitution that provides for a referendum before the end of 2007 on the fate of Kirkuk, an oil-rich city in northern Iraq that the Kurds want to annex.

To compensate them for the loss of the presidency, al-Jaafari is proposing that they fill the post of parliament speaker, now occupied by a Sunni Arab.

Al-Jaafari's bid to topple al-Maliki runs counter to ongoing negotiations to form what is being billed an "alliance of the moderates" that would include the country's four largest Shiite and Kurdish parties and independent Shiites. It excludes hardline Shiites and Sunni Arabs.

It also comes at a time when al-Maliki is facing a threat by the largest Sunni Arab bloc to pull its ministers from his coalition unless he meets a long list of demands, which include overtures to minority Sunni Arabs, political inclusion and commitment to human rights.

Al-Maliki also has to contend with mounting pressure from Washington to meet a host of political benchmarks that should place Iraq's rival factions on the road to reconciliation.

[Harrison]

That last paragraph was pretty comical.

[Lyion]

The situation with Al-Maliki is a bit tragic. We're essentially telling him to fix the infrastructure and security problems we caused when we dissolved the Ba'ath party and the Iraqi Army in 2004.

The other problem is Iran and Syria on each side are in essence at war with the new Iraqi government, sending weapons, troops, Palestinian martyrs and propaganda from Party of God and Al Qaeda trying to foment civil war to oust the US so they can take over, a la Lebanon.

Unfortunately, the U.S. is so polarized and partisan that we lack the strength to confront the real enemies and rattle our sabre in their direction to truly stop the IED's, Suicide bombers, and weapons flow. It's sad, but winning elections is more important than world stability. Especially in a time like now where so many rogue, evil nations who support Jihadi terrorists are on the verge of getting nuclear weapons.

[ClakarEQ]

It's sad, but winning elections is more important than world stability.

Not even winning elections, we care more about how low her blouse was.

We've become a sad bunch in this land of glory :\

Can't wait till Iran has nukes, Wow that will be a great day in global history won't it?

[Eziekial]

Who cares if they get nukes. Seriously, I say let them spend 50% of their GDP on trying to make a nuke. Russia had THOUSANDS of fucking nukes and lost hundreds of them when their economy collapsed trying to keep up with us and we didn't care then. I say we focus on getting energy independent and leave that sand box altogether. If the US drops consumption of oil by 20% the price will plummet and that entire region will have a serious wake-up call.

Let the Iraqis figure out their own destiny.

[Evermore]

Who cares if they get nukes. Seriously, I say let them spend 50% of their GDP on trying to make a nuke. Russia had THOUSANDS of fucking nukes and lost hundreds of them when their economy collapsed trying to keep up with us and we didn't care then. I say we focus on getting energy independent and leave that sand box altogether. If the US drops consumption of oil by 20% the price will plummet and that entire region will have a serious wake-up call.

Let the Iraqis figure out their own destiny.

QFT

[numatu]

I agree with your energy independence part of your paragraph Eziekial.

Who cares if they get nukes. Seriously, I say let them spend 50% of their GDP on trying to make a nuke. Russia had THOUSANDS of fucking nukes and lost hundreds of them when their economy collapsed trying to keep up with us and we didn't care then.

But this I don't agree with. The Soviet Union cared about their own survival. MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) was the method that worked for decades. Ahmadinejad openly says his mission is to wipe Israel off the face of the earth and kill enough people to bring to life the next Imam. That's not a regime that seems to care about swapping cities if need be.

The Soviet Union was a secular country that had an ideology but valued their survival first and foremost. They weren't a culture of suicide bombers. You're rarely a suicide bomber if you're an atheist because there's nowhere to go.

Comparing the two countries and the same policy doesn't make much sense to me.

[Lyion]

Who cares if they get nukes. Seriously, I say let them spend 50% of their GDP on trying to make a nuke. Russia had THOUSANDS of fucking nukes and lost hundreds of them when their economy collapsed trying to keep up with us and we didn't care then. I say we focus on getting energy independent and leave that sand box altogether. If the US drops consumption of oil by 20% the price will plummet and that entire region will have a serious wake-up call. .

How can this not worry you?

I guess we should start evacuating Israel right now, since the minute Iran has the capability, it's likely Hezbollah will start sending in suitcases nukes to Tel Aviv and subsequently to other portions of Europe and ultimately to us.

They are already using Iran's latest weaponry against Israel. If they become nuclear capable, things will go from unstable to devastating in a rather rapid succession.

[ClakarEQ]

You guys are being so serious, lets get to the real issues, how black is obama, what about those swimming trunks, and no comments regarding Mrs Clintons blouse, seriously guys, how could you not comment on these important items.

That's all this country cares about anyway, from the Dean scream and jism on dress, to swimming trunks and clothing selection.

[Lyion]

No, that's what the media chooses to cover ad nauseum.

The average American is primarily worried about their kids, their careers, making ends meet, and most importantly who will be the next American Idol.

Sadly, there isn't that much difference between the political parties. When Bubba was in office, it was overblown minutae scandal after scandal, and much ado about nothing. W. has the same treatment, except the Iraq war and the disasters have made him a much easier target. Whomever is elected next will get more of the same. This is the way it is, and should be, since we'd rather not have a real fascist leader, a la Hugo Chavez or Vladimir Putin, representatives of countries I'd like to send Code Pink, Michael Moore, and Ann Coulter.