Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Mr. Bush and al-Sadr In Agreement

Defiance and Flirting in Iraq:
Aljazeera TV, by far the most popular Arab news outlet, quotes President Bush that the current violence in Iraq cannot be summarized simply as an insurgency encouraged or fed by Iran- although he said he was worried about Iranian interference in Iraq. The Iranian mullahs often claim that they are worried about American interference in Iraq as well. Bush said the enemy in Iraq is ‘more complex than that’, something that may surprise the folks at some U.S cable news networks. He also rejected the idea of three autonomous regions in Iraq, perhaps echoing regional worries that it is a prelude to partition. It is not clear what this rejection means on the ground. He did not mention the Kurdish fait accompli in the north, which seems to be thriving politically and economically, thank you very much.

In this position, the President finds himself among an odd mixed company, strange bedfellows, metaphorically speaking. These include first and foremost the troublesome anti-American Muqtada al-Sadr, often called a Shi’a firebrand in the media- his people in the parliament refused to support regionalism. They also include the many Sunni politicians who flirt with the insurgency publicly and perhaps go much farther with the insurgents privately. Arab governments, Iran and Turkey also profess strong support for a unified Iraq. Of course there is nothing sacred about a unified Iraq, anymore than was about a unified Yugoslavia or the Soviet Union, or Czechoslovakia (I was not sure I could still spell it), or the Austro-Hungarian state. Most of these strange regional bedfellows like Iran, Turkey and the Arab countries support a united Iraq based on calculations of their own national interests and especially the interests of their current governments.

Nevertheless, the Iraqi parliament last week went ahead and approved a law for autonomous regions within a federal system- which shows that they do not give a ripe fig what foreigners, all foreigners including their liberators, wish them to do in their own country. Which shows that even though many Iraqis may feel miserable, they also feel politically empowered, even with 130,000 foreign occupation troops. Which in itself says a lot about both the potential of the new Iraqi political system and about the occupying power itself.

On the Other Hand....:
Arab media reports that Jordan’s King recently released from prison two errant Islamist ‘elected’ members of parliament who had been kicked out of the legislature and jailed for giving condolences to the family of terrorist leader Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi after his death in Iraq. The two members and the Moslem Brotherhood are now petitioning the King to ‘re-instate’ them in parliament as well. Interesting, elected legislators are asking an un-elected king to reinstate them to the seats to which the people had elected them.
Now that is real executive power- almost unbridled executive power.
Cheers
Mohammed

No comments:

Blog Directory