Two Faces of the Iraq Coin- Is a Kabbalah on the Way to Baghdad?

Iraq News Analysis

Criticism has increased recently in both the United States and some gleeful media outlets in the Arab World about the failures of the Nouri al-Malki government to rein in the militias in Baghdad. Reports leaked almost every day to the U.S media hint at dissatisfaction with al-Malki's government for its slow pace of restoring security.

On the other hand, criticism of the U.S government failure to control the Jihadist and Baathist Sunni terrorists in Baghdad and other areas has been around for some time now. The new Bob Woodward book, which will come out tomorrow, will add fuel to the fires of criticism of Washington's policy in the aftermath of the invasion.

These two failures in Iraq, specifically in Baghdad are, to repeat a justifiably overused cliche, two faces of the same coin. As long as the Coalition (i.e the U.S) fails to destroy or at least control the Sunni terrorists, it will be impossible for the government in Baghdad to control the Shi'a militias. It will be hard for the politicians to make the case, to their own people, for disarming or redeploying these militias. The militias are not doing anything visibly effective to combat the terrorism either, but that fact is lost in the emotions on the Iraqi street.

Yesterday's news about uncovering Al-Qaida operatives working in the offices of a leading Sunni politician, Mr. Adnan al-Dulaimi (al-Delaimi) will not help matters. Only one man was apprehended, but Jihadist terrorists are like the proverbial (?) cockroaches of the Middle East, if you see one of them in the bathroom you can be certain there is a nest of them in the house.

In the Arab World, it looks like they are trying to make the case in the media, and to their own restless and skeptic peoples, for a grade of 'F' for the Baghdad government, based on the security issue. The potentates in the Arab World would like to push for an unelected government of selected political-military strongmen, a cabal, a ruling Kabbalah to borrow a Hebrew term, which will be politically in line with the rest of the region that extends from the Indus River to the Atlas Mountains. The Jihadists are useful for this purpose because they make the case for a failure of elected governance. These Salafis, however, have a different agenda, they want to make the rest of the region in the image of their townships in al-Anbar, a Talibanesque hellhole.

The Arab potentates should learn a lesson from their experience with the Palestinian Islamic Hamas. After the first Persian Gulf War, Arab oil money poured into Hamas coffers- telethones were even held on Saudi Television to collect money for it. Today Hamas is in power, and they are all trying hard to unseat it.

Cheers
Mohammed