A Unified Front: Iraqi Leaders Demand An End To Violence
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders called Sunday for an end to Iraq’s sectarian conflict and vowed to track down those responsible for the war’s deadliest attack.
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“We promise the great martyrs that we will chase the killers and criminals, the terrorists, Saddamists and Takfiri (Sunni extremists) for viciously trying to divide you,” Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Sunni Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and Kurdish President Jalal Talabani said in their joint statement on state-run TV.
A noted source of confusion among Americans over the years has been the lack of leading Muslims speaking out against the corruption of their peaceful faith. Therefore, it’s truly wonderful to see this multisectarian demand to the terrorists trying to disrupt the peace process in young democratic Iraq.
It’s very exciting to see the Sunnis and the Shiites come together – not necessarily will the terrorists LISTEN to them, obviously, but their unified message represents (we can hope) the beginning of Muslims speaking out against terrorists – the sooner Iraqis recognize just who the bad guys are, the sooner they can defend themselves. Our boys and girls will be home, and the world will have another democracy.
We are all hoping for this outcome – but can it come soon enough?
10 Responses to “A Unified Front: Iraqi Leaders Demand An End To Violence”
Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens after after major violent event. Recall that after the Samarra shrine bombing in February, all the top Sunni, Shi’ite and Kurdish leaders begged for unity and calm. They did whatever they could to ratchet down the rhetoric. The problem was that the Shi’ite street no longer listened to the “revered” moderate leaders of the country. It was a radicalizing moment that effectively ended Ali Sistani’s influence on politics and ushered in the full-on civil war.
More relevant is thiseffort by the Mahdi Army to step in where the government does not. Sadr openly emulates Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the longer he is able to connect with the Shi’ite masses and provide social services, the harder it will be to dislodge the Mahdi Army from power.
GREAT post Andrew…JG
Let’s hope that when they lift the curfew things will be ok. Zeyad at Healing Iraq sounds much more alarmed than even after the Samarra bombing. Al-Sadr has also threatened to pull out of the government if Maliki meets Bush. Who knows, Sadr is so twofaced, but if he does that will probably mean the end of the government and new elections for parliament. If that happens, I think hell will break loose. I hope that we have a contingency plan.
ya….thats the ticket
who are you kidding?
the killing will go on
this is a civil war, with a multitude of sides and fractured alliances
want to stop it? appoint another strongman to control the country, and turn a blind eye to his abuses and corruption
There are indications that some of these militia groups are beginning to splinter, each one run by a local strongman looking for power and money. The leaders callin for calm will be ignored. The Sunnis will not remain calm as long as they see the security services raiding them and taking off people who will never be seen again.
That’s true, grognard. One of the most challenging issues going forward is the fragmentation of the militias. In many ways, the decentralized nature of the Sunni insurgency made it so difficult to fight. If there was a central leader, we could take that person out and dent the insurgency. So, instead, we made Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi into “the leader” of the insurgency, instead of an important bit player. Killing him, of course, did nothing to stop the insurgency.
Now we see the same thing on the Shi’ite side. Sadr doesn’t control his own militia anymore. If he makes peace with the Americans or Sunnis, his rank and file may not go along with him.
Ironically, isn’t that democracy at work?
It was over a year ago that Ibrahim al-Jaafari was picked to be Iraqs leader. Months later the US interferred and al-Maliki was annointed the saviour. Peopple have to be naive to expect a single leader to restore order in Iraq. A failed US policy is now creating the failed state we said was unacceptable. Who is the next Iraqis to be annoited by the US…..
Rudi,
I don’t think the U.S. will be annointing anyone. This is, for the most part, out of our hands.
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