US Realignment With Sunnis Is Far Advanced - by Gareth Porter:
Two major revelations this past week show how far the George W. Bush administration has already shifted its policy toward realignment with Sunni forces to balance the influence of pro-Iranian Shi'ites in Iraq.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad revealed in an interview with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius that he has put the future of military assistance to a Shi'ite-dominated government on the table in the high-stakes U.S. effort to force Shi'ite party leaders to give up control over key security ministries.
Khalilzad told Ignatius that, unless the 'security ministries' in the new Iraqi government are allocated to candidates who are 'not regarded as sectarian,' the United States would be forced to reevaluate its assistance to the government.
'We are saying, if you choose the wrong candidates, that will affect U.S. aid,' Khalilzad said.
Khalilzad had previously demanded that the Interior Ministry be given to a nonsectarian candidate, but he had not backed up those demands with the threat of withdrawal of assistance. He has also explicitly added the Defense Ministry to that demand for the first time.
Implied in Khalilzad's position is the threat to stop funding units that are identified as sectarian Shi'ite in their orientation. That could affect the bulk of the Iraqi army as well as the elite Shi'ite police commando units, which are highly regarded by the U.S. military command.
Khalilzad's decision to make the U.S. threat public was followed by the revelation by Newsweek in its Feb. 6 issue that talks between the United States and 'high level' Sunni insurgent leaders have already begun at a U.S. military base in Anbar province and in Jordan and Syria. Khalilzad told Newsweek, 'Now we have won over the Sunni political leadership. The next step is to win over the insurgents.'
As this sweeping definition of the U.S. political objective indicates, these talks are no longer aimed at splitting off groups that are less committed to the aim of U.S. withdrawal, as the Pentagon has favored since last summer. Instead, the administration now appears to be prepared to make some kind of deal with all the major insurgent groups.
U.S. military spokesman Rick Lynch declared, 'The local insurgents have become part of the solution.'"
Two major revelations this past week show how far the George W. Bush administration has already shifted its policy toward realignment with Sunni forces to balance the influence of pro-Iranian Shi'ites in Iraq.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad revealed in an interview with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius that he has put the future of military assistance to a Shi'ite-dominated government on the table in the high-stakes U.S. effort to force Shi'ite party leaders to give up control over key security ministries.
Khalilzad told Ignatius that, unless the 'security ministries' in the new Iraqi government are allocated to candidates who are 'not regarded as sectarian,' the United States would be forced to reevaluate its assistance to the government.
'We are saying, if you choose the wrong candidates, that will affect U.S. aid,' Khalilzad said.
Khalilzad had previously demanded that the Interior Ministry be given to a nonsectarian candidate, but he had not backed up those demands with the threat of withdrawal of assistance. He has also explicitly added the Defense Ministry to that demand for the first time.
Implied in Khalilzad's position is the threat to stop funding units that are identified as sectarian Shi'ite in their orientation. That could affect the bulk of the Iraqi army as well as the elite Shi'ite police commando units, which are highly regarded by the U.S. military command.
Khalilzad's decision to make the U.S. threat public was followed by the revelation by Newsweek in its Feb. 6 issue that talks between the United States and 'high level' Sunni insurgent leaders have already begun at a U.S. military base in Anbar province and in Jordan and Syria. Khalilzad told Newsweek, 'Now we have won over the Sunni political leadership. The next step is to win over the insurgents.'
As this sweeping definition of the U.S. political objective indicates, these talks are no longer aimed at splitting off groups that are less committed to the aim of U.S. withdrawal, as the Pentagon has favored since last summer. Instead, the administration now appears to be prepared to make some kind of deal with all the major insurgent groups.
U.S. military spokesman Rick Lynch declared, 'The local insurgents have become part of the solution.'"
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