Tuesday, October 11, 2005
News from Iraq
Buried as it may be beneath all the other news, there is still a war going on in Iraq. Today's round-up from the Associated Press is particularly interesting. There are enough separate news stories in hear to fill a blog for a couple of days.
The insurgency randomly slaughtered 40 Iraqi civilians, including a big group in a crowded market in Tal Afar. You will recall that Tal Afar is in the heart of Sunni territory near the Syrian border, and was recently the site of a big joint operation to rid the town of insurgents. It is interesting and perhaps revealing that the insurgency is reduced to shitting in its own nest, as it were. More troubling:
That there were no Americans I can understand. Why weren't there Iraqi units near by?
The Iraqi government has also announced that unconvicted prisoners, including Saddam Hussein, will be allowed to vote in the October 15 referendum on the election. This is a startling development in the Arab world, and one that seems to me to run against the cold political calculus of the ruling Shiites (since most of the detainees are Sunni Arabs). It strikes me as more evidence that the leadership in Iraq is fundamentally serious about developing a representative political system.
Finally, the government is cracking down on corruption:
Good. Notwithstanding our erstwhile support for Allawi's government -- and I believe that Allawi was a great choice precisely because of his willingness to give up power according to plan -- it is absolutely essential that the United States get behind any and all efforts to clean up corruption in Iraq and elsewhere in the developing world. Corruption is a cancer that sucks the life energy from any economy, and it is particularly fatal to economies that generate very little added value above and beyond mineral extraction. We must firmly support and assist all Iraqi efforts to root out corruption, even if it means exposing American officials who may have turned a blind eye.
I am not, by the way, unmindful of the fact that this prosecutorial assault on the Allawi alumni association is probably more political than public-spirited -- Allawi has set himself up to run again on a secular platform in December's parliamentary elections. But that does not mean that the government isn't right to do this.
The insurgency randomly slaughtered 40 Iraqi civilians, including a big group in a crowded market in Tal Afar. You will recall that Tal Afar is in the heart of Sunni territory near the Syrian border, and was recently the site of a big joint operation to rid the town of insurgents. It is interesting and perhaps revealing that the insurgency is reduced to shitting in its own nest, as it were. More troubling:
[A]ll the victims appeared to be civilians since no Iraqi or U.S. forces were in the center of Tal Afar, which is 260 miles northwest of Baghdad.
That there were no Americans I can understand. Why weren't there Iraqi units near by?
The Iraqi government has also announced that unconvicted prisoners, including Saddam Hussein, will be allowed to vote in the October 15 referendum on the election. This is a startling development in the Arab world, and one that seems to me to run against the cold political calculus of the ruling Shiites (since most of the detainees are Sunni Arabs). It strikes me as more evidence that the leadership in Iraq is fundamentally serious about developing a representative political system.
Finally, the government is cracking down on corruption:
In another development, Iraq issued arrest warrants against the defense minister and 27 other officials from former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's U.S.-backed government over the alleged disappearance or misappropriation of $1 billion in military procurement funds, officials said.
Those accused include four other ministers from Allawi's government, which was replaced by an elected Cabinet led by Shiite parties in April, Ali al-Lami of Iraq's Integrity Commission said Monday. Many of the officials are believed to have left Iraq, including Hazem Shaalan, the former defense minister who moved to Jordan shortly after the new government was installed.
Good. Notwithstanding our erstwhile support for Allawi's government -- and I believe that Allawi was a great choice precisely because of his willingness to give up power according to plan -- it is absolutely essential that the United States get behind any and all efforts to clean up corruption in Iraq and elsewhere in the developing world. Corruption is a cancer that sucks the life energy from any economy, and it is particularly fatal to economies that generate very little added value above and beyond mineral extraction. We must firmly support and assist all Iraqi efforts to root out corruption, even if it means exposing American officials who may have turned a blind eye.
I am not, by the way, unmindful of the fact that this prosecutorial assault on the Allawi alumni association is probably more political than public-spirited -- Allawi has set himself up to run again on a secular platform in December's parliamentary elections. But that does not mean that the government isn't right to do this.
1 Comments:
By 
Papa Ray, at
Tue Oct 11, 09:13:00 PM:
Good luck with your hopes and wishes about corruption and the Middle East.
That is what they have done forever.
That is what is expected.
That is what is admired.
Corruption should be [is] the middle name of the Middle East.
Papa Ray
West Texas
USA
