Thursday, June 15, 2006
Truth in a thumb drive and Iraqi national reconciliation
Apparently, we actually did recover a lot of useful intelligence from Zarkman's unsafe house.
He called it a "huge treasure ... a huge amount of information."
When asked how he could be sure the information was authentic, al-Rubaie said "there is nothing more authentic than finding a thumbdrive in his pocket."
"We believe that this is the beginning of the end of al-Qaida in Iraq," al-Rubaie said, adding that the documents showed al-Qaida is in "pretty bad shape," politically and in terms of training, weapons and media.
Do you suppose one of the lingerie models traveling with him ever asked Zark in her best Mae West "is that a thumb drive in your pocket, or are you glad to see me?"
Meanwhile, Prime Minister al-Maliki is both hammering away at the insurgency and inviting fighters to participate in a national reconciliation:
In addition to announcing the security crackdown, al-Maliki opened the door Wednesday for talks with insurgents opposed to the country's political process as part of a national reconciliation initiative, but he said any negotiations would exclude terrorist groups. The plan could include a pardon for some prisoners.
A senior White House official said the Iraqis have indicated that they are looking for "models" in national reconciliation. Another official said al-Maliki had inquired whether Bosnians or South Africans might be able to provide expertise.
"There is also a space for dialogue with insurgents who opposed the political process and now want to join the political process after offering guarantees," al-Maliki said. "But on the other hand we are not going to negotiate with the criminals who have killed the innocent."
This is both interesting and wise, and apparently the first time anybody from one of the ruling Shiite parties has spoken of national reconciliation. This suggests that Maliki's statement was calculated, and perhaps part of a grand bargain. In any case, if any of our readers know anything about the South African or Bosnian expertise in this area, please comment away.
The Washington Post is reporting that an amnesty scheme might extend to fighters who have killed American soldiers. This is going to be tough for many Americans to swallow, but it will be both necessary and appropriate if an amnesty program turns out to be an effective means for bringing the insurgency in from the cold. American soldiers, Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi police are legitimate targets from the perspective of a certain kind of Iraqi patriot, and that perspective is probably popular enough that it will have to be included in any reconciliation of Iraq. Insurgents who have killed unarmed civilians or clerics precisely or at random or destroyed symbolic non-military targets such as schools and mosques, however, should be given no quarter. Fortunately, Prime Minister Maliki does not seem like the sort of person who will give them any.
2 Comments:
By 
Assistant Village Idiot, at
Thu Jun 15, 10:37:00 PM:
We often dichotomise in our view of Iraqis, seeing them as either for us or against us. There are certainly solid examples in both categories. But there are many who hedge their bets, who prefer the new Iraqi order but want to keep some backside protection if things go bad. There are folks in positions of trust - military, business, police - who might inform for us at times, against us at times, keeping a safe exit strategy. That's not any brilliant inside info on my part, that's just human nature. People have families - people want to have a job in two years - people can be threatened.
These are exactly the people that Al Qaeda, and to a lesser extent the rest of the insurgency, is now having trouble holding onto. These people in between, who occasionally provided info or cover to our enemies, are going to be less likely to take that risk now, or to sell their cooperation at a higher price for their increased risk.
By Dawnfire82, at
Fri Jun 16, 07:16:00 PM:
Meh, that's not quite right. Spontaneous resistance by the populace to an invading force is legal and its members will be treated as prisoners of war on the condition that the resisters conform to the standards of conventional war as soon as possible by; 1, establishing a uniform of some kind that is recognizable from a distance, 2, adopting a command structure hierarchy, and 3, themselves conforming to the rules of war. (not attacking medical personel, civilians, granting quarter to the wounded and captured, et cetera)
After that, I agree with you. It's up to Iraq to decide who gets pardons and who doesn't, and it doesn't matter what we think. They're a sovereign power again, and we're there at their invitation.
