August 23, 2007
Bush says Iraqi government should do more, but its future is up to Iraq's people.
In Amman, Iraqi Nationalists were cheering. In Baghdad, Iraqis were shooting their guns into the sky celebrating what they read as a seismic shift in U.S. support of the despised Maliki Government.
The Herald Tribune and every Arab TV station I saw carried the news that Bush said the Maliki Government's future is up to the Iraqi people. Bush's actual quote seemed to be meant for Senators Carl Levin and John Warner. Bush said: "The fundamental question is, 'Will the government respond to the demands of the people?' And, if the government doesn't demand - or respond to the demands of the people, they will replace the government. That's up to the Iraqis to make that decision, not American politicians." Senators Levin and Warner had just returned from a trip to Iraq and Amman (where they met with Mohammed al-Dynee who is hosting my visit here). On their return Levin"urged the Iraqi Parliament to remove al-Maliki and replace his government with one that is less sectarian and more unifying". The Iraqis I've been hearing from over the past few days, and particularly the Members of Iraq's Parliament, didn't care about the nuance that Bush might have been chastising Levin. They focused on the words ", that's up to the Iraqis to make that decision". For them, this was a signal that the U.S. will no longer interfere in them changing their government - which is their duly elected right.
On my last trip here to Mohammed al-Dynee's Amman apartment I asked Saleh al-Mutlak, another Member of Parliament, and the leader of the National Dialogue Front (a secular party which has been opposing the Maliki Government for the past year) why he, Mohammed al-Dynee, and the other M.P.'s dissatisfied with Maliki could not organize a majority of Parliament members towards a vote of no confidence in the government and replace it. Without hesitation he said, "The American Administration made it clear to us they would not support this. They stopped our efforts." Apparently, those Members of Parliament who openly opposed the Maliki feel themselves targeted by more than disapproving words as their homes and offices have been attacked. Last year a building owned by Saleh al-Mutlak was attacked by U.S. forces, and two of his security guards. A family of four people were killed (Link). Last April, Mohammed al-Dynee's offices were broken into, ransacked and robbed. Witnesses reported to him it was the Iraq Army. Until this day the Deputy Speaker of the Iraq Parliament, Khalid al-Attiya who is responsible for security in Parliament, has not explained how a suicide bomber, who was an al-Qaeda member, was able to get in and detonate himself in the Parliament's cafeteria. He walked over to the group of Nationalist members who opposed the Maliki Government and killed himself, one Member, Mohammed Awath, a Nationalist (who died in Mohammed al-Dynee's arms) and injured 8 others, including Dr. Nada Ibrahim a member of Saleh al-Mutlak's National Dialogue Front.
Members of Iraq's Parliament who opposed the Maliki government feel so targeted by their own government that many of them simply stay out of the country residing in Amman or other parts of Jordan - making it even more difficult for the nationalist members to organize a majority to replace the Maliki Government.
On my last trip here Mohammed al-Dynee and I visited the U.S. Embassy in the Green Zone, and we asked General Graeme Lamb and Maj. General Paul Newton to provide security for the Parliament. General Lamb informed us that the Coalition Forces are here to support the Government, and that security for the Parliament is the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior. Mohammed responded that the Ministry is the very department of the government suspected of targeting Sunnis for death, and harassing members of Parliament.
During the last four trips I have made here this past year, I've heard from numerous sources that the Maliki Government was sectarian, (the first for Iraq) pro-Iran and incapable of even delivering cooking gas to the Iraqi people. I met over 20 different Members of the Iraq Parliament who described themselves as secular nationalists. During this time Mohammed al-Dynee, who also works as a humanitarian, and I worked together focusing on strategies to end of the violence in Iraq. Mohammed spent three weeks in the U.S.A. where he spoke with members of the U.S. Congress, facilitated by Congressman Jim McDermott. He also met with the press, facilitated by Ira Arlook of Fenton Communications, and anyone who would listen about the failings and scandals of the Maliki Government. Mohammed's message was clear. He was urging the U.S. government to stop supporting the Maliki government, and allow the Iraq Parliament the space to change it.
The moment of truth has arrived. Will the Iraq Parliament who represents the Iraqi people do something? Will they follow the advice of Senator Carl Levin: "I hope that the Iraqi assembly, when it reconvenes in a few weeks, will vote the al-Maliki government out of office, and will have the wisdom to replace it with a less sectarian and more unifying prime minister?"
Now our Commander-In-Chief, President George Bush, has given them their instructions. "The future of the Iraq Government is up to the Iraqi people."
If it is up to Mohammed al-Dynee, my prediction is that they will.