VOL. XLVII
No 17
The Political Scene (26 April 2004)
The Americans’ confrontation with Sunni and Shi'a insurgents in Iraq remains unresolved. Even Washington’s regional friends are warning that hostility to the US is at an all time high.
Stand Off In Najaf And Falluja
After two weeks of intermittent fighting, the confrontation between US forces and Sunni and Shi'a insurgents in Falluja and Najaf (respectively) remains unresolved, despite attempts to mediate by Iraqi officials. In Najaf, close to Kufa, where Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr continues to denounce the occupation of Iraq, coalition forces were given an unmistakable warning not to enter either Najaf or Karbala on 16 April by the spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shi'as, Ayatollah 'Ali al-Sistani, who said – as usual, through an intermediary – that “up to now, the marjaiya (religious authorities) were able to prevent occupation forces from violating the two holy cities. But if they pursue this option, then this will have very grave consequences because these two cities are red lines that cannot be crossed.” In Falluja, after three days of talks the coalition announced on 19 April that “the parties agreed that coalition forces do not intend to resume offensive operations if all people in the city turn in their heavy weapons.” However, the next day US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declared that “the current state of affairs in Falluja will not continue indefinitely. Thugs and assassins and former Saddam henchmen will not be allowed to carve out portions of that city and oppose peace and freedom.” And on 21 April the cease-fire broke down after US forces again came under fire in a two-hour battle. So to the extent that they have staked their credibility on pacifying Falluja and arresting Mr Sadr, it has not been a good week for the Americans in Iraq, as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Richard Myers, acknowledged when he warned on 21 April that the US might have to send in more troops. “This is a serious situation,” he said. “We’re at war. We have a lot at stake against these extremists in Iraq.” Gen Myers said that the commander of US forces in Iraq, Gen John Abizaid, would assess what additional forces might be required, adding that “some of that will have to do with how we handle ourselves in Falluja.”
Mubarak: US Focus Of Regional “Hatred”
Despite US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s assertion on 20 April that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s proposed withdrawal from Gaza must be “consistent with the road map, and all final status issues have to be mutually agreed by the parties,” the Arabs clearly believe that President Bush’s announcement last week of his support for Mr Sharon’s plan (and his dismissal of the Palestinians’ right of return) has consigned the road map to limbo – and even Washington’s best friends in the region are not happy about it. On 19 April King 'Abd Allah of Jordan postponed a scheduled midweek meeting with Mr Bush in Washington “until discussions and deliberations are concluded with officials in the American administration to clarify the American position on the peace process and the final situation in the Palestinian territories, especially in the light of the latest statements by officials in the American administration.” The leader of the only other Arab state to have signed a peace treaty with Israel, President Mubarak of Egypt, told the Paris daily Le Monde on 20 April that “today there is hatred of the Americans like never before in the region…people have a feeling of injustice. What’s more, they see Sharon acting as he pleases, without the Americans saying anything.” He also warned that “the despair and feeling of injustice are not going to be limited to our region alone. American and Israeli interests will not be safe, not only in our region but anywhere in the world.” And the man the Americans are hoping will solve the problem of who is to take power in Iraq on 30 June, UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, made it clear on 21 April this process was not being made any easier by the Bush administration’s policy elsewhere in the region when he said that his task in Iraq is complicated by “Israel’s completely violent and repressive security policy and determination to occupy more and more Palestinian territory. The problems are linked, there is no doubt about it. The big poison in the region is the Israeli policy of domination and the suffering imposed on the Palestinians,” as well as “the perception of all people in the region and beyond of the injustice of this policy and the unjust and thoughtless support, as they see it, of the US for this policy.” As for Mr Bush, he chose this nadir in American popularity in the Middle East to declare on 21 April that “Ariel Sharon came to America and he stood up with me and he said ‘we are pulling out of Gaza and parts of the West Bank.’ In my judgement the whole world should have said ‘thank you, Ariel. Now we have a chance to begin the construction of a peaceful Palestinian state’.”
Charles Snow