Iraq Stalemate

Iraq Stalemate

April 18, 2006

On December 15, 2005, Iraqis went to the polls in large numbers to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi National Assembly. But months later, Iraqis are still waiting for their government to be formed. Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni legislators continue to tussle for political control. This political stalemate is all the more dangerous because the ensuing instability in Iraq breeds yet more violence. While Iraqis’ elected officials continue to squabble along sectarian lines, hundreds have died in violent attacks, and in the last four months, 225 U.S. soldiers have lost their lives . The Bush administration’s political plan for Iraq clearly isn’t working, and a new direction is needed to halt the situation from deteriorating further.

• The national strategy for victory has been forgotten. In late November 2005, the Bush administration unveiled with great fanfare its National Strategy for Victory In Iraq. However, nearly five months later, the administration is failing to fulfill its own plan. The first part of the political plan was to “isolate hardened enemy elements,” but the insurgency is raging on, with the majority of participants being Iraqis. Another step in the political track was to “build stable, pluralistic, and effective national institutions.” The first meeting of the Iraqi parliament lasted only 30 minutes, and yesterday, it was announced that “leaders canceled a much-awaited parliament session following their failure to resolve a bitter dispute over the prime minister.”
  
  
• Tensions are continuing to rise in Baghdad. Daily violence in Baghdad is getting worse – in the first half of April, 48 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq, surpassing the total of 30 who died in March. The fresh wave of fighting is raising “fresh questions about security in the capital.” U.S. and Iraqi forces are blocking off neighborhoods that were previously calm areas. Even the Iraqi Islamic Party, a leading Sunni Arab political group, released a statement calling for calm and stating that a “human disaster might occur.”
  
  
• In order to move forward, there must be accountability for the mistakes made. President Bush has gone on the offensive in recent weeks, delivering a series of speeches in an effort to convince the American people that he had a strategy for victory in Iraq. What’s missing from the president’s speeches is any accountability for the mistakes that were made. Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, former chief of the U.S. Central Command, said it best: “We grow up in a culture where accountability, learning to accept responsibility, admitting mistakes and learning from them is critical to us. When we don’t see that happening it worries us.” Many of those responsible for mismanaging the war have been given golden parachutes or promotions.