Iraqi Shia, Sunni and Kurdish leaders sign a reconciliation deal-Update 8/27 10AM CST
Lance on Aug 27 2007 at 3:05 am | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Notes on the war
Like Charlie Brown facing Lucy placing the football, we have heard hopeful things on political progress in Iraq before, so we should take this with caution and realism. Caution, in that it may mean little. Realism, in that even if it does amount to real progress, it will only be partial, and will undoubtedly start a process that will not be all steps forward. Just as in politics in more stable democracies, alliances will fray, conflicts will develop. Just watch our own congress as their opinions and loyalties switch as the surge gathers momentum. The leaders in Iraq are certainly no less susceptible to political machination, meaningless gestures and various other behavior than our own.
Still, we asked for some signs of progress, so hopefully this news qualifies as a step in that direction:
Iraqi Shia, Sunni and Kurdish leaders have signed a reconciliation deal, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki says.
The accord was the second step towards rebuilding Iraq’s political process, Mr Maliki said, after four Kurdish and Shia parties formed a new alliance.
A committee formed by the parties had “accomplished some solutions”, he said.
[...]
Issues under discussion between Iraqi politicians include holding provincial elections and easing a ban on former Baath party members in the civil service and military.
After the meeting, Mr Maliki appeared at a news conference alongside Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, Shia Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi and Massoud Barzani – president of the Kurdish region.
[...]
Mr Hashemi said he had taken part in the talks as vice president but did not indicate his Iraqi Islamic Party was about to join the moderate Shia-Kurdish alliance.
Update: More details , which sound much more impressive than the BBC article seemed to imply, though above caveats still apply.
The Washington Post pretty much keeps to the law on de-Baathification.
The New York Times doesn’t seem to have anything yet.
Update: The Guardian, Still nothing from the NYT unless it is buried in another story somewhere. That is odd.
Others Blogging: Captain’s Quarters, Powerline, Commonsense, The Discerning Texan, Wake Up America, The Oxford Medievalist, Ace of Spades, The Baltimore Reporter, Noblesse Oblige, Thinking Right, Sublime Bloviations, Flopping Aces, Free Will Blog, The Jawa Report
More: All things Conservative, The Detroit Populist Times, QandO,
Update again: Gateway Pundit:
Unlike several US politicians, the French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, said that he is willing to apologize to Iraq if the leaders there feel he had meddled too much into their affairs.
Technorati Tags: Iraq, reconciliation, Maliki, Shia, Sunni, Kurd
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The View From the Bluff: Lance’s Economic and Finance Blog
I have to admit, while the story is hopeful, I am skeptical that anything will come of it. Recall how often we’ve heard that there is an oil sharing agreement in the works. Nevertheless, if anything comes to fruition out of this, it will be a step in the right direction. Believe or not (ahem, Josh, Pogue et al.) I do want our boys home in due course. It is exactly this kind of political development that could make that happen sooner rather than later.
Here’s to keeping your fingers crossed.