Target Centermass

Category: Middle East

  • Israeli General: More Attacks Ahead

    An Israeli general finds it is his turn to fade away, but he does not go with any sense of optimism.

    The outgoing head of the Israeli military, General Moshe Yaalon, has warned that a new wave of bloodshed – whether through “terrorism” or war – is inevitable even if a Palestinian state is established.

    Gen Yaalon, who reluctantly retired yesterday after falling out with Israel’s defence minister, told Haaretz newspaper that Palestinian attacks were likely to resume after Israel completed its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this year unless the government followed up by pulling out of parts of the West Bank.

    “If there is an Israeli commitment to another move, we will gain another period of quiet,” he said. “If not, there will be an eruption … Terrorist attacks of all types: shooting, bombs, suicide bombers, mortars.”

    Even the creation of a Palestinian state would lead to war “at some stage”. He said that the new Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, had not abandoned the right of Palestinian refugees to return to what is now Israel.

    “And this is not a symbolic right of return, but the right of return as a claim to be realised. To return to the houses, to return to the villages. The implication of this is that there will not be a Jewish state here.”

    The idea that a Palestinian state can be created by 2009, as President George Bush has said he wants, was “divorced from reality” and “dangerous”.

    The idea that a separate Palestinian state could be created in the next four years is not ridiculous, but the idea that such a state would contribute towards a long-term peace in the region is fairly far-fetched. Abbas’ commitment to the Palestinian right-of-return cause is a deal-breaker as currently couched. Add that to a Palestinian people, poisoned for generations by the likes of Yasser Arafat, that is probably several decades of unforeseen progress away from cohabitation with their neighbors and the general is right — take off your shades, the future ain’t so bright.

    Adding to the general’s bleak outlook is his take on the Israeli military.

    “A combination of terrorism and demography, with question marks among us about the rightness of our way, are a recipe for a situation in which there will not be a Jewish state here in the end,” he said.

    Gen Yaalon also warned of deteriorating standards in the army, including what he described as a “criminal subculture” that had reached senior officers.

    In the course of my professional life over the last decade, I have known literally hundreds of Israelis. I’ve know men who saw action in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. I’ve known some who spent time as settlers. The Israelis are a very western people, an oasis in a cultural desert, and the Israeli youth are as much an Mtv generation as their American counterparts.

    Why the deteriorating standards in the Israeli military? The answer is quite simple. In the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, the nation of Israel fought desperately for its survival. The last two generations have only seen conflicts for peace, pacification and retaliation.

    Nobody believes that Israel will lose its military edge over its neighbors any time soon, but it is certainly a low-key campaign of attrition, a test of wills. Can Israel keep its edge long enough for the surrounding Arab states to be brought, cheerfully or dragged kicking and screaming, into the modern era, into an age of some degree of acceptance? The current effort in Iraq may have a large part to say in this matter.

  • Brief Looks at Today’s News

    Airmen Killed in Crash Were Special Ops

    The four U.S. airmen who perished Monday in the crash of an Iraqi aircraft were commandos from special operations units based in Florida, the Pentagon disclosed on Wednesday.

    Their deaths brought to 20 the number of Air Force members who have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. Nine of the 20 were killed in action; the other 11 were classified as “non-hostile” deaths.

    Although the Pentagon has announced no cause for Monday’s crash, the Air Force has classified the four deaths as non-hostile.

    Killed in the Iraqi aircraft crash were Maj. William Downs, 40, of Winchester, Va.; Capt. Jeremy Fresques, 26, of Clarkdale, Ariz.; Capt. Derek Argel, 28, of Lompoc, Calif.; and Staff Sgt. Casey Crate, 26, of Spanaway, Wash.

    My best wishes to the families, and my gratitude to these men who gave their lives on Memorial Day.

    Dutch Reject EU Constitution

    The Netherlands has become the second country to reject a proposed constitution for the European Union, three days after the French turned the proposal down, leaving the EU in disarray over what steps to take next.

    A provisional final result posted by Dutch news agency ANP shows a comprehensive 61.6 percent of voters were opposed to the charter, while only 38.4 percent approved.

    Expected, though I am somewhat surprised by the crushing margin.

    Annan Fires Official over Oil for Food

    The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, has sacked a senior staff member for “serious misconduct” in the oil-for-food scandal.

    Joseph Stephanides is the first dismissal stemming from alleged corruption in the multibillion-dollar programme, a UN spokesman said.

    Well, it’s a start.

    Rumsfeld Warns Countries Not to Help Zarqawi

    U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has warned countries near Iraq not to provide sanctuary or medical treatment to Iraq’s al-Qaida leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is believed to have been wounded by coalition forces.

    […]

    “Any country that decides it wants to provide medical assistance or haven to a leading terrorist, al-Qaida terrorist, is obviously associating themselves with al-Qaida, and contributing to a great many Iraqis being killed, as well as coalition forces in Iraq. And that’s something that people would want to take note of,” he said.

    Obviously, medical assistance would be fine as long as Zarqawi was detained and handed over to either Iraq or the U.S.

    “Active” Hurricane Season Predicted for U.S.

    Meteorologists think a decade-long trend of active Atlantic hurricane seasons will continue this summer. That’s bad news for U.S. coastal residents who took a 45-billion-dollar (U.S.) pounding from the storms last year.

    Forecaster William Gray of Colorado State University expects a busy summer in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Gray, a pioneer in long-range hurricane forecasting, thinks eight hurricanes will form during the season, which officially began today and runs to November 30.

    Gray said four of those storms will become major hurricanes, with winds exceeding 111 miles an hour (178 kilometers an hour).

    I hate “inactive” hurricanes.

  • Looking at Today’s News

    Sex Assaults Against Women GIs Increase in War Time

    Sexual assault reports involving members of the Armed Services rose to 1,700 in 2004, up from the previous two years, according to Pentagon statistics, leading some critics to say the Department of Defense is not doing enough to prevent sexual misconduct in the military.

    There is much to be mulled over in this article, and ammunition is to be found for both sides of the women-in-combat debate and the Pentagon-isn’t-doing-enough argument. Perhaps the sanest point is as follows:

    Ret. Navy Capt. Lory Manning, a senior fellow with the Women’s Research and Education Institute in Washington, said it is unclear whether the Pentagon’s latest figures on sexual assault reflect an increase in the number of incidents or are the result of women feeling more comfortable reporting them. She added that she believes the military is doing a good job in addressing the problems.

    Two busted in Al Qaeda plot in U.S.

    The son of a former Malcolm X aide was nabbed yesterday, along with a Florida doctor, in a plot to start an Al Qaeda training camp in the U.S. – even scouting out a Long Island warehouse for a terror school, officials said last night.

    Tarik Shah, 38, a self-proclaimed martial arts expert from the Bronx, and Dr. Rafiq Sabir, 50, presented themselves as a “package deal” to help Muslim “brothers” wage jihad here and in the Middle East, said Manhattan U.S. Attorney David Kelley.

    Grant them due process. Ensure a fair trial. Destroy them if guilty.

    Hariri Bloc Sweeps Beirut Parliamentary Elections

    The Interior Ministry in charge of parliamentary elections in Lebanon announced a landslide victory for the son of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in the Beirut district. Three more rounds of voting in other regions of the country lie ahead.

    In the first vote since the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanese territory, official results are in from the first round of voting in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections. The landslide victory went to the list of candidates headed by Saad Hariri, the son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

    The Cedar Revolution continues.

    Germany Moves Closer to First Woman Leader

    Germany’s opposition conservatives have named Angela Merkel as their candidate to challenge Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in September that could produce the country’s first woman leader.

    The last obstacle to her nomination fell when Edmund Stoiber, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)’s sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union (CSU), backed her at a meeting of the parties’ top officials.

    […]

    Opinion polls show the Christian Democrats will win, as Merkel faces off against the beleaguered Social Democratic leader who has seen his popularity plummet in the face of a stagnant economy and dissatisfaction over the direction of the country.

    This will be an interesting race to watch but I won’t shed a tear should Schroeder fall.

    Russia agrees to Pull Troops from Georgia by 2008

    Russia on Monday agreed to shut its military bases in neighboring Georgia by 2008, a decision that effectively pares Kremlin influence in the increasingly West-leaning Caucasus region.

    Russia’s bases in the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi and near the Georgian-Armenian border are holdovers from the Soviet era and house about 3,000 troops. The agreement is a major victory for Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has allied his country with the United States and Europe and aggressively pushed for the base closings.

    Earlier this month, Georgian leaders threatened to take steps to force their shutdown by Jan. 1, including a prohibition on visas for Russian soldiers slated for assignment to the bases and a ban on cargo movement to and from the bases.

    Pair this with the developments in Ukraine and we see a significant drop in Russian influence in two of its former Soviet republics, influence that is being replaced from a westward direction, albeit to a noticably lesser degree.

  • Israeli Troops Commandeer Palestinian TV

    A strange tale of Palestinian abuse at the hands of soccer-mad Israeli soldiers has surfaced.

    Israeli soldiers barged into a Palestinian home and commandeered its television room so they could watch an international soccer match, an Israeli television station reported.

    Footage on Channel 10 television showed broken furniture and windows in the room where the report said the troops watched Wednesday’s Champions League final in Istanbul between AC Milan and Liverpool.

    The family said the soldiers caused the damage.

    “I was walking in the street and eight soldiers asked if we have TV and satellite,” said Anan al-Zrayer in the West Bank city of Hebron.

    “I said ‘yes,’ and told them we don’t have Israeli channels. (After they entered the house,) I gave them the remote control and they carried out a search. We were kicked into another room,” he said.

    The Israeli army said it would look into the allegations and if they were found to be true, disciplinary action would be taken against the soldiers.

    If true, this is just plain wrong for at least two reasons. Innocent Palestinians should be secure in their own homes and soccer is boring.

  • Overlooking the Nature of the Enemy

    The media swarm upon stories, be they real or fiction, of abuse of detainees by American soldiers. A firestorm is launched after footage of an American soldier, engaged in an brutal urban conflict in Fallujah against an enemy known to attack after feigning death or injury, shoots a wounded, unarmed enemy in a moment of reaction. Pentagon announcements of abuse investigations are paid scant attention; months later, pictures that drove that investigation blanket the airwaves, smother the front pages of newpapers and covers of magazines, and drives calls for justice that was already proceeding.

    Meanwhile, the atrocious nature of our enemy gets a relative pass.

    The abuse story of Abu Ghraib draws far more sensationalism than beheadings by the terrorists. Every terrorist bombing against the Iraqi populace is cast as a failure of the U.S. and Iraqi forces to provide security rather than what it really is — murder. One particular filmmaker paints these murderers as revolutionaries and calling them Minutemen. Well, let’s take a little look at some recent tactics of these brave heroes.

    I’ve pointed before to the story of a would-be suicide bomber who was being blackmailed with the safety of his kidnapped family. Now, there’s the tale put forth by some “Minutemen” bombers who are claiming they were lied to about their targets.

    Wisam Younis’ sole ambition in life, he said Friday, is to kill Americans. So he claimed surprise when he discovered his car bomb had killed eight Iraqis and wounded more than 80 outside a Baghdad restaurant.

    Younis and brothers Badr and Yassin Shakir are charged with murder and face the death penalty in the May 23 attack.

    “We did not know that the attack would target innocent people and we were deceived,” said Younis, barefooted and with bruised and swollen hands. He said they were taken in by enthusiastic ideas and money, adding that an insurgent leader promised $1,500 for the bombing.

    Ah, it just stirs to mind all of the tales of George Washington sending men to blow up colonists with promises of Redcoat victims. Hat tip to Inside the Bullpen, where Chad gives his thoughts on the story.

    Remember the stories of the Abu Ghraib detainees being threatened with dogs? Remember the outrage? Well, where’s the outrage when the terrorists use dogs themselves, only in a far more ghastly, heartless manner?

    Insurgents in Iraq attached explosives to a dog and tried to blow up a military convoy near the northern oil centre of Kirkuk.

    The canine bomb went off but the only casualty was the unfortunate animal, said police. The militants wrapped an explosive belt around the dog and detonated it as the convoy passed through Dakuk, 25 miles south of Kirkuk, said the town’s police chief, Col Mohammed Barzaji.

    “The dog was torn apart by the explosion which caused neither injury among the soldiers nor any damage.”

    Col Barzaji said the bomb had been detonated outside a Shia mosque. “Eight suspects have been detained.”

    This was not the first time that animals have been used in insurgent attacks. In 2003, donkey carts were used to conceal makeshift multiple rocket launchers in a flurry of attacks in Baghdad. Animal carcasses and human corpses have been used to conceal explosives.

    Hat tip to Outside the Beltway, where Dr. James Joyner adds hopefully that this is “type of thing might actually generate some outrage from some quarters in the West” who refuse to face the fact that are opponents are cold-blooded, murderous bastards.

    I hold know such hope. Neither seemingly, does The Moderate Voice‘s Joe Gandelman, who asks, “Well, if they’ve already used ambulences and kids, why is this surprising?”

    It isn’t surprising at all, as this is the nature of the foe we face. It’s just that the true face of our enemy doesn’t carry any weight in the media.

  • Marine Corps Drops All Charges against Officer

    2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano has been officially cleared.

    All murder charges have been dropped against 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano, the New York stock trader-turned-Marine who faced the death penalty for firing as many as 60 rounds into two suspected insurgents in Iraq last April.

    Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, commanding general of 2nd Marine Division, dismissed the charges May 26 without following all of his investigating officer’s recommendation to punish Pantano administratively.

    Huck, who is in Iraq, followed most of the recommendations of Lt. Col. Mark Winn, the investigating officer in the case, who concluded the shooting was justified and in keeping with the rules of engagement at the time. Winn presided over the Article 32 hearing at Camp Lejeune, N.C., that began April 26.

    But Winn also recommended Pantano receive nonjudicial punishment for firing an excessive number of rounds during the incident, which occurred near Mahmudiyah, Iraq, on April 15, 2004.

    Huck apparently disagreed with the NJP recommendation, dropping all charges and effectively ending Pantano’s legal troubles.

    “While the Article 32 investigation has been lengthy, the best interests of 2nd Lt. Pantano and the government have been served by this process,” read a statement issued by Camp Lejeune officials May 26.

    This doesn’t mean the ordeal is over for the former stock trader turned Marine. In fact, it may never truly be over.

    The incident created an international furor and Pantano’s life was allegedly put in jeopardy by pro-Islamic groups who threatened revenge for what they said was the wrongful death of the two men.

    Pantano, who was reassigned to a training position within the division, installed blast-proof glass in his Jacksonville, N.C.,-area home and took other measures to protect him and his family.

    So what next for the Marine?

    It’s not clear what the future holds for Pantano, but 2nd Lt. Barry Edwards, a spokesman at Camp Lejeune, said that at least for now Pantano will continue to work as the assistant training officer for an infantry unit.

    “Second Lieutenant Pantano will continue his career as a Marine Corps officer,” Edwards said.

    [Pantano’s civilian attorney Charles W.] Gittins said Pantano, who also dabbled in a film career before he rejoined the Corps, will weigh his options in the coming days. Gittins said he “wouldn’t rule out” Pantano getting out of the Corps, though he still loves it. But Gittins said he knows one thing: even if Pantano stays in, he won’t be a lifer.

    “Is he going to stay around to try to be the commandant? I doubt it.”

    Blackfive, who has been all over the Pantano story, provides his take on today’s news. The post also contains links to his previous efforts on the matter.

  • Pager-Forced Link Dump

    The oncall pager has been brutal so far this week, as demonstrated by the limited posting. Well, let’s throw it around the horn.

    Schroder has ‘No Chance’ in General Election

    The poll shows Mr Schröder’s Social Democratic party (SPD) scoring 28 per cent of the votes against 49 per cent for Angela Merkel’s opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Should the neo-communist Party of Democratic Socialism fail to make it into parliament, as his figures suggest, the centre-right CDU would command an absolute majority in the house for the first time in 48 years.

    “The CDU is in a state of euphoria right now, and its lead will soften, but not enough,” says Mr Güllner. “The SPD has no chance to win this election.”

    No sympathy. Zero, babe.

    Army Program Aims for Higher Alert for IEDs
    (Hat tip to OtB)

    American military officials have kicked off a new awareness campaign they hope will reduce deaths and injuries caused by the No. 1 killer of U.S. troops in Iraq: homemade bombs.

    Dubbed “5-and-25,” the program’s goal is, flatly, to “reduce the effectiveness of the mountain of makeshift bombs being produced by insurgents.”

    Faces of the Fallen
    PoliBlog‘s Dr. Steven Taylor visits D.C. and photoblogs an impressive tribute to those who have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Especially touching were the notes and tokens left by loved ones at the individual portraits.

    I previously blogged more background on the display here. I’m glad to find it’s as honorable and moving as I’d hoped.

    Reports: Zarqawi Shot in Lung

    Insurgents said Wednesday in interviews and statements on the Internet that the leader of the group al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, was struggling with a gunshot wound to the lung. One of Zarqawi’s commanders said the Jordanian guerrilla was receiving oxygen, heightening suspicion that the groundwork was being laid for an announcement of his replacement or death.

    Iraqi Forces Arrest Key Zarqawi Aide

    Officials say Iraqi forces made the arrest of al-Aswadi as he tried to bribe his way through a checkpoint in the town of Balad. His vehicle was found to contain a global positioning system, multiple identification papers, a scope used to launch mortars, and U.S. currency.

    Officials say al-Aswadi served as a key aide to Iraq’s al-Qaida front man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born militant. The statement says al-Aswadi was involved in the funding of terror cells, terrorist training, and the making of car and roadside bombs.


    U.S. Forces Launch Operation in Another Western Iraqi City

    More than 1,000 U.S. troops on Wednesday swept into this city on the road to Syria to root out insurgents — including those loyal to terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — after rebels damaged the hospital, knocked out the electricity and prevented police from entering.

    Check out Hyscience and In the Bullpen for good commentary on this effort.

  • Iraqi Family Starts Anew in North Dakota

    Here’s a little bit of good publicity for National Guardsmen, and definitely nobly earned.

    The Iraqi woman had been in hiding with her children since her husband was pulled from his truck and shot in front of one of his sons.

    This weekend, they began a new life, brought to America with help from soldiers who befriended the slain man and were tormented by the idea that their relationship contributed to his death.

    The woman and her seven children arrived in Fargo on two flights Friday and early Saturday. One of the boys greeted waiting North Dakota National Guard soldiers with a cheery ”Hi, guys.”

    The children were presented with gifts, including toys and a soccer ball.

    ”They didn’t kick it,” said Sgt. 1st Class Shayne Beckert. ”They just sat there and stared at it.”

    The Guardsmen have been working on this gift of a new beginning since their return in February. I would imagine this moment was truly magical for them.

    Beckert and a fellow guardsman, Capt. Grant Wilz, worked for months to bring the family to the United States, appealing for help on radio and television and contacting Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., who helped arrange the trip.

    Pomeroy, who met the family earlier this month during a trip to Iraq, described them as ”bright and strong and wonderful,” and said their resourcefulness would help them adjust to life in the United States.

    Pomeroy said the mother described the journey as ”her birthday … the beginning of a new life.”

    ”This isn’t the end of the story. This is the beginning of the story,” Pomeroy said. ”They don’t know English. They have never seen winter.”

    Wow! Iraq to North Dakota — that’s quite a climate shift. I doubt these new residents will be concerned about global warming in the near future. Methinks the next charitable drive for the Guardsmen will be for parkas and firewood.

    Seriously, this is a touching story. Go read the rest, especially if you have any doubts about who the good guys are in this war.

  • Military to Look into Saddam Photos

    Saddam in his underwear. Chemical Ali in a bathrobe. Not appealing mental images, and certainly not pictures that should have reached publication.

    A British tabloid published more revealing photographs of Saddam Hussein in U.S. custody on Saturday, a day after it ran a front-page picture of the former Iraqi leader naked except for his underwear.

    The international Red Cross, which is responsible for monitoring prisoners of war and detainees, said the photographs violated Saddam’s right to privacy. The U.S. military condemned the publication and ordered an investigation of how the pictures were leaked to The Sun.

    Saturday’s pictures included one of Saddam seen through barbed wire wearing a white robe-like garment, and another of Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as “Chemical Ali,” in a bathrobe and holding a towel.

    […]

    The Sun said the photos were provided by a U.S. military official it did not identify who hoped their release would deal a blow to Iraq’s insurgency. Managing editor Graham Dudman told The Associated Press that the newspaper paid “a small sum” for the photos. He would not elaborate except to say it was more than 500 British pounds, which is about $900.

    The New York Post, which is also owned by Murdoch, also published the photos on Friday.

    The U.S. military in Baghdad said the publication of the photos violated U.S. military guidelines “and possibly Geneva Convention guidelines for the humane treatment of detained individuals.”

    A spokesman, Staff Sgt. Don Dees, said the military would question the troops responsible for Saddam.

    Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said U.S. military officials in Iraq believe the photos are “dated”– perhaps more than one year old, although no specific date has been established.

    “This is something that should not have happened,” Whitman said.

    Whitman’s last sentiment is dead on, not only based on the treatment of prisoners but also for any possible international fallout.

    But what will the fallout be in the tinderbox that is Iraq and the Arab world? Apparently, decidedly mixed.

    The Islamic world yesterday was divided over the Saddam photos — some said the pathetic former dictator got what he deserved, while others thought the pictures were degrading.

    “Saddam Hussein and his regime were bloody and practiced mass killing against the people,” said Hawre Saliee, who, like many fellow Iraqi Kurds, despised the Saddam regime.

    “Whatever happens to Saddam, whether he is photographed naked or washing his clothes, it means nothing to me,” Saliee, 38, said.

    “That’s the least he deserves.”

    Some Iraqis — who gathered in coffee shops in Baghdad and elsewhere to see the photos on satellite TV — were offended to see their jailed former leader in his underwear.

    “This is an insult to show the former president in such a condition,” said Abu Barick, a 45-year-old Baghdad businessman.

    The public reaction appeared less hostile than to the publication of photos of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison — and certainly less violent than to Newsweek’s botched report that the Koran had been desecrated by U.S. prison guards in Cuba.

    The story goes on to look at reaction in the rest of the Arab lands.

    Ahmad Miski of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce said, “I think in places like Egypt and among the Palestinians where he was popular, people might take offense.

    “But in places like Iraq, Kuwait and Syria that suffered from the Ba’athists, I think people will be happy to see him like this,” he added.

    Barick, the Baghdad businessman, said Saddam was ancient history these days — and didn’t deserve this attention by the news media a year and a half after his capture.

    “Do they want to degrade the Iraqi people? Or they want to provoke their feelings?” he added.

    But Miski, of Syrian descent, still said, “I was happy to see him like that.”

    “We are used to seeing photographs of Saddam looking grand and powerful, smoking a big cigar while his people were starving and suffering,” he told The Post.

    “Now it’s time for Saddam to start to suffer. Its time for him to go before a court and face the justice of his people.”

    I find it interesting that issues involving Saddam can be as divisive to the Arabs as they can be here on the home front.

  • Sunnis Create New Political Front

    The very same Iraqi Sunnis who worked to keep their followers from participating in the January elections, thus shortchanging themselves in government representation, are now determined to re-enter Iraq politics.

    Sunni political, religious and tribal leaders came together Saturday to form a new political front intended to represent the disempowered Sunni minority in the process of drafting a new constitution and contesting the next round of elections in Iraq.

    More than 1,000 Sunnis crowded into the Engineering Club in Baghdad to declare the existence of the new front, formed under the auspices of three groups that led the Sunni boycott of January’s elections: the Association of Muslim Scholars, the Iraqi Islamic Party and the Sunni Endowment, another religious body.

    The move, at a time of growing tension between Shiites and Sunnis, gives rise to hope that the disgruntled and factionalized Sunni community may yet be able to find an avenue through which to reach an accommodation with the Shiite-dominated government, despite an increase in sectarian killings that has threatened to plunge the country deeper into violence.

    The move gives rise to hope? Not really, as the group’s initial foray into politics is to immediately place a demand for the resignation of a member of the new government. This doesn’t seem to be a very cooperative political group that is being founded.

    But tensions were evident at the meeting, with Sunni leaders angrily blaming the new Iraqi government for the slayings of a number of Sunni religious leaders in recent days, including a prominent cleric who was allegedly detained by Iraqi police before his body was found dumped nearby earlier this week, showing signs that he had been tortured.

    […]

    The new group called for the resignation of the new interior minister, Bayan Jabr, who has been accused by Sunnis of allowing the Shiite Badr Brigade militia to operate alongside Iraqi security forces.

    Jabr, addressing his first news conference, said only the elected National Assembly has the right to call for his resignation. “People who failed to get one seat in parliament cannot demand such a thing,” he said.

    He did not dispute, however, that his ministry has been cooperating with the Badr Movement, saying he has used them as a source of information on the insurgency. “We have a policy of cooperating with all political movements. We are ready to receive information even from the devil,” he said.

    I cannot speak with any authority about either the role and behavior of the the Badr militias or the actions of the interior minister, but I can at least say that I appreciate the man’s attitude.

    Sunnis attending the conference said they are determined now to join the political process and recover their lost political role by participating in the next election, scheduled for December after a new constitution has been drafted.

    “There will be a wide participation by Sunnis in the next elections for sure, and especially if the new constitution fulfills Iraqis’ demands and aspirations,” said Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samarraei, a leading cleric with the Association of Muslim Scholars. “We have resolved to enter the political field.”

    This is the only part of the story that actually holds forth any hope, though other Sunnis have already made it quite apparent that they missed the boat in January. Greater Sunni participation in December is something that should be expected. Given that, does this group bring more clout to the Sunnis or further fracture them on the political front?

    Promises by the new government to include Sunnis in the political process have so far fallen short of Sunni expectations. Under pressure from the U.S. administration, efforts are under way to include Sunnis in the process of writing a new constitution, which has not yet started despite an August deadline for completing the document.

    One problem, Shiite officials say, is that the Sunnis themselves are divided over who represents them, making it difficult to determine which Sunnis to include in the process.

    Another group formed specifically to negotiate on behalf of Sunnis, the National Dialogue Council, was excluded from the formation of the new Sunni front, calling into question the prospects that the new front will solve the problem.

    “This will make divisions between the Sunnis because we already have the National Dialogue Council, which contains more than 45 parties,” said Sheik Ali al-Mash Hadani, a spokesman for the council. “So what is the purpose of this new group?”