Call for Shiite autonomy as Iraqi tribes demand peace

A powerful Iraqi politician called for the Shiite south of the country to become an autonomous region as tribal leaders vowed to work together for peace.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned a gathering of tribal sheikhs from across the war-torn country that Iraq would not be free from foreign occupation until its rival sects and ethnic groups agreed to live together.

His initiative led to a "pact of honour" between the traditional leaders to work together to halt Iraq's slide towards all-out sectarian war.

But at the same time, one of Iraq's most influential politicians called for the vast, oil-rich Shiite region south of Baghdad to become a self-governing area stretching from the holy city of Najaf to the port of Basra.

Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), said a referendum should be called in the region to endorse a breakaway, an idea which is fiercely opposed by Sunni leaders.

"Our biggest assurance to our people is that federalism be implemented in the centre and south of Iraq," said Hakim, according to a statement issued by his movement's office in Najaf on Saturday.

"This is a guarantee to our sons and grandsons that injustice will not be revived," Hakim was quoted as saying, referring to the period under Iraq's former Sunni ruler Saddam Hussein, during which Shiites were persecuted.

Hakim's statement came as Maliki welcomed hundreds of hereditary chieftains -- the leaders of clans and tribes to which all Iraqis owe varying degrees of allegiance -- to talks in Baghdad aimed at halting a surge in violence.

"Iraq cannot be built by violence, but through serious dialogue. Liberating our country from the presence of foreign forces cannot be done without unity and national consensus," Maliki told delegates.

"This cannot be done without the role of tribes which represent the fabric of Iraq ... A tribe should play an essential role in confronting terrorism and shut the doors for sectarian violence," he added.

The sheikhs responded with a promise they would persuade their followers to put aside bloodletting, but calls for autonomous regions put Maliki in a difficult position as he struggles to hold together a fractious coalition.

Federalism has strong support among his own Shiite constituency and the Kurdish minority in the north, which suffered under Saddam's centralised rule, but is opposed by many Sunnis.

Sunnis fear that an autonomous Shiite south and Kurdish north would hoard Iraq's oil wealth and fall under the influence of neighouring Iran, which allegedly arms militias linked to Shiite political parties.

Abdulrazak Suleiman, a Sunni tribal leader, called for federalism to be put on hold for five years and implicitly accused Shiite militias of receiving Tehran's support.

"We demand a professional Iraqi army. We should dismantle militias and prevent neighbouring countries from interfering in Iraqi affairs," he told delegates at Saturday's meeting.

He also called for the government to make a distinction between what he called the "national resistance" -- insurgents opposed to US forces -- and "takfiris", or Sunni extremists who have killed civilians.

Some Sunnis want insurgent fighters to be pardoned, to draw them in to the peace process.

Actually, the Shiites were oppressed for decades before Saddam.

Caesar's Commentaries begins, "All Gaul is divided into three parts."
I submit that if this happens in Iraq, the fears that the Sunnis have about the Shiites aligning themselves with Iran will occur openly as many are aligned even now in secret. If the partitioning occurs and the Kurds in the north go along with it, look for Turkey to mass troops on it's border to resist the formation of a formal Kudistan.
Were mistakes made in Iraq? you bet yer sweet ass there was, mainly two: not enough bombs and not enough troops to root out the Baathists which was the original insurgency that was quickly joined by all the elements in play now when they found out they could get away with wanton violence.

Your analysis pre-supposes one fact. That we would roll over Iraq in battle and win it.

Since that is what happened in the actual battle, it seems obvious. However, it was not a guarantee at the start of the war that we would win it.

In point of fact, was not another whole division - the IV div. planned to go in through Turkey. In the end they got delayed by Turkish politics.

All the planning before the war was on how to win the war and defeat Saddam's forces. Those plans were not on how to win the peaces - which may never have happened. Particularly if significant resources were deployed in planning it.

His initiative led to a "pact of honour" between the traditional leaders to work together to halt Iraq's slide towards all-out sectarian war.

Media manufactured mythology. HERE is the raw data. Iraq is not sliding anywhere. We have all ready won. The question is will we let the Democrats take control of the Congress this November and hand the terrorists and their rouge state sponsors, Iran and Syria, the fruits of that victory? Look at the raw data. Same steady low level violence for three years. That is the sign of an "insurgency" that cannot evolve or grow. They are stuck in stage 1 guerrilla warfare. They can kill people and cause pain, they cannot evolve.

Meanwhile on the other side the domestic Iraqi Counter Insurgency is rapidly growing and evolving The terrorists can continue to kill but they cannot win. The raw data below shows the utterly LIE in the DNC directed Junk Media spin lie about "Iraq on the verge of a civil war".

http://icasualties.org/oif/

http://icasualties.org/oif/IraqiDeaths.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Security_Forces

not enough bombs and not enough troops to root

Counter Insurgency is not Total War. It is as much political as military. ALL the Macho man Freeper dogma from the repated verbatium fromscreaming Know Nothings im the Junk Media would of gotten us was the Russian in Afganistatn or Vietnam Redux.

Sent pleaty of bombs and boys to Vietnam did we not? It does not work. However we have all ready WON in Iraq as anyone who actually knows the ground truth knows.

Wrong. Read the data. We have all ready won. It would be wise if the Freepers turned OFF the Junk Media. The data does NOT support the media manufactured lies about Iraq. Listyening to the Junk Media on Iraq is the equivelent of listening to Radio Berlin in June 1942 to find out how World War Two is going.

http://icasualties.org/oif/

http://icasualties.org/oif/IraqiDeaths.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Security_Forces

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