Al-Maliki vows crackdown in Baghdad

BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday he planned to launch more security crackdowns like the one in Basra against "criminal gangs" in Baghdad.

Addressing a news conference, he singled out Sadr City and Shula — two Mahdi Army militia strongholds in Baghdad — as likely targets in the future crackdowns, saying they were under the sway of "criminal gangs."

Al-Maliki did not mention by name the Mahdi Army militia, which is led by radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr. Sadr City and Shula are militia strongholds and any attack by government troops there is likely to trigger a backlash by the militia like what happened in Basra last week.

"We cannot remain silent about our people and families in Sadr City, Shula and other areas ... while they are held hostage by gangs that control them. We must liberate these cities because we came (to office) to serve them," al-Maliki said.

He also announced the creation of 25,000 jobs in Basra and the spending of US $100 million to improve services in the city, Iraq's second largest.

Al-Maliki took personal charge of the operation in Basra, but his security forces were met with strong resistance from Shiite militiamen there. The fighting also spread to Baghdad and a string of cities across central and southern Iraq. On Sunday, al-Sadr called his troops off the streets and demanded that the government halts the arrest of his followers and release those in detention without being charged.

"We did not make mistakes, but we had points of weakness," al-Maliki said of the performance of the security forces. "We discovered that we have a shortage of appropriate weapons for the fight in Basra which we will work quickly to end."

The prime minister also called on the political movement loyal to al-Sadr and other parties to cleanse their ranks from what he called criminal gangs.

Guess this is from the same speech (LA Times):

IRAQ: Maliki speech on Sadr and Basra

*******************************EXCERPT*************************

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki gave a speech today addressing last week's government offensive on the southern port of Basra. The clashes lasted for six days until Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr ordered his fighters to stand down. Maliki defended the operation and signaled his newfound will to tackle Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. Below are excerpts from his speech.

"Today I'd like to talk to you about the events that took place in Basra and other provinces. We want to establish state institutions that cannot be violated by anybody. The operation disclosed the power of the government and its commitment and will on implementing security, to confront the outlaws anywhere and everybody. It's a legitimate commitment that must be taken by the government in order to protect civilians in Basra.

"There were crimes against women, religious scholars, doctors and engineers; kidnappings and looting operations; the smuggling of our national resources.... We all know how important Basra is for Iraq. The last events revealed how important and dangerous this challenge was, but we had to respond to the many requests and calls we received from the Basra people. So we went to fulfill our duties, which were limited to the ports which were serving the gangsters and militias; financially strengthening the various Mafias through smuggling and manipulations... whom had arrest warrants on them.... It was a true confrontation with these gangsters who thought they were above the law and the state.

"We can say that Basra was the start for implementing the law, and it will continue in all the cities in Iraq and give those elements a lesson so that they can get along with the government.

*******************EXCERPT Intro*******************

As the tally below shows, ( see the second page) the Government of Iraq has now met 12 out of the original 18 benchmarks set for it, including four out of the six key legislative benchmarks. It has made substantial progress on five more, and only one remains truly stalled.

So finally Maliki is coming around and showing some leadership. Perhaps the worse thing Sadr did for himself and his cause was to align to closely with Iran. Maliki just may yet show himself to be a decent leader over all.
We must always remind ourselves of the often difficult opposition he faces from other Shia and Sunni based political blocks within the government. And after all like any government that is not under the control of a dictator, others can play often key roles in how the country is governed.
With the recent score cards Coordsman, Kagan and others basically agree on in principle, showing forward progress in quite a few of the benchmarks, I just may give Maliki and his government a B- at this point. They probably are not doing any worse then our Congress at this point. Not that this is anything to brag about. But the government is still intack, and apparently improving.

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