US raises pressure on Iraq's leader
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki must show greater political progress to satisfy Washington.
from the May 10, 2007 edition
Page 4 of 4
Cheney puts fire under Maliki
Despite his insistence that the government is moving ahead on critical "reconciliation" issues – an oil revenue law, de-Baathification, legislation for provincial elections – Aladeeb says talk of deadlines for the government and urgency to act is based more on American domestic political pressures than Iraqi politics.
"The Americans put pressure on our government because the president [Bush] faces pressure from the Democrats and the American people. But if we continue to move forward," he adds, "there is not limited time for this government."
That was not the message Cheney arrived with on Wednesday. US officials said the vice president's visit, only Cheney's second during this administration, was aimed at putting a fire under Iraq's leaders to move forward on reconciliation.
And according to some Iraqi legislators who openly argue for Maliki to be replaced, the confidence of Maliki backers like Aladeeb may not be well founded.
"We do not really have a national government, because some of the parties in the government do not allow it to work that way," says Usama Abdalaziz Alnujaifi, who is aligned with the Iraqi National List of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
He says that Mr. Allawi's list in parliament is in talks with other groups, including the Sunni Accordance Front, which has threatened to pull out of the government, to gauge the feasibility of cobbling together a majority that could replace the Maliki government.
"If they reach agreement, this is something that could come together within a month," Mr. Alnujaifi says.
Aladeeb acknowledges "a group that is trying to topple the government," but he discounts its ultimate success.
Meanwhile, the Kurdish leader Othman says the clock is ticking on Maliki's survival. He says Maliki's downfall could leave Iraq in the hands of a military leader by the end of the year. But he also says the ticking clock is still in Maliki's hands.
"Let him do something quickly to get the attention of the very weary Iraqi people, something about the militias or unemployment that he can do without the parliament's approval, and he can revive their support and survive," says Othman. "The answer we wait for is if he has that in him."
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