If Iraq PM fails to survive chaos, Washington must decide what's next

[k98nights]

If Iraq PM fails to survive chaos, Washington must decide what's next
Date
May 1, 2016 - 2:59PM
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Greg Jaffe
 
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ANALYSIS

Hundreds of supporters of Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr storm into Baghdad's Green Zone and set up tents beside parliament after Sadr denounces the failure of politicians to reform a political quota system blamed for rampant corruption.
Unaoil: How the West bought Iraq
Baghdad state of emergency as protesters storm parliament
Washington: US President Barack Obama's plan for fighting Islamic State is predicated on having a credible and effective Iraqi ally on the ground in Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

And in recent days, the administration had been optimistic, despite the growing political unrest in Baghdad, about that critical partnership.

US Vice-President Joe Biden steps off a C-17 military transport plane upon his arrival in Baghdad on Thursday. Photo: AP

But that optimism was thrown into severe doubt after protesters stormed Iraq's parliament on Saturday and a state of emergency was declared in Baghdad. The big question for White House officials is what happens if Mr Abadi does not survive the turmoil.

The chaos in the Iraqi capital comes hours after a visit by US Vice-President Joe Biden that was intended to help calm the political unrest and keep the battle against IS on track.

As Mr Biden's plane was approaching Baghdad on Thursday, a senior administration official described his visit - which was shrouded in secrecy prior to his arrival - as a "symbol of how much faith we have in Prime Minister Abadi".

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad in January. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

After 10 hours on the ground in Baghdad and the Kurdish regional capital of Erbil, Mr Biden was hurtling toward his next stop in Rome. The feeling of the vice-president and his advisers was that Iraqi politics were on a trajectory to greater calm and that the battle against IS would now proceed more effectively.  

No one is talking that way now. "There's a realisation that the government, as it's currently structured, can't hold," said Doug Ollivant, a former military planner in Baghdad and senior fellow at the New America Foundation. "It's just not clear how the Iraqis get out of this. I just don't see how they will."

It is equally unclear how the administration will move forward if Mr Abadi is unable to consolidate his tenuous grip on power.  

Supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr cross the Republic Bridge over the Tigris River towards Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone on Saturday. Photo: AP

Mr Obama and his top aides have pointed to battlefield gains against IS as proof that the administration's much-criticised strategy was working. In the last 18 months, Islamic State has lost more than 40 per cent of its territory in Iraq, according to US officials.

In a recent interview, Mr Obama said that by the end of the year he expected that the United States and its Iraqi partners will have "created the conditions whereby Mosul" - the largest Iraqi city held by IS - "will eventually fall".

Mr Biden's meetings on Thursday with Mr Abadi and other senior Iraqi officials focused primarily on making sure that the political strife in Baghdad was not interfering with military preparations to retake Mosul.

Supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr climb over the blast walls outside Baghdad's Green Zone. Photo: AP

As he spoke, the vice-president was standing next to Salim al-Jabouri, the Iraqi parliament's speaker. He pointed to Mr Jabouri and noted that they last talked in Mr Biden's office in Washington. "This is an old friend," Mr Biden said.

Less than 36 hours later, the protesters were dancing and stomping on top of Mr Jabouri's desk in front of the Iraqi parliament chamber. The Iraqi politician had fled the building.

The dramatic turn of events, some analysts said, points to the critical flaw in the Obama administration's approach to the battle against IS, which has prioritized defeating the militant group over the much tougher task of helping Mr Abadi repair Iraq's corrupt and largely ineffective government.

Iraqis take pictures after occupying Iraq's parliament building. Photo: AP

"The message to the Iraqis has been to focus on the short-term problem that this President would like solved by January," Mr Ollivant said. "The focus is on the symptom and not the root cause of the problem."

"We get seized with individual personalities," said Ali Khedery, who served as special assistant to five US ambassadors in Baghdad from 2003 to 2009. "We fall in love with them. I agree that Abadi is generally speaking a good ally of the United States, but there isn't much under his control."

Because Iraqi society is so fractured along ethnic and sectarian lines, Mr Khedery said the administration should adopt a more decentralised approach, working directly with individual Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders. "What you have is a society that is deeply polarised between communities and even polarised within those communities," he said. "We need a radical new formula."

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/if-iraq-pm-fails-to-survive-chaos-washington-must-decide-whats-next-20160501-goj6ac.html?#ixzz47OlrGUZp
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[Boozer]

What a mess ,,,

[King Bean]

So?  No RV Today??  LOL. 

[yota691]

Washington: We will remain a committed partner to the government and the Iraqi people

01-05-2016 09:36 PM    

Hits: 865

 

Orbit News -

 

 

The United States has said it will remain a committed partner to the government and the Iraqi people at all levels in accordance with the provisions of the strategic framework agreement signed between the two countries, declaring add its voice to the voice of the United Nations and the European Union in urging restraint.

 

And it crossed in a statement the US embassy in Baghdad, expressed 'concern about the demonstrations on Saturday, which occurred inside the campus of the House of Representatives, and led to property damage and violence against certain individuals. "

 

It explained that 'at the time that recognize the right to engage in peaceful protest, including the embassy voice to the United Nations and the European Union in urging restraint and respect for the constitutional institutions and the rights of others, and we urge the Iraqi government and all the political leaders and security officials and representatives of civil society to work together to restore security and pay the political and economic reform process forward. "

 

He noted that the 'terrorist organization Daash still determined enemy and continuing to carry out deadly attacks across the country, including Baghdad.'

 

The United States urged all parties to 'work together to defeat Bdaash, and to support the aspirations of the Iraqi people also in laying the foundations for transparent governance and economic stability and establish security. "

 

[millionaire in training]

All they have to do is give the people what they want.    Problem solved .    Don't they realize that ?   How hard is this to get? 

[yota691]

United States: We will remain committed partner of Iraq, according to the Strategic Framework Agreement [Extended]

History of edits:: 5/1/2016 18:34 • 185 visits readable

[Wayne - Baghdad] 
confirmed Alammerakh United States, it will remain a committed partner to the government and the Iraqi people at all levels in accordance with the provisions of the strategic framework agreement signed between the two countries.

She said in a statement the US embassy in Baghdad received by all of Iraq [where] a copy of it was "concerned about the demonstrations on Saturday, which occurred inside the campus of the House of Representatives, and led to property damage and violence against certain individuals." 
She added "While we realize the right to engage in peaceful protest, the embassy joins the United Nations and the European Union in urging restraint and respect for the constitutional institutions and the rights of others, and we urge the Iraqi government and all the political leaders and security officials and representatives of civil society to work together to restore security and pay the political and economic reform process forward. " 
She noted that" the organization of Daash terrorist is still determined enemy and continuing to carry out deadly attacks across the country , including Baghdad. " 
the United States urged all parties to work together to defeat Bdaash, and to support the aspirations of the Iraqi people also in laying the foundations for governance and transparent economic stability and establish security. " 
stormed the protesters are angry followers of cleric Moqtada al - Sadr, on Saturday , the parliament building and the halls of parliamentary and stormed the headquarters of the information department and other facilities. 
the intrusion minutes after word of the current leader Moqtada al - Sadr and his announcement" i'tikaaf "for two months , a rejection of the principle of quotas in the formation of the new ministry. 
a number of MPs , including the second Deputy Speaker of parliament Iaram Sheikh Mohammed and head of the virtue Ammar Tohme beaten in addition to civil servants and Oaalamyin and military personnel charged with the protection of the building by demonstrators. 
the face of the Prime Minister Haider al - Abadi prosecute elements that attacked the security forces and members of parliament. 
and still demonstrators in the Square celebrations amid the green zone that contains the top - most government institutions. 
and met the three presidencies, on Sunday, in the home of President Fuad Masum , to discuss the current situation and the repercussions of the storming of the demonstrators green Zone, and condemned the storming of parliament and promised breach the Constitution calls for the prosecution of the assailants to justice, "