BAGHDAD, 5 December 2006 — As one of Iraq’s most powerful Shiite faction leaders visited the White House yesterday, the United States made an urgent plea to Iraqis to resist a cycle of violence that will “destroy you and your country.”
A day after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Iraq was now in a civil war and 52 more victims of sectarian death squads were found dumped in Baghdad, President George W. Bush met Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the biggest party in government.
Hakim, a Shiite leader who rose to power in Iranian exile at the head of SCIRI’s armed wing the Badr Brigade, denies accusations by Saddam Hussein’s once dominant Sunni minority that his party is behind any of hundreds of weekly killings.
Bush, who disputes that 140,000 US troops are now caught in the middle of an Iraqi civil war, met Shiite Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki last week and is due to meet Sunni Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi later this month as he seeks a new approach to a deepening crisis that could upset the entire Middle East.
In one of the most vivid signs of American alarm, the US ambassador in Baghdad and the commander of US forces issued a joint statement yesterday, saying: “We implore all Iraqis not to become pawns of those who seek to destroy you and your country.”
Condemning the worst bombing since the US invasion, which killed over 200 Shiites in Baghdad last month, Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George Casey said: “Do not allow yourself to be drawn down the road of senseless brutality by striking back.”
Many Iraqis, however, fear their nation has passed the point of no-return into sectarian division after the destruction of a Shiite shrine in February sparked a wave of tit-for-tat bloodshed that has grown ever since. Maliki’s unity government has struggled to make any impact in seven months in office. Before he met Bush, Hakim met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and said afterward that they had had a “frank” discussion on security issues. With a much bigger power base than Maliki, Hakim is a key figure despite not being a Cabinet member.
He has said all communities have a place in Iraq but SCIRI, which retains close ties with US adversaries in Shiite Iran, also strongly defends the principle of Shiite majority rule.
Tomorrow, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker is to offer Bush further proposals on stabilizing Iraq and reducing the US presence.
These could include US troops taking a back-seat to Iraqi forces and reaching out for help to neighboring Iran and Syria.
Another four US troops were killed on Sunday when their Marine transport helicopter came down in a lake in the violent western province of Anbar, the US military said. Such losses have taken the number of American dead since 2003 to close to 2,900 and increased pressure among US voters for a withdrawal from what increasingly looks to them as an unwinnable situation.
Many US hopes rest in the performance of more than 300,000 newly trained Iraqi soldiers and police. Maliki won a promise from Bush of more training and equipment and said last week he expected they could be in overall command by June. US commanders, however, question the effectiveness and sectarian loyalties of many Iraqi units. Many are seen as loyal to Hakim’s party or to his main Shiite rival Moqtada Sadr, while some look to Sunni or Kurdish leaders for direction.
Another 52 bodies of suspected death squad victims were found in Baghdad in the 24 hours to yesterday evening, an Interior Ministry source said. The figure would have seemed high three months ago but is now fairly typical. UN officials estimated 120 civilians were being killed daily in Iraq in October.
The latest Iraqi data indicate that the death rate could since have risen by more than 40 percent in November alone.
Meanwhile, the chief prosecutor in the genocide trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein called yesterday for the court to wrap up witness testimony on the repression of the Kurds in 1988.
Munqith Al-Faroon’s call during the 27th session of the trial follows months of hearings with witnesses describing atrocities suffered by the Kurds, in addition to expert testimony.
“The trial should be fair and fast,” he said. “The court has listened to a large number of witnesses and we ask the court to no longer bring forward further witnesses.”
Under Iraqi law most witnesses in a case are presented by the court itself, rather than by the prosecution. Near the end of the trial, the prosecution and defenses will be able to present their own witnesses.
