Monday, July 19, 2004
Iraq: Improvement Continues
With car bombs and assassinations continuing in Iraq, it seems perverse to write about "improvement". But as long as the overall direction continues to be positive, there is improvement. One can only hope that soon this "improvement" will occur quickly enough that the interim government will still have enough members to function. Let us look at the good straws:
(1) Foreign reporters feel that they can now go more freely into the field; this after several months of staying holed up in the safer Baghdad enclaves. This does not mean that it is not still dangerous in the field. It is. But the tension is going down. They particularly note that they are more likely these days to be welcomed by those they encounter than they were a few weeks ago.
(2) The Prime Minister announced that he has ordered the reopening of the newspaper of the Mahdi Army, Al Hawza. Remember that it was the closing of this paper by the Americans that sparked the al-Sadr rebellion a few months ago. This move has risks, but for now it is welcomed by many, and it seems part of a more general, if sputtering, rapprochement between the government and Moqtada al-Sadr.
(3) At a about the same time as the announcement, it was announced that the Americans had again made an air strike on what they described as an Zarqawi position in Fallujah. But this time, it was announced that the attack was made only after the interim government gave its blessing.
(4) The new American Ambassador, Negroponte, is going out of his way to be less visible, for example by excluding TV cameras from his briefings. Iraqi security personnel are taking the lead in more sweeps, especially in Baghdad. Iraq's Second Battalion now prides itself in making sweeps without any American presence. This approach appears to result in a much more welcoming public.
With car bombs and assassinations continuing in Iraq, it seems perverse to write about "improvement". But as long as the overall direction continues to be positive, there is improvement. One can only hope that soon this "improvement" will occur quickly enough that the interim government will still have enough members to function. Let us look at the good straws:
(1) Foreign reporters feel that they can now go more freely into the field; this after several months of staying holed up in the safer Baghdad enclaves. This does not mean that it is not still dangerous in the field. It is. But the tension is going down. They particularly note that they are more likely these days to be welcomed by those they encounter than they were a few weeks ago.
(2) The Prime Minister announced that he has ordered the reopening of the newspaper of the Mahdi Army, Al Hawza. Remember that it was the closing of this paper by the Americans that sparked the al-Sadr rebellion a few months ago. This move has risks, but for now it is welcomed by many, and it seems part of a more general, if sputtering, rapprochement between the government and Moqtada al-Sadr.
(3) At a about the same time as the announcement, it was announced that the Americans had again made an air strike on what they described as an Zarqawi position in Fallujah. But this time, it was announced that the attack was made only after the interim government gave its blessing.
(4) The new American Ambassador, Negroponte, is going out of his way to be less visible, for example by excluding TV cameras from his briefings. Iraqi security personnel are taking the lead in more sweeps, especially in Baghdad. Iraq's Second Battalion now prides itself in making sweeps without any American presence. This approach appears to result in a much more welcoming public.
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