Inside Soccer
Ardolino at Long War Journal picks apart Iraqi politics, part 1. You’ll want to read it all, but here’s a couple of particularly poignant bites:
The various ministers are appointed by Maliki and must be approved by a majority of Parliament, which apportions the positions as political spoils after extensive haggling among members of the various parties that comprise the ruling coalition, or “government list.” The process doesn’t inevitably result in the most qualified administrators taking charge of the ministries, as priorities are placed on the distribution of political parties and approving candidates who are broadly acceptable. The result is an executive branch of variable competence that is radically divided among various ethnosectarian and political affiliations.
Applied to American politics, such a scenario might look like a Republican president’s cabinet divided among Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and Libertarians, roughly proportional to their prevalence in Congress. For instance, Iraq’s Minister of Municipalities and Public Works is a Shia affiliated with the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the Trade Minister is a Shia with Maliki’s Dawa Party, the Defense Minister is an independent Sunni, the Foreign Minister is with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and the Minister of the Interior is an independent Shia.
…
“It’s not an easy structure,” said Phil Reeker, Counselor for Public Affairs at the American Embassy in Baghdad. “Different parties have different ministries, and [ministry] relationships with the prime minister’s office are different.”
Ardolino, engaged in straight reportage, doesn’t take the next leap, so I will: This underscores the childishness of Dem demands for instant progress, when they can’t even get their party’s own membership to do what they want, and vice versa. Jumping around a little, Ardolino’s introductory piece briefly shines a light on an area I think holds the most promise. The foundation, regional political development, the feet which might eventually compel the head to follow.
The first and arguably most important area of political progress, the “ground-up” aspect, has been a linchpin of US military strategy and is significantly responsible for the large security gains since August 2007. These rapidly successful grassroots reconciliation efforts were driven by the emergence of local leadership, budding relationships between the federal government and tribal leaders, quick application of US funds and reconstruction efforts, and local relationships forged across sectarian lines.
Despite such significant regional progress, however, many have questioned the will and ability of the Iraqi federal government to meet its end of the bargain: delivering services and resources, reconciling with former Sunni insurgents, and passing essential legislation. And most media coverage has focused on implacable sectarian interest as the primary reason for the Iraqi government’s underperformance in these areas, a sentiment shared by some American officials.
Colonel Martin M. Stanton, Chief of Reconciliation and Engagement for Multinational Corps–Iraq, is quick to praise the remarkable progress in ground-up reconciliation he’s seen in his job coordinating Iraqis who want to engage with the Coalition and Iraqi government. But he is also candidly skeptical about the willingness of the “Shia [federal] government” to reconcile with Sunnis, in light of sectarian hostility.
“What haunts me is the prospect of wasting all these opportunities,” said Stanton. “It’s encouraging at the bottom, at the tactical level, and then you deal with the people in the Iraqi government who are so paranoid and so reticent, and it’s a real emotional rollercoaster.”
Whole thing here, a series worth sticking with. This is another critical arena in which our media, in its woefully inadequate coverage of this war, has been woefully inadequate in its coverage.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 11:27 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2008
3 Responses to “Inside Soccer”
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February 6th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
[...] Jules Crittenden has a nice look at the success in Iraq coming from the ground [...]
February 6th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
“What haunts me is the prospect of wasting all these opportunities,” said Stanton. “It’s encouraging at the bottom, at the tactical level, and then you deal with the people in the Iraqi government who are so paranoid and so reticent, and it’s a real emotional rollercoaster.”
Saddam Hussein, was the President of Iraq from around 1980, until April, 2003.
Paranoia runs deep, as a song said. That is why people are “so paranoid and so reticent”, I would think. Then “thinking’ is bad at times, too.
Somehow I had gotten the impression, that Iraq, wasn’t meant to be The United States of America, Iraq being another State of.
We have spent money and the precious, treasured blood of our brave, as have other nations, giving Iraq their chance to enter the sun. I’m quite sure the Iraqis can do it.
First, Iraq had to SEE, the sun.
February 6th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Maybe I’m making light of Iraqi politics, but I think it would have had more impact if the soccer players had been shirtless.