PDA

View Full Version : Maliki's Office Is Seen Behind Purge in Forces



lily
04-30-2007, 10:34 PM
Well lookie here Maliki's version of the US Attorney scandal.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/29/AR2007042901728.html?referrer=email


Maliki's Office Is Seen Behind Purge in Forces
Some Commanders Had Pursued Militias

By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, April 30, 2007; Page A01

BAGHDAD, April 29 -- A department of the Iraqi prime minister's office is
playing a leading role in the arrest and removal of senior Iraqi army and
national police officers, some of whom had apparently worked too
aggressively to combat violent Shiite militias, according to U.S. military
officials in Baghdad.

Since March 1, at least 16 army and national police commanders have been
fired, detained or pressured to resign; at least nine of them are Sunnis,
according to U.S. military documents shown to The Washington Post.



Although some of the officers appear to have been fired for legitimate
reasons, such as poor performance or corruption, several were considered to
be among the better Iraqi officers in the field. The dismissals have angered
U.S. and Iraqi leaders who say the Shiite-led government is sabotaging the
military to achieve sectarian goals.

"Their only crimes or offenses were they were successful" against the Mahdi
Army, a powerful Shiite militia, said Brig. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard,
commanding general of the Iraq Assistance Group, which works with Iraqi
security forces. "I'm tired of seeing good Iraqi officers having to look
over their shoulders when they're trying to do the right thing."

The issue strikes at a central question about the fledgling government of
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki: whether it can put sectarian differences
aside to deliver justice fairly. During earlier security crackdowns in
Baghdad, Maliki was criticized for failing to target Shiite militias, in
particular the Mahdi Army, which is led by hard-line Shiite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr, one of Maliki's political supporters. Before the most recent
Baghdad security plan was launched in February, Maliki repeatedly declared
he would target militants regardless of their sect.

Iraqi government officials denied that security force commanders have faced
political pressure and said that Maliki is committed to targeting all
criminals equally.

Sadiq al-Rikabi, a political adviser to Maliki, said the first two months of
the Baghdad security plan show that Maliki "is not working on any agenda but
the national agenda."

"The Baghdad security plan is working on a military and professional basis
without any regard for any sect or ethnic group or any political factors,"
he said.

But some U.S. military officials say politics remains among the greatest
hindrances to the development of the Iraqi security forces -- a top priority
for Americans in Iraq. Col. Ehrich Rose, chief of the Military Transition
Team with the 4th Iraqi Army Division, who has spent several years working
with foreign armies, said the Iraqi officer corps is riddled with divergent
loyalties to different sects, tribes and political groups.

"The Iraqi army, as far as capability goes, I'd stack them up against just
about any Latin American army I've dealt with," he said. "However, the
politicization of their officer corps is the worst I've ever seen."

At the national level, some U.S. officials are increasingly concerned about
the Office of the Commander in Chief, a behind-the-scenes department that
works on military issues for the prime minister.

One adviser in the office, Bassima Luay Hasun al-Jaidri, has enough
influence to remove and intimidate senior commanders, and her work has
"stifled" many officers who are afraid of angering her, a senior U.S.
military official said. U.S. commanders are considering installing a U.S.
liaison officer in the department to better understand its influence.