Since the flareup in Basra ended, observers have been trying to discern the consequences of the Iraqi Army’s brief campaign. Al-Sadr agreed to the government’s demand for his militia to lay down their weapons, but a concerted propaganda effort has tried to paint him as the victor. Now, from the Associated Press (of all places) comes convincing evidence that PM al-Maliki’s hand has been strengthened:
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s faltering crackdown on Shiite militants has won the backing of Sunni Arab and Kurdish parties that fear both the powerful sectarian militias and the effects of failure on Iraq’s fragile government. . .
The head of the Kurdish self-ruled region, Massoud Barzani, has offered Kurdish troops to help fight anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia.
More significantly, Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi signed off on a statement by President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and the Shiite vice president, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, expressing support for the crackdown in the oil-rich southern city of Basra.
Al-Hashemi is one of al-Maliki’s most bitter critics and the two have been locked in an acrimonious public quarrel for a year. . . On Thursday, however, al-Maliki paid al-Hashemi a rare visit. A statement by al-Hashemi’s office said the vice president told al-Maliki that “we can bite the bullet and put aside our political differences.”
It goes on:
“I think the government is now enjoying the support of most political groups because it has adopted a correct approach to the militia problem,” said Hussein al-Falluji, a lawmaker from parliament’s largest Sunni Arab bloc, the three-party Iraqi Accordance Front. Al-Hashemi heads one of the three, the Iraqi Islamic Party.
The Accordance Front pulled out of al-Maliki’s Cabinet in August to protest his policies. The newfound support over militias could help al-Maliki persuade the five Sunni ministers who quit their posts to return.
If he succeeds, that would constitute a big step toward national reconciliation, something the U.S. has long demanded.
I’m still concerned that Maliki didn’t follow through with the crackdown in Baghdad, but this is a promising sign.
UPDATE: Thoughts from Ed Morrissey and Dean Esmay. (Via Instapundit.) Maybe the Democrats won’t make this the center of their argument questions at Petraeus’s next testimony after all.
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