Meta tags:
description= 7 posts published by Reidar Visser during August 2009;
Headings (most frequently used words):
the, al, iraq, and, gulf, analysis, for, hakim, political, in, tehran, iraqi, alliance, of, shiite, archive, august, 2009, archives, categories, meta, my, latest, book, on, amazon, com, twitter, updates, subscribe, recent, posts, isci, media, say, ammar, will, assume, leadership, abd, aziz, dies, second, licensing, round, oil, aspects, after, sadr, badr, compromise, national, ina, is, declared, launch, shabak, react, to, atrocities, khazna, tepe, one, aliance, two, alliances, or, real, inter, sectarian,
Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (446), and (115), iraq (81), that (69), was (50), for (49), iraqi (47), with (41), isci (37), from (36), this (35), shiite (34), alliance (33), new (32), hakim (29), maliki (26), #august (26), 2009 (26), #sectarian (23), has (23), been (23), are (23), uia (22), but (22), his (22), have (21), their (21), more (21), which (21), may (20), its (20), oil (20), one (19), daawa (18), national (18), political (17), party (17), iran (16), will (15), even (15), 2008 (15), 2010 (15), 2007 (15), posted (14), shabak (14), first (14), january (14), forces (13), elections (13), about (13), would (13), there (13), after (13), 2013 (13), comments (12), could (12), since (12), abd (12), not (12), within (12), july (12), october (12), 2014 (12), 2006 (12), 2011 (12), 2012 (12), other (11), some (11), seems (11), 2005 (11), had (11), also (11), local (11), june (11), december (11), now (10), two (10), time (10), between (10), during (10), november (10), most (10), than (10), ina (10), iranian (10), february (10), today (9), these (9), last (9), were (9), while (9), leaders (9), federalism (9), international (9), sadr (9), tehran (9), leadership (9), march (9), april (9), september (9), itself (8), should (8), part (8), issues (8), all (8), kurdish (8), recent (8), old (8), parliament (8), council (8), round (8), sciri (8), like (7), dynamics (7), support (7), power (7), involved (7), only (7), several (7), members (7), process (7), reidar (7), visser (7), nineveh (7), what (7), far (7), who (7), federal (7), many (7), case (7), where (7), aziz (7), pro (7), 2003 (7), licensing (7), com (6), gulf (6), analysis (6), sunni (6), kurds (6), baghdad (6), parliamentary (6), control (6), tanzim (6), until (6), constitutional (6), government (6), themselves (6), minority (6), attacks (6), well (6), outside (6), constitution (6), region (6), idea (6), they (6), state (6), badr (6), opposition (6), kind (6), still (6), towards (6), voters (6), when (6), islamic (6), supreme (6), policy (6), already (5), create (5), alliances (5), movement (5), particularly (5), people (5), rather (5), security (5), ministry (5), them (5), public (5), least (5), law (5), leader (5), central (5), position (5), governorate (5), influence (5), partly (5), through (5), highly (5), such (5), war (5), project (5), american (5), elements (5), out (5), then (5), muqtada (5), point (5), ali (5), long (5), united (5), fields (5), wordpress (4), website (4), name (4), off (4), real (4), governorates (4), coalition (4), including (4), once (4), next (4), reportedly (4), considered (4), instead (4), statements (4), programme (4), week (4), another (4), made (4), own (4), demand (4), take (4), politics (4), key (4), second (4), minister (4), agenda (4), authorities (4), series (4), disputed (4), those (4), known (4), various (4), washington (4), majority (4), iraqis (4), latest (4), media (4), monday (4), news (4), declared (4), came (4), early (4), grand (4), qum (4), possibly (4), succession (4), crisis (4), potential (4), seemed (4), unity (4), anizi (4), among (4), course (4), shiites (4), najaf (4), sayyid (4), basra (4), branch (4), thereby (4), however (4), because (4), future (4), companies (4), company (4), deals (4), death (4), ammar (4), log (3), subscribe (3), join (3), blog (3), inter (3), dominated (3), terms (3), cooperation (3), awakening (3), president (3), headed (3), independent (3), role (3), lot (3), press (3), weeks (3), effect (3), different (3), sadrist (3), khazna (3), tepe (3), narrative (3), previous (3), remarkable (3), foremost (3), feature (3), form (3), assyrian (3), strategy (3), regional (3), very (3), separate (3), late (3), world (3), islamists (3), sunnis (3), reconciliation (3), structure (3), often (3), main (3), historiae (3), org (3), make (3), less (3), rhetoric (3), anbar (3), iraqiyya (3), minute (3), former (3), trend (3), originally (3), factors (3), community (3), going (3), similarly (3), any (3), place (3), sistani (3), how (3), hayis (3), full (3), entire (3), publicly (3), ayatollah (3), prominent (3), later (3), marjaiyya (3), change (3), few (3), created (3), order (3), lost (3), centralist (3), focusing (3), decentralisation (3), general (3), level (3), home (3), apparently (3), group (3), family (3), know (3), controversial (3), kurdistan (3), much (3), sector (3), foreign (3), status (3), greater (3), returned (3), career (3), post (3), managed (3), became (3), organisation (3), cabinet (3), ministers (3), site (2), required (2), view (2), sign (2), subscribed (2), account (2), aliance (2), previously (2), khalid (2), yawir (2), same (2), statement (2), include (2), current (2), interesting (2), into (2), relations (2), robbery (2), month (2), blamed (2), emerged (2), closer (2), member (2), adil (2), mahdi (2), suggesting (2), jawad (2), bulani (2), having (2), guards (2), incident (2), received (2), attention (2), western (2), situation (2), rumours (2), line (2), fadila (2), come (2), establishment (2), under (2), saying (2), negotiations (2), emerge (2), nothing (2), election (2), react (2), atrocities (2), master (2), dominant (2), represented (2), list (2), whose (2), military (2), understanding (2), ethnic (2), nationalist (2), useful (2), demands (2), dominate (2), either (2), making (2), concept (2), tribal (2), prime (2), nuri (2), introduced (2), domestic (2), example (2), practice (2), parts (2), opt (2), certain (2), inside (2), readings (2), ground (2), administrative (2), green (2), federalisation (2), taken (2), christians (2), religion (2), elite (2), ties (2), day (2), arrived (2), nevertheless (2), doubtless (2), regime (2), against (2), tendency (2), seen (2), withdrawal (2), areas (2), arabic (2), preferred (2), dealing (2), journalists (2), turn (2), usual (2), play (2), ethno (2), uncategorized (2), related (2), nature (2), articles (2), published (2), archive (2), available (2), launch (2), compromise (2), shift (2), important (2), cross (2), provincial (2), islamist (2), rejected (2), makeover (2), convert (2), significant (2), sometimes (2), ideological (2), principles (2), visit (2), context (2), therefore (2), somewhat (2), intended (2), sudden (2), apparent (2), put (2), health (2), return (2), might (2), look (2), years (2), him (2), supporters (2), carry (2), mechanism (2), guarantee (2), looks (2), anything (2), karim (2), probably (2), circulated (2), brothers (2), non (2), restriction (2), becoming (2), interests (2), decided (2), possibility (2), reform (2), word (2), summer (2), complete (2), close (2), din (2), muhammad (2), move (2), took (2), clear (2), before (2), operating (2), earlier (2), leading (2), conference (2), elected (2), head (2), remained (2), sadrists (2), ago (2), held (2), talking (2), militias (2), don (2), believe (2), did (2), mind (2), differences (2), prepared (2), share (2), announcement (2), simultaneously (2), referred (2), responding (2), focus (2), initiative (2), earnest (2), over (2), convalescent (2), details (2), launched (2), confirmed (2), major (2), year (2), breakaway (2), problem (2), unlikely (2), adib (2), said (2), problematic (2), shahristani (2), approach (2), appears (2), territories (2), approached (2), contracts (2), country (2), kirkuk (2), existing (2), biden (2), supposed (2), based (2), popular (2), initiatives (2), proposed (2), circles (2), formed (2), particular (2), officials (2), south (2), replacement (2), gas (2), field (2), developed (2), added (2), charter (2), referendum (2), cancer (2), states (2), unable (2), without (2), used (2), best (2), scenario (2), contradictions (2), politicians (2), radical (2), period (2), impression (2), revolution (2), never (2), religious (2), basis (2), message (2), identity (2), 1982 (2), baathist (2), battle (2), hizbollah (2), shuhada (2), membership (2), candidate (2), father (2), elects (2), nomination (2), abbadi (2), rss (2), entries (2), amazon (2), feed (2), regionalism (2), 2015 (2), get, started, design, email, write, comment, loading, collapse, bar, manage, subscriptions, reader, report, content, privacy, 203, subscribers, free, unknown, fronted, claiming, says, formally, allied, suggests, announced, thursday, turkmens, configurations, neither, schemes, promising, rapprochement, established, heavyweights, although, translate, widespread, meanwhile, intra, disturbed, million, bank, karrada, district, initially, affair, insurgents, centres, offenders, detail, vice, caused, tensions, relationship, opponents, scheme, boost, finances, ahead, furious, interior, exaggerated, plot, blaming, exclusively, admitting, certainly, serious, seven, killed, amazing, range, divergent, revival, suggest, completely, circulating, minus, together, again, agreed, upon, imminent, needed, predictions, exact, timing, varied, participants, adamant, joint, declaration, shaabaniyya, pilgrimage, others, maintain, wait, sunday, seem, arab, mosul, hadba, athil, nujayfi, represents, rebuttal, paradigm, seeking, define, wihtin, framework, neutral, cacophony, listen, restoration, maintenance, territorial, integrity, decry, lack, enabled, pesh, merga, secret, police, past, repeatedly, accused, enabling, terror, turning, blind, eye, orchestrating, call, arrangements, resorting, model, favoured, activists, friends, capitol, hill, evoking, councils, majalis, isnad, asayish, labelling, reflects, conscious, assert, inhabit, villages, consider, assimilating, trying, competing, emanates, christian, imaginative, want, prepare, minorities, plains, refers, article, 125, guarantees, cultural, educational, rights, nationalities, turkomen, chaldeans, assyrians, constituents, read, light, track, fetched, extreme, seriously, nation, something, imposition, indigenous, whom, prefer, refer, chaldean, nestorian, refugees, hakkari, present, turkey, think, bigger, construing, homeland, shared, turkmen, portray, acts, committed, qaeda, remnants, victims, pronounced, village, largely, targeted, suffered, heaviest, human, material, losses, troops, urban, distinct, language, combines, turkish, farsi, aspire, treatment, numerous, communities, tried, impose, narratives, discourses, covering, developments, violent, targets, prompted, outpouring, stereotypical, invariably, described, character, occasional, supplement, specialises, intermittent, stories, speculative, reconstructed, sidebar, closed, postings, yet, declare, eletions, scheduled, parties, meaningful, transition, anticlimaxes, repeated, spring, resulted, victories, durable, promises, monster, need, beyond, accomplished, integration, core, talk, nationalists, signs, growing, tariq, hashimi, salih, mutlak, nadim, jabiri, theatre, reported, mahmud, mashhadani, speaker, associated, potentially, reverse, cases, runs, counter, delegation, coalitions, indeed, become, step, forward, unfinished, constructive, reasons, haste, declaring, use, deadline, pressure, can, speculate, stand, firstly, deteriorating, reports, transferred, intensive, hospital, care, secondly, enhanced, scholarly, credentials, both, unleash, destabilising, wish, avoid, struggles, set, intensify, sheltered, reunion, disagreements, destabilisation, fragmentation, prudent, try, integrative, ideally, participation, embrace, rudimentary, unsatisfactory, centrality, raise, doubts, sincerity, ask, actually, leaves, advantage, newspaper, claimed, respected, allawi, joined, surely, bridge, builder, secularists, constellations, immense, value, maturation, basic, facts, genesis, simply, speak, louder, agreement, basically, standing, sympathies, reaching, date, adherents, lists, included, unspecified, forming, beautifying, addendum, excluding, our, let, confer, across, bland, unobjectionable, unremarkable, fostering, civil, society, protecting, environment, etc, item, difficult, stomach, secular, inclinations, backgrounds, adhere, directions, mean, higher, clergy, widest, possible, sense, omitted, run, risk, figureheads, stooges, invitation, tongue, cheek, given, mainly, aimed, joining, stage, mention, reference, virtues, strong, absence, documents, released, represent, olive, branches, regard, bayyina, jadida, footnote, perennial, subject, subdivisions, appropriate, mostly, neglected, diyya, amin, nur, abruptly, harakat, smallest, oldest, wings, izz, salim, perhaps, representative, days, jasim, khudayr, maksusi, categorically, coup, attempt, origin, misinterpreted, shortly, regain, offices, london, invasion, whilst, parliamentarians, holiday, arranged, loud, protest, chairman, hashim, musawi, isa, firayji, television, channel, masar, physically, occupied, significantly, formation, consolidator, emphasising, solidarities, reconstituting, highlighted, preacher, jalal, saghir, formal, whereas, absent, hope, reclaim, disputes, fore, preaching, ecumenism, discourse, occasions, limits, along, kept, unrestrained, distaste, emphasised, indication, remaining, display, domain, talked, sake, ignore, keep, unified, cost, disinclination, ascribed, personal, ambitions, regarding, premiership, seats, disarray, single, four, dates, forthcoming, cited, allegedly, expelled, diyala, friendly, partisans, complained, marginalisation, diwaniyya, string, bomb, doubt, designed, hurt, vision, normalised, concrete, barriers, safely, removed, senior, intelligence, official, changed, consequence, notable, absentee, briefly, recapitulate, evolved, revived, orientation, mid, requested, results, rewarded, pushed, background, values, strengthened, abbas, bayati, ahmad, chalabi, soon, offered, got, punished, hard, polls, dozen, paid, discussed, journey, reconcile, opponent, seeing, symbolic, justify, visits, ailing, bit, juggling, adjectives, ittilaf, watani, electoral, essentially, consists, largest, blocs, plus, wing, factions, ibrahim, jaafari, faction, components, salvation, hamid, modest, votes, wahhab, mulla, scholars, zubayr, additionally, bahr, ulum, reintegrated, business, implications, norwegian, dno, revealed, operations, according, plan, increasing, exports, except, small, paying, dinar, efforts, enjoys, proposal, transpire, struggle, challenger, serves, underline, assurances, hussein, expect, identical, comes, quite, opposite, circle, centralisers, around, fundamental, disagreement, normally, recently, reiterated, recognition, cut, firms, threatening, exclude, china, sinopec, purchase, smaller, addax, headache, contemplating, prospective, must, cannot, entering, parameters, industry, why, highest, evidently, politician, illustrate, interview, akhbar, agency, stated, contested, crystal, province, transformed, standalone, entity, elevated, specific, stance, supported, voices, notably, plans, ways, implicitly, posits, hijack, provisions, bottom, involve, multiplication, entities, limitation, hand, experts, opposed, principle, degree, involvement, constellation, cornerstone, timeframe, drew, substantial, high, employed, stick, carrot, involving, chief, dhiaa, jaafar, ongoing, stoppage, phase, exclusion, siba, near, likely, foreigners, lead, legal, problems, concerning, revised, accordance, revision, palatable, istanbul, road, show, promoting, bouquet, contrast, offer, undeveloped, actual, bidding, expected, tuesday, aspects, chose, treated, correctly, interpret, physical, movements, revealing, indicator, true, loyalties, brigades, travelled, territory, orchestrate, inconceivable, allowed, processes, borders, felt, right, pursuing, clung, rosy, cause, ultimately, space, peculiar, began, deteriorate, vital, maker, presided, meetings, revamping, instrumental, crafting, back, 2004, experiences, newly, accords, rhetorical, emphasis, remains, remorseless, baathists, cleansed, keeps, ideology, contradict, throughout, masterfully, balance, pressures, successful, creating, liberate, overlordship, theatrics, rumour, officially, henceforth, orders, khamenei, himself, scholar, repute, authority, americans, son, luminary, muhsin, descendant, prophet, prompting, describe, cleric, powerful, gradually, pronouncedly, loyal, ally, democrats, led, joe, intensified, campaign, active, discovered, appeared, unpopular, inhabitants, appeal, strategic, continued, preach, creation, performed, poorly, mark, ever, pre, conferences, 2002, wrestle, partner, predicated, belief, complexities, lenses, consolidated, appealing, dramatically, bid, comprise, nine, overt, projection, onto, map, hitherto, preserve, israelis, kuwaitis, senators, divisive, sheer, presence, obstacle, moving, spirit, behind, adopted, electorate, chaotic, acquaint, atmosphere, prevailed, ended, giving, consent, document, away, almost, governmental, capital, gave, provinces, regions, symbol, chaos, opportunism, characterised, abandoned, studies, professional, 1980s, operator, called, khomeinist, outfit, maximise, start, brother, baqir, terrorist, attack, propelled, top, confrontations, experience, explains, subsequent, transformation, hardliner, relating, lung, died, wednesday, dies, photo, featuring, shahid, mihrab, foundation, forgotten, discussions, issue, sort, confederation, umbrella, defected, khomeini, restricted, 1990s, especially, flexible, admit, hasan, sari, dynamic, organisational, chart, help, discontents, retain, semi, autonomous, spheres, operation, yesterday, humam, hammudi, influential, broker, sole, outlets, buratha, story, succeed, tomorrow, decision, portrayed, blow, say, assume, speakership, large, presidential, candidates, fuad, masum, trouble, presidency, haydar, approves, fails, approve, additional, approved, rise, isis, secede, groundbreaking, court, ruling, decentralization, libya, proposals, dimension, yemen, draft, legality, constitutionality, questions, push, posts, sep, jul, tweets, reidarvisser, twitter, updates, just, books, book, meta, leverage, 133, rule, nationalism, 280, 175, soft, partition, middle, east, baathification, southern, categories, archives,
Text of the page (random words):
e this experience probably explains his subsequent transformation to a hardliner in issues relating to national reconciliation in iraq it was during 2005 in particular that hakim would make his mark on the post 2003 politics of iraq through a series of remarkable policy initiatives ever since the first pre war opposition conferences in 2002 sciri had managed to wrestle itself to the unlikely position as the preferred partner of the united states in dealing with the shiite community of iraq a strategy that in itself was predicated on a belief in washington that the complexities of iraqi politics would be best approached through sectarian lenses and it consolidated this position between 2003 to 2005 by appealing to sectarian identity as a basis for political power then in august 2005 hakim dramatically launched a bid to create a federal region that would comprise the nine shiite majority governorates south of baghdad an overt projection of sectarian identity onto iraq s administrative map that had hitherto been the preserve of israelis kuwaitis and pro kurdish american senators and a scenario so radical and divisive that its sheer presence on the political agenda added a major obstacle to iraq s process of national reconciliation later in october 2005 sciri was the moving spirit behind the iraqi constitution that was adopted by the iraqi electorate in a chaotic referendum voters had apparently been unable to acquaint themselves with the details of the new iraqi charter but in the sectarian atmosphere that prevailed ended up giving their consent to a document that took away almost all governmental power from the capital and gave it instead to the provinces and the federal regions during 2007 as us democrats led by joe biden intensified their campaign for pro active federalisation of iraq hakim and sciri discovered that the idea of shiite region appeared to be highly unpopular even among the inhabitants it was supposed to appeal to nevertheless hakim s party held on to its strategic alliance on an ethno sectarian basis between shiites and kurds and continued to preach a message of general decentralisation even if there was now a move towards a greater focus on the existing governorates rather than the creation of a new shiite federal region this message did not go well with iraqi voters either hakim s list performed poorly in the 2009 local elections throughout the post war period hakim masterfully managed to balance us and iranian pressures and was successful in creating the impression in washington that sciri was on course to liberate itself from iranian overlordship this involved theatrics such as a name change in may 2007 where sciri became isci without the revolution and where the rumour was circulated but never officially confirmed that isci would henceforth take its orders from the grand ayatollah ali al sistani in najaf in iraq instead of from iran s supreme leader ali khamenei simultaneously hakim who himself was never an islamic scholar of repute managed to create the impression of religious authority among americans by focusing on his status as the son of a shiite luminary the grand ayatollah muhsin al hakim and as a sayyid descendant of the prophet thereby prompting many international journalists to describe him as a leading cleric and one of the most powerful politicians of iraq it was only gradually since 2008 and more pronouncedly since the local elections in january 2009 that the idea of isci as a loyal ally of iran returned to us policy making circles in earnest hakim s health began to deteriorate several years ago but he remained a vital policy maker until his death since may 2009 from his convalescent home in tehran he presided over a series of meetings with iraqi politicians that prepared the ground for the revamping of the shiite political alliance uia or the united iraqi alliance that he had been instrumental in crafting back in 2004 responding to experiences from the local elections the newly formed iraqi national alliance ina now accords greater rhetorical emphasis to the idea of iraqi national unity but its programme still remains remorseless towards former baathists who are to be cleansed from the iraqi state and isci still keeps focusing on an ideology of radical decentralisation which many iraqis believe contradict the idea of national unity hakim chose to be treated for cancer in iran and it is remarkable that the united states was unable to correctly interpret his physical movements as the most revealing indicator of his true political loyalties since 2003 and until today hakim sciri isci and members of the badr brigades have travelled in and out of iran without any restriction it was iranian territory that was used to orchestrate the new ina it is inconceivable that the authorities in tehran would have allowed these processes to go on within their own borders had they not felt that right until his death hakim was pursuing a policy that was in iran s best interests instead however washington for a long time clung to a rosy scenario in which isci was seen as a potential convert to the american cause ultimately it was the contradictions in this policy that would create the space for abd al aziz al hakim s peculiar political career posted in iranian influence in iraq uia dynamics 6 comments the second licensing round for iraqi oil political aspects posted by reidar visser on tuesday 25 august 2009 19 01 iraqi oil ministry officials have returned to istanbul for another road show promoting a bouquet of iraqi oil fields for international oil companies in contrast to the previous licensing round the fields now on offer include partly developed and previously undeveloped green fields the actual bidding is expected to take place in december the legal problems concerning the proposed deals are the same as those involved in the first licensing round iraq has no oil and gas law and the constitution has still not been revised in accordance with the one off revision mechanism that was added to the new iraq charter in the last minute to make it more palatable for voters in the october 2005 referendum on the other hand there could be greater support for the proposed contracts in at least some circles within the iraqi oil sector which formed an important part of the opposition to the first licensing round many iraqi oil experts are not opposed in principle to a degree of foreign involvement in the country s oil sector rather in the case of the first licensing round it was the particular constellation of cornerstone oil fields and a very long timeframe that drew substantial opposition even from high officials inside the iraqi oil ministry also since the first licensing round the oil ministry has apparently employed a stick and carrot approach towards the south oil company where much of the opposition was based involving the replacement of its head the new chief is dhiaa jaafar but also the withdrawal of two gas fields from the ongoing stoppage time phase of the first licensing round and the exclusion of the siba field near basra from the second round all of which are now likely to be developed with iraqis rather than foreigners in the lead but the main headache for foreign companies contemplating prospective contracts with iraq must be that they cannot possibly know what kind of iraq they are entering and what the parameters of the country s oil industry will be in the future why because people at the highest level of power in iraq evidently don t know recent 15 august comments by daawa politician ali al adib illustrate this point in an interview with the akhbar al iraq news agency he reportedly stated that the position of the daawa party on the contested status of kirkuk is crystal clear the province should be transformed into a standalone federal entity i e the existing governorate should have its status elevated to that of a federal region this is a highly specific but also a highly controversial stance while it is supported by voices in the international community notably the international crisis group much like the various biden plans for iraq it is problematic in several different ways partly because it implicitly posits an elite hijack of provisions for federalism in the iraqi constitution that originally were supposed to guarantee a bottom up process based on local popular initiatives and partly because it would involve a multiplication of federal entities in iraq at a time when the popular trend appears to be towards limitation of the concept of federalism to kurdistan only it seems unlikely that adib enjoys the full support of the entire daawa party in this proposal and it is interesting that his statements should transpire at a time when he was said to be involved in a leadership struggle within the daawa possibly as a challenger to maliki isci media made much of this during the last minute negotiations of the new national shiite alliance but first and foremost this all serves to underline the problematic nature of the recent assurances by the iraqi oil minister hussein al shahristani to the effect that international oil companies should expect the next iraqi government to take an identical approach to the current one when it comes to the oil sector quite the opposite appears to be the case even within the circle of centralisers around maliki there seems to be fundamental disagreement on how key issues like state structure and disputed territories should be approached in the future the oil ministry itself normally considered part of this centralist trend under shahristani s leadership recently reiterated its non recognition of deals cut between the kurdish regional authorities and foreign firms threatening to exclude china s sinopec from future deals in iraq after its purchase of the smaller company addax which is operating in kurdistan few international oil companies know more about the business implications of this kind of problem than the norwegian company dno which is also involved in controversial deals with the kurdish regional authorities in a recent statement to the press the company revealed that its operations in kurdistan are going according to plan with increasing exports except for one small problem so far no one is paying them a dinar for their efforts posted in iraqi constitutional issues oil in iraq 3 comments after sadr badr compromise in tehran the iraqi national alliance ina is declared posted by reidar visser on monday 24 august 2009 13 54 after a bit of juggling with adjectives and word order the iraqi national alliance ina in arabic referred to as al ittilaf al watani al iraqi was launched in baghdad today thereby becoming the first publicly confirmed major electoral alliance for next year s parliamentary elections in iraq essentially the new coalition consists of the two largest blocs of the previous shiite alliance the united iraqi alliance or uia the islamic supreme council of iraq isci and the sadrists plus elements from the wing of the most pro iranian of the two daawa factions known as the tanzim al iraq branch as well as ibrahim al jaafari s breakaway faction the only significant components from outside the old uia are the anbar salvation council headed by hamid al hayis a breakaway group of the anbar awakening which received only a modest share of the votes in the last local elections and khalid abd al wahhab al mulla the president of a sunni group of islamic scholars from zubayr outside basra additionally the party of the shiite bahr al ulum family which was sometimes separate from the old uia has been reintegrated it may be useful to briefly recapitulate how the new alliance evolved the idea of a revived shiite alliance with a more national orientation was first introduced publicly by muqtada al sadr in qum iran in mid february 2009 when he requested a full makeover of the uia which in the future should be referred to as the united national iraqi alliance sadr was responding to the results of the january local elections in which the daawa party of prime minister nuri al maliki was rewarded by voters for a rhetoric in which the sectarian agenda was pushed in the background and the focus on national and centralist values was strengthened after sadr s initiative other forces in the old uia including the pro maliki independent abbas al bayati as well as ahmad al chalabi soon offered their support but it was not until may that the project got going in earnest by that time isci which had been punished particularly hard by voters in the january polls had taken over the initiative and within weeks several dozen key uia members paid their visits to isci s ailing leader abd al aziz al hakim at a convalescent home in tehran where details of the new alliance were discussed reportedly muqtada al sadr also made the journey from qum to reconcile with hakim a long time opponent apparently seeing the symbolic change of name as a sadrist demand that could justify their return to the uia at one point it seemed as if the new alliance was on course to co opt maliki and thereby could hope to reclaim lost voters however once more old disputes between maliki and isci came to the fore in june and july far from preaching ecumenism towards isci maliki held on to his centralist discourse on several occasions focusing on the limits of the power of the governorates at a time when isci along with the kurds kept talking about unrestrained decentralisation similarly at the recent general conference of the daawa party maliki s distaste for militias was emphasised we don t have militias because we believe in the state another indication that he did not mind his differences with isci and the sadrist remaining on display in the public domain while maliki talked about no alliances for the sake of alliances isci seemed prepared to ignore ideological differences if only maliki would join their new alliance and thereby keep the shiites unified at any cost his disinclination to do this was ascribed to personal ambitions regarding the premiership and the daawa share of seats in the new alliance last week the entire process seemed to be in complete disarray during the course of a single day no less than four different dates for the forthcoming announcement of the alliance were cited by various uia members simultaneously at the level of local government maliki supporters were allegedly expelled from the provincial council of diyala by an isci friendly coalition while isci partisans complained of their marginalisation by the maliki dominated council in diwaniyya however not even the latest string of bomb attacks in baghdad no doubt designed to hurt maliki s vision of a normalised iraq where concrete barriers could be safely removed and even blamed on iran by at least one senior intelligence official seems to have changed his mind as a consequence the maliki branch of the daawa was the notable absentee at today s announcement a footnote on the perennial subject of daawa subdivisions seems appropriate at th...
|
