Al-Maliki's night of the long knives

Started by Adnan Darwash, Dec 22 2011 12:49 PM Posted 22 December 2011 - 12:49 PM After returning from the USA and his meeting with US President and American business leaders, Al-Maliki felt strong enough to correct the long-awaited political imbalance into which the Sunni Arab and Sunni Kurdish minority parties were allowed to control 66 percent of the power. In Iraq, the Shiat constitute 60 percent of the population. By default, any free and democratic election would result in a government controlled by Shiat people. But this was initially rejected by the Sunni Kurds (17%) saying that they oppose the dictatorship of the majority. The Sunni Arabs (23%) have been in government since 1920 and will be against any Shiat Prime Minister. All minorities throughout history of Iraq have welcomed and collaborated with foreign invaders in order to gain power. With the American attempt to fragment Iraq, the Kurds were allowed to control the Northern Provinces, the presidency, the foreign ministry and the armed forced of the central government in Baghdad. Besides their income from local taxes and from controlling the borders, the Kurds get 17% all Iraqi oil revenues. In order to reduce the effects of the Shiat majority to 33%, the Americans under the pretext of power sharing, appointed a Sunni Kurd as President with one Arab Sunni and One Arab Shiat for Vice presidents. Similarly, Shiat Al-Maliki has one Sunni Kurd and One Sunni Arab as Vice Premiers. This situation is untenable besides being undemocratic. It is like forcing Obama to appoint John McCain as vice President and Ralph Nadir as a foreign secretary. It is a real corruption of democracy, as all parties are in power and no-one is in opposition. The majority of the Sunni Arabs are pro-Saddam and Pro-Baath party. They embrace all acts of violence against the government of Shiat Al-Maliki whom they accuse of being an Iranian puppet. In their quest, they receive massive aids from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the USA. The Iraqis continue to suffer from the negative effects of foreign interference in their affairs. The Americans must drop their attempt to fragment Iraq and to leave the Iraqis to their own means. There will be some violence in the short-term but free and democratic election will result in a sustainable national regime that serves Iraqi interests. Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times *The night of the long knives in NAZI Gernany, 1934. See Wikipedia.org Night of the Long Knives From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Night of the Long Knives (disambiguation). Although the German public did not complain much when SA activities were directed against Jews, Communists, and Socialists, by 1934 there was general concern about the level of civic violence for which the "brown shirts" were responsible.[1] The Night of the Long Knives (German: Nacht der langen Messer (help·info)), sometimes called Operation Hummingbird or, in Germany, the Röhm-Putsch, was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders. Leading figures of the left-wing Strasserist faction of the Nazi Party, along with its namesake, Gregor Strasser, were murdered, as were prominent conservative anti-Nazis (such as former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and Gustav Ritter von Kahr, who had suppressed Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch in 1923). Many of those killed were members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary Brownshirts. Adolf Hitler moved against the SA and its leader, Ernst Röhm, because he saw the independence of the SA and the penchant of its members for street violence as a direct threat to his newly gained political power. He also wanted to conciliate leaders of the Reichswehr, the official German military who feared and despised the SA—in particular Röhm's ambition to absorb the Reichswehr into the SA under his own leadership. Finally, Hitler used the purge to attack or eliminate critics of his new regime, especially those loyal to Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen, as well as to settle scores with old enemies. At least 85 people died during the purge, although the final death toll may have been in the hundreds,[2][3] and more than a thousand perceived opponents were arrested.[2] Most of the killings were carried out by the Schutzstaffel (SS) and the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei), the regime's secret police. The purge strengthened and consolidated the support of the Reichswehr for Hitler. It also provided a legal grounding for the Nazi regime, as the German courts and cabinet quickly swept aside centuries of legal prohibition against extra-judicial killings to demonstrate their loyalty to the regime. Before its execution, its planners sometimes referred to it as "Hummingbird" (German: Kolibri), the codeword used to send the execution squads into action on the day of the purge.[4] The codename for the operation appears to have been chosen arbitrarily. The phrase "Night of the Long Knives" in the German language predates the massacre itself and refers generally to acts of vengeance. Germans still use the term "Röhm-Putsch" to describe the murders, the term given to it by the Nazi regime, despite its unproven implication that the murders were necessary to prevent a coup. German authors often use quotation marks or write about the so-called Röhm-Putsch to emphasize this.[5] ===================================================== Sadr bloc calls for early elections in Iraq 26 Dec 2011 22:41 Source: Reuters // Reuters * Shi'ite cleric's movement seeks parliament dissolution * Biggest crisis in Iraq since government formed a year ago * PM Maliki acts against Sunni rivals By Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD, Dec 26 (Reuters) - The head of the political bloc of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on Monday for new elections in Iraq after the biggest crisis in a year saw Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki move against two senior Sunni rivals. Tensions are rising after Maliki, a Shi'ite, sought the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi - accused of running death squads. Maliki also asked parliament to fire Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq. The head of Sadr's bloc, part of the ruling Shi'ite-led government, said parliament should be dissolved to try resolve the spat, which has raised concerns about a return to sectarian strife since U.S. troops withdrew a week ago. Seven people were killed earlier on Monday when a suicide car bomber attacked Iraq's interior ministry in Baghdad. It followed a series of explosions on Thursday in the capital in which 72 people were killed. "We are in a new phase and have found a lot of problems which give no stability to Iraq... so we will discuss this subject with the National Alliance because we are part of it," Bahaa al-Araji, the head of Sadr's bloc, said in a statement in which he also called for "new and early elections". Support from Sadr's bloc helped Maliki to a second term following nine months of wrangling after an inconclusive election in March 2010. The National Alliance is the powerful bloc formed when Maliki's party linked with the Sadrists and other Shi'ite groups. The latest turmoil threatens to scupper Iraq's fragile power-sharing deal that splits posts among the Shi'ite National Aliance, the mainly Sunni-backed Iraqiya party and a bloc representing Kurds. Hashemi and Mutlaq are two of the most senior figures in Iraqiya, which announced a boycott of parliament ten days ago. EARLY VOTE Two senior Sadrist lawmakers said early elections were just one of the possible actions being considered in efforts to try resolve the crisis. "It is one of the solutions that was presented in case the crisis continues and political blocs fail to reach a solution and Iraqiya insists on continuing to boycott parliament and cabinet sessions," said senior Sadrist lawmaker Amir al-Kinani. Iraqiya will give an important signal about the future of the power sharing agreement on Tuesday when its members decide whether or not to attend a cabinet meeting. The party, which is led by secularist Shi'ite former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi but is supported by many Sunnis, said in a statement on Sunday it was willing to participate in talks to resolve the crisis. "We have received many positive signs from the Iraqiya leaders," said Mushriq Naji, a senior Sadrist lawmaker. "They said they are willing to end this crisis but asked for more time to talk to their top leaders. They asked for two more days." Violence in Iraq has dropped since the sectarian civil war of 2006-07, when Shi'ite militia and Sunni insurgents often killed thousands of civilians a month. Many Iraqis fear that the latest political dispute - on clear-cut sectarian lines - could reignite the slaughter, without the buffer of U.S. troops to separate the sides. Turmoil in Iraq would have a larger impact on the region, where a crisis in Syria is taking on a more sectarian tone and Shi'ite Iran, Sunni Turkey and Sunni Arab Gulf states are looking to increase their influence. Iraq's Sunni minority has felt marginalised since the rise of the Shi'ite majority after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Sadr, whose Mehdi Army militia once fought U.S. and Iraqi troops, said in a statement on Sunday that the crisis may lead to one-party rule and hurt Maliki's reputation as a statesman. Sadr ordered his militia to disarm when he joined mainstream politics in recent years, but splinter groups have continued attacks. On Monday, an Iraqi official said Asaib al-Haq, the biggest Mehdi Army militant splinter group, had offered to lay down arms and form a political movement to take part in the next election. "They are willing to lay down their weapons and join the political process after the bilateral security agreement was executed and U.S. troops completed their withdrawal," said Mohammed al-Hamed, spokesman for Maliki's National Reconciliation Advisor. The group could not be reached for comment. (Writing by Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Peter Graff) ======================= Allawi says Iraq headed for 'sectarian autocracy' 28 Dec 2011 18:51 Source: Alertnet Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad's Shaab District, northern Baghdad, December 22, 2011. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani * Head of Sunni-backed bloc says Iraq headed for autocracy * Political crisis spurred by charges against Sunni VP * Allawi says early elections, new PM are options By Jim Loney BAGHDAD, Dec 28 (Reuters) - The head of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya political bloc said Iraq "stands on the brink of disaster" and issued a list of demands on Wednesday in a political crisis triggered by charges against a Sunni leader. Iraqiya leader Iyad Allawi, in an editorial for the New York Times, said Iraq was heading towards a "sectarian autocracy that carries with it the threat of devastating civil war." Sectarian tensions are running high in Iraq ten days after the last U.S. troops pulled out. Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has sought the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, accused of running death squads. The commentary, co-authored by Iraqiya officials Osama al-Nujaifi, the parliament speaker, and Rafie al-Esawi, the finance minister, said bloc leaders were being "hounded and threatened by Mr. Maliki, who is attempting to drive us out of Iraqi political life and create an authoritarian one-party state." The political crisis, Iraq's worst in a year, threatens Maliki's fragile year-old coalition government, an alliance of Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish political blocs. Nujaifi and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, on Tuesday proposed a national conference of political leaders to try to resolve the crisis and said allegations against Hashemi should be left to the courts. But Allawi, in a separate statement, listed a series of demands before he would agree to any conference, including the release of "all detainees held on false charges" and the formation of a panel of top politicians to oversee and prevent interference in legal procedures. Iraqiya has criticised a recent arrest campaign against hundreds of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party over what some officials said was a plot to seize power after U.S. troops left. Allawi also demanded the government implement an accord reached last year before the coalition government was formed that would have given him leadership of a new national policy council. Allawi has accused Maliki of reneging on the pact. Allawi said "all options are still open" to resolve the crisis, including early elections and the possibility of a new candidate for prime minister. Both Iraqiya and the Sadrist movement of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have called for new elections, currently not due until 2014. Iraq's latest crisis was triggered by the charges against Hashemi and Maliki's request to parliament to fire Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq. Hashemi and Mutlaq are two of the most senior figures in Iraqiya. In the editorial, Allawi, a former prime minister, said Maliki had "laid siege to our party," surrounding leaders' homes and offices in Baghdad's Green Zone with government forces. "...as Iraq once again teeters on the brink, we respectfully ask America's leaders to understand that unconditional support for Mr. Maliki is pushing Iraq down the path to civil war," the editorial said. "Unless America acts rapidly to help create a successful unity government, Iraq is doomed." U.S. and Iraqi officials have been engaged in a flurry of talks to try ease tensions in a crisis that could have wider impact in the region with Iraq's Sunni and Shi'ite neighbours. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed) =================