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War Report: Violence in Iraq and Ambivalence at Home

Iraq has rocked with violence since its new cabinet was sworn into office on May 3, 2005.

Insurgents are trying to destabilize the newly-formed democracy, and the bombings may be a reflection of the deep divisions within the cabinet itself.

A partially empty cabinet

Several cabinet positions remain vacant because of disagreements over Sunni representation in the new government.

Under Saddam Hussein, Sunni Arabs were the dominant ethnic group, although a minority in the total population, and they were in charge of Hussein’s military while Shiite Arabs and non-Arab Kurds suffered persecution. The January 30, 2005 elections upended this dynamic, empowering the Shiites and sidelining the Sunnis.

Although government representatives from all three groups have professed their dedication to working together, Shiite leaders have consistently rejected Sunni nominees for the Defense Ministry and other positions reserved for Sunni Arabs.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite, says that Sunnis disagree about their own nominees and are consequently to blame for the setback. Sunni leader Sheik Ghazi al-Yawar denies this claim. Sheik Yawar is one of two vice presidents, the other, Adel Abdul Mahdi, is a Shiite.

The vacant cabinet seats represent the deep divides within the fledgling government. The new leaders are forced to grapple with their Baathist past since most of the Sunni nominees for the powerful Defense Ministry position were at one time connected to Hussein’s Baath Party. Theoretically, no Sunni will be banned from a role in government unless he or she committed a crime or had a leading role in the Baath party. Nevertheless, Shiite leaders seem to have a difficult time of approving Sunni nominees.

Progress has been made on this front, however. Laith Kubba, a senior aide to the prime minister, assured the press on May 5, 2005, that many of the vacant ministry posts have been settled since the swearing-in ceremony. Further, he announced that Prime Minister Jaafari will soon choose a defense minister from a list of three candidates supplied by Sunni leaders.

Leaders in question

Both Iraqis and Americans question some of Iraq’s new leaders. Oil Minister Ahmad Chalabi, a former friend of the Pentagon, has been accused of leaking intelligence to Iran and giving flawed intelligence to the United States, including faulty information about Saddam Hussein hoarding weapons of mass destruction, the cause of the U.S. invasion. Further, Chalabi faces charges of counterfeiting, embezzlement, and fraud. In Jordan, he was convicted of a breach of trust after a bank he managed fell under the weight of $300 million in missing deposits. Chalabi was sentenced to 22 years but has served no time in prison.

Chalabi controls the world’s second largest oil reserve and his nephew, Ali Abdel-Amir Allawi, is finance minister.

Violent times

The day after the new cabinet was sworn into office, Iraqis experienced the bloodiest insurgent attack in months, and the timing was not accidental. About 60 people were killed in Arbil, Iraq on May 4, 2005, when a suicide bomber joined a line of applicants at a police recruitment center, which was a part of the Kurdistan Democratic Party offices. The group behind the bombing, The Army of Ansar al-Sunna, promised more strikes on the Kurds.

The next day, May 5, saw a terrible repeat of this incident when a suicide bomber attacked job applicants outside an army base in central Baghdad. Twenty-two people were killed.

On May 6, sixteen civilians were killed by a suicide bomber in the Sunni and Shiite market town of Suwayra, and another bomber killed ten policemen in Tikrit by driving his vehicle into their bus.

Sunni Arabs are considered responsible for the insurgent attacks, and many fear that any retaliation by the Shiites or Kurds could lead to civil war.

Americans doubting the choice

A poll released on May 3, 2005, showed that most Americans regret going to war in Iraq. Fifty-seven percent of those polled said the war was not worth it, while only 41 percent said it was.

These numbers show that support for the war has lessened considerably in recent months. A similar poll conducted in February showed that 50 percent of those polled felt the war was not worth it and 48 percent felt it was.

The most-recent poll, conducted by CNN, USA Today, and Gallup, interviewed 1,006 adults between April 29 and May 1, 2005, before the recent surge in violence.

Recent supplemental

The recent violence in Iraq suggests that the U.S. military will be stationed there for some time. And Congress recently passed an $82 billion supplemental bill that provides emergency funding to the military, including additional dollars for protective gear.

Although many Americans now doubt the war, they still want American soldiers in Iraq to be well-equipped. The situation creates an internal conflict in the American psyche: we must continue to fund the war, but we’re ambivalent about its purpose.

In your view, what is the purpose of the American presence in Iraq? How has your opinion changed in the last two years? Is democracy abroad worth fighting for? How has the war in Iraq affected your sense of security?

What do you think?

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Update Posted on: 5/10/2005