The Neoconservatives Strike Back

By Abbas J. Ali

Al-Jazeerah, December 14, 2006

"......Probably, the most devastating and threatening act to the existence of Iraq and to the American interest in the Middle East is the neoconservatives’ reorganization of alliance among Iraqi groups which benefit from a weak and instable Iraq. Ambassador Khalilzad, a leading neoconservative, had a meeting with the leaders of these organizations. The outcome of the meeting was a new alliance among the two clan-based Kurdish organizations and the two sectarian –based religious groups; Iraqi Islamic Party and Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

The alliance among these organizations is aimed at forcing Prime Minister Nouri al-Malaki to mount a military assault against the popular Sadrist Movement, to reject any call for a timetable to withdraw foreign troops, and to abandon his goal of building a functional democratic Iraq free of terror and fear. Furthermore, the new alliance is thought to facilitate the realization of the neoconservatives’ ultimate goal of partitioning Iraq and maintaining chaos in the region.

Ambassador Khalilzad, in coordination with Vice President Cheney’ office, carefully orchestrated a visit for Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the head of SCIRI, and Tareq al-Hashemi, the head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, to meet President Bush in the White House. Like their allied Kurdish warlords, both al-Hakim and al-Hashemi have an economic and political interest in maintaining foreign forces. These politicians fear that the withdrawal of foreign troops, in the near future, will ultimately lead to their political demise and the collapse of their newly found economic fortunes.

It is not surprising that these politicians broke rank with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in denouncing the ISG recommendations. In particular, the Kurdish warlord and President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, called the recommendations a threat to Iraqi sovereignty. Contrary to this claim, the majority of Iraqis, however, consider the presence of foreign troops and the occupation a menace to sovereignty and the welfare of the people.....

....Continued."