Operation Black Eagle has been on going for a while in Diwaniya, a town to which the worst of the Mahdi Army retreated when coalition forces locked down Sadr City. The Operation has met with some success
The provincial governor of Qadasiyah Province, Iraqi and Coalition commanders and government representatives met with the media to discuss the progress of Operation Black Eagle at Camp Echo April 13.
“There is no fighting going on in the city at this time. The city is returning to normal, step by step,” governor Hazma said.
“The local government and Iraqi Army along with Coalition Forces have been able to begin providing aid, food rations, fuel and other services to those who are in need,” he added. “Health, water, sewage and other departments are working and providing services.
“It isn’t to the point we want, but it is a good start and it is getting better all the time,” the governor said. “Every school and government facility will be open Monday.”
Hazma praised the Diwaniyah populace for supporting the operation and said security in and around the city has improved as a result.
In certain areas of Diwaniya, such as al-Meshkhab, al-Shamiya, and others, the Mahdi Army is dominant, and followers of other Shi'a currents, especially those loyal to Ayatollah Sistani were threatened and harassed, even with violence, as the Mahdi Army became better organized in the city, the source says.
The rumor of a tribal request for US intervention in Diwaniya, if true, would be a controversial development, as many local tribal leaders oppose the US presence in the area: On Friday, tribal heads and local notables demonstrated in Afak district, which neighbors Diwaniya district in Qadisiya Province, demanding the departure of US forces, the handover of the local security file to the Iraqi forces, and the quick development of an alternative for the deteriorating security situation in the province.
Those demanding the departure of US forces are loyal to Iranian shill Muqtada al Sadr, and his support is faltering within the city
Hazma said a demonstration had taken place in town prior to the start of the press conference protesting the presence of the Coalition force in the province, but said few people participated.
“Less than 100 people took part in the demonstration,” he told the press. “It is people like this that support terrorists and want to bring chaos to Diwaniyah. This is unacceptable. We need the Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces here. They are here to help.”
Sensing utter defeat, the Sadrists played the political card to try to get their way
Radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr reasserted his political power Monday by yanking his loyalists from the Cabinet, a move aimed to show supporters he retains his credentials as an opposition leader.
By ordering the six Cabinet ministers to quit, al-Sadr increased the pressure on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to loosen his embrace of the U.S. occupation, which many Iraqis blame for violence in the country.
Which many Sadrists blame for their defeat on the ground, that is. This now leaves Iraqi Prime Minister with a golden opportunity.
Iraqi and American officials have widely criticized Mr. Sadr’s ministers as corrupt and ineffective, so replacing them could bring long-term benefits to the ministries. Mr. Maliki has been saying for months that he wants to overhaul his cabinet....
Mr. Sadr’s ministers have not been the most popular. One ministry in particular, the Health Ministry, run by Ali al-Shammari, is considered by many Iraqi and American officials to be one of the country’s most underhanded, shadowy government institutions.
Its officials are suspected of pocketing enormous amounts of government money, and Sunni Arabs have been afraid to visit major hospitals in the capital and the Baghdad morgue because of the presence of Mahdi militiamen on the grounds.
The transportation minister, Karim Mehdi Saleh, also loyal to Mr. Sadr, left the country last year and has not been running his ministry since.
The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry, created by the new government, has been accused of adhering to an Islamist ideology in its work. Donny George, the former director of the Baghdad museum and chairman of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, fled to Syria last year and criticized the ministry, saying it had purposefully neglected valuable ruins and artifacts that did not pertain to the Iraq’s Islamic past.
The minister, Liwa Sumaysim, is a dentist whose wife is related to Mr. Sadr and is a member of Parliament.
Mr. Sadr also had control over the Ministries of Agriculture, Civil Society and Provincial Affairs.
Given this, and the fact that these Ministers have quit, the timing is right for the to be replaced. It is true that it was hoped that giving Sadr and the Mahdi Army a political outlet would curtail they involvement as an armed militia, but clearly this hasn't worked. Perhaps its time to cut them out and kill the militant base because all they are doing now is undermining progress.
The action frees Maliki to pick qualified people to fill ministries that are widely seen as ineffective, corrupt and sectarian. Yet it could also deepen tensions with Sadr within the government and on the streets, which could thwart U.S. and Iraqi efforts to bring about political reconciliation and stability, Iraqi officials and analysts said....
Maliki, in a statement Monday, welcomed Sadr's decision to give him the opportunity to fill the six slots. But he resisted demands for a timetable, stating that any withdrawal of U.S. troops "is linked to the readiness of our armed forces to hold the security file all over Iraq."
"I know the prime minister feels relieved by the pullout," said Haider al-Abadi, a legislator from Maliki's Dawa party. "Now he can move forward and choose his own ministers without any haggling from the bloc which puts one foot forward and two feet backward."
But, he'd better decide soon
"Maliki doesn't have much time," said Mithal al-Alusi, an independent Sunni legislator, referring to filling the cabinet. "Either you make the changes now and deal with the problem. Or else he'll lose everything."
He needs to strike while the iron is hot...
And coalition forces have the upper hand.
