In his speech to the nation on January 10th, Bush told the nation what Iraq would do as their part of the new Security Plan. A major part of that was the sharing of oil revenues
To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis.
Today, they did just that
The Iraqi cabinet approved a draft of a law on Monday that would set guidelines for nationwide distribution of oil revenues and foreign investment in the immense oil industry. The endorsement reflected a major agreement among the country’s ethnic and sectarian political blocs on one of Iraq’s most divisive issues.
The draft law approved by the cabinet allows the central government to distribute oil revenues to the provinces or regions based on population, which could lessen the economic concerns of the rebellious Sunni Arabs, who fear being cut out of Iraq’s vast potential oil wealth by the dominant Shiites and Kurds. Most of Iraq’s crude oil reserves lie in the Shiite south and Kurdish north.
Bush also pointed out that
In earlier operations, political and sectarian interference prevented Iraqi and American forces from going into neighborhoods that are home to those fueling the sectarian violence. This time, Iraqi and American forces will have a green light to enter these neighborhoods — and Prime Minister Maliki has pledged that political or sectarian interference will not be tolerated.
And while I have been reporting on the large number of operations ongoing in Iraq, the most important one, the securing of Sadr City, had been neglected. Until now
U.S. and Iraqi forces staged raids in Baghdad's main Shiite militant stronghold Tuesday as part of politically sensitive forays into areas loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Troops have held back on broad sweeps through the teeming Sadr City slums since a major security operation began earlier this month, targeting militant factions and sectarian death squads that have ruled Baghdad's streets.
Al-Sadr withdrew his powerful Mahdi Army militia from checkpoints and bases under intense government pressure to let the neighbor-by-neighbor security sweeps move ahead. But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and others have opposed extensive U.S.-led patrols through Sadr City, fearing a violent backlash could derail the security effort.
The pre-dawn raids appeared to highlight a strategy of pinpoint strikes in Sadr City rather than the flood of soldiers sent into some Sunni districts.
At least 16 people were arrested after U.S.-Iraqi commandos — using concussion grenades — stormed six homes, police said.
At a news conference, the Pentagon's No. 2 commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, declined to comment on whether there were special tactics for Sadr City. "We will go after anyone who we feel is working against the government of Iraq," he said.
"We will keep at this until the people feel safe in their neighborhoods," Odierno added.
U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told Al-Arabiya television that forces "will increase our operations in the coming days," but noted that the security crackdown in the capital should continue until at least October.
These are both giant steps forward. Up until recently, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, owing much of his political support to the Militia leader and Iranian proxy Moqtada al-Sadr, had opposed any moves against the radical cleric and his Madhi Army. All that changed in January when al Maliki removed his protection and US and Iraqi forces started going after Sadr and his crew. Then Sadr disappeared; presumably to Iran. And now the final act for him is underway.
While Democrats and White Flag Republicans have from the moment it was announced declared the new security plan a failure, it gets clearer everyday that facing reality, will take a long time for those who are invested in failure.
