Word: anbar
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...troops, at their highest level ever in Iraq, have delivered visible results in recent months. Violence in Baghdad in particular is down significantly. In a matter of months, Anbar Province, with the help of tribal leaders, has gone from a virtual lost cause to the greatest U.S. achievement in years of struggle. To be sure, violence is still extraordinarily high, especially in places like Diyala Province. And the situation in Anbar is fragile at best as other problems loom ever larger in the face of political stalemate in Baghdad. But anyone wondering whether the surge strategy has brought gains...
...biggest obstacle to such a pact is Sittar's regionalism; he's powerful in Anbar, but not so much in other provinces dominated by Sunnis like Diyala and Salahuddin. There are questions of Sittar's ability to function as a reasonable political actor in Baghdad since at present his power and influence flows chiefly from a personal army that is at bottom a tribal militia. He has no presence in parliament or any other trappings of officialdom. In other words, Sittar is more warlord chieftain than national statesman. Moreover, Maliki's own Dawa party may blanch at the idea...
...Sunni figure Maliki could court is Sheik Abdul Sittar, the leader of the tribal alliance in Anbar province. Maliki has offered a tentative embrace of Sittar's "Awakening" movement, in which Sittar banded together tribal leaders in Anbar to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq alongside the Americans. Few other Sunni leaders on the political stage in Iraq now hold as much sway as Sittar, who has made no secret of his desire to take on a larger leadership role in the country. A formal political alliance between Sittar and Maliki would leave little room in the political sphere for Sunnis...
...among some stalwart Shi'ite circles. Sittar and his followers, should they be interested, represent a distant, difficult possible alternative. If Sittar becomes part of the Maliki coalition, it would be seen as a positive step by the Americans because of his recent cooperation with the U.S. military in Anbar. That closeness, however, may be politically problematical for Maliki, who has been attempting to show his autonomy from Washington...
...also true that al-Qaeda in Iraq is on the run. On Wednesday, the U.S. announced the capture of the highest-ranking commander of the group in Iraq. When the U.S. leaves, many Iraqis say, they can deal with the terrorists and their patrons more harshly. The Anbar Salvation Council has been aggressively targeting al-Qaeda in that province, denying it safe haven in places it once controlled with an iron fist. The Administration has boasted in recent weeks that the Sunnis in Anbar are attacking elements of al-Qaeda. So why would that end if the U.S. withdrew...