Word: sunnis
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...claims. Even White House officials acknowledge that the U.S. has lost control of swaths of Iraq, including parts of the capital, where insurgents roam with near impunity. While Allawi says 15 of 18 provinces are controlled by forces friendly to the new Iraqi government, that grip is shaky in Sunni areas. Even in the relatively subdued Shi'ite south, coalition forces and their Iraqi recruits face daily harassment from militants loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. And the military believes that the al-Zarqawi-led insurgency is becoming more ruthless and resilient. "If we don't kill or capture...
...long as insurgents are allowed to operate freely in Iraqi cities like Fallujah, the U.S. has little hope of establishing any lasting order. U.S. commanders are developing plans to eliminate insurgent no-go zones in the Sunni triangle, west and north of Baghdad. "The strategy is to get local control to the maximum extent by December," a U.S. general says. But the U.S. wants to hold off on major combat until sufficient numbers of Iraqi forces are trained and equipped to fight alongside American forces, which isn't likely until after the U.S. presidential election. The participation of Iraqis...
...Jaafari's Sunni detractors complain that he refused to rein in Shi'ite militias terrorizing their communities, while the Kurds don't like the fact that he refused to back their territorial claim on the mixed oil-rich city of Kirkuk. But these positions were not personal whims of Jaafari's so much as a reflection of the demands of his base in the majority Shi'ite community. And by nixing Jaafari, the dominant Shi'ite bloc will simply get to nominate another candidate under pressure from his political base...
...Just as the Sunni politicians complain that their community is under attack from Shi'ite militias operating with a wink and a nod from Jaafari's government, so the main Shi'ite parties complain that their people are under daily terror attacks by Sunni insurgents who, they claim, are encouraged by the positions of the main Sunni political parties. Moreover, the Shi'ites claim that U.S. pressure on them to do more to accommodate the Sunnis further emboldens those insurgents. And the failure of Coalition and Iraqi security forces to protect Shi'ite communities from terror attacks leads many...
...functioning government, one that can provide public services. Khalilzad must keep the pressure on Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the man who heads the coalition of Shi?ite parties. Al-Hakim currently seems more concerned with unifying Iraq's Shi?ites with those in Iran. That goes against the Sunni and Kurdish interests as well as the wishes of Iraq's other neighboring countries. Khalilzad must insist that al-Hakim use his influence on behalf of the interests of all Iraqi people, the region and the world. Alex Ohan Toronto...