The vice president bears good news from Iraq
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Vice President Biden didn't use the jinxed phrase "missionaccomplished." But he offered an optimistic assessment of Iraq after last month's parliamentary election, sayingthat Iran's covert bid for influence there had been "clobbered" and thatBaghdad appears headed toward an "inclusive" coalition government.
"Politics has finally broken out in Iraq," Biden said in an interviewThursday. "Everyone is in on the deal, and it's real."
Biden's upbeat comments came days after a new wave of attacks raised fears that Iraq might beslipping back toward sectarian violence. His staff proposed theinterview in an effort to counter these worries and to show where U.S."red lines" are drawn in this delicate post-election period.
Biden said he has "made it clear to everyone involved" that the UnitedStates believes the March 7 election was fair and opposes anyillegitimate effort to overturn the result. He said that next year theUnited States will still have up to 50,000 troops in Iraq "that will beable to shoot straight" and it would consider any government request forhelp if major sectarian violence were to resume.
The vice president is always enthusiastic, and Thursday's conversationwas no exception, with Biden hitting all the positive "talking points."But he also offered some detailed evidence that Iraqi politicians areconverging toward some form of coalition government.
Biden began by discussing the three bloody attacks that have taken placethis month. He said that at least two were the work of remnants ofal-Qaeda in Iraq, but that this group's "capacity is significantlydiminished" and that it is failing in its goal "to set the sectarianspark again" and disrupt the formation of a government.
The al-Qaeda attacks have prodded the Iraqi government to "keep the footon the pedal" against the terrorist threat, Biden said. The tempo ofdaily counterterrorism operations increased last week to a dozen or so,compared with one or two a day just after the election. The Iraqis havealso agreed to share more intelligence with the United States.
As for Iran's bid for influence, Biden was emphatic in arguing that ithad failed. He disclosed that Tehran had spent up to $100 million toback the Shiite religious parties and subvert the Iraqiya bloc, asecular Sunni-Shiite alliance headed by Ayad Allawi, the former prime minister. Bolstered by astrong Sunni turnout, Iraqiya ended up winning the largest number ofseats.
"It was a real stick in the eye of the Iranians," Biden said of Tehran'sunsuccessful campaign to steer the election outcome. What's more, hesaid, Tehran's post-election effort to pressure Iraqi leaders whovisited Tehran "has turned out to backfire." Iraqi politicians haddiscovered "there's a real price to be paid . . . if it looks like youare seeking the approval or following the direction of the Iranians orany neighbor."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and some other Shiite politicians hadinitially indicated that they would challenge the election results. ButBiden noted that according to a new U.S. poll, 80 percent of Iraqisthought the voting was fair. Those opposing a recount now include twokey Shiite leaders, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq,known as ISCI.
Biden said that "it's necessary for Iraq" to have a broad coalitiongovernment that draws together the major ethnic groups and parties. Hepredicted that major cabinet positions would be divided among Iraqiya,ISCI, the Kurdish parties and Maliki's "State of Law" coalition."Everything we are getting back from all the parties acknowledges thatit should include all four," he said.
Biden refused to take sides regarding who should be the next primeminister. He praised Allawi as "the guy who reached across Sunni andShiite," but he also credited Maliki for refusing to join an all-Shiitecoalition before the election. He also had kind words for ISCI and theKurdish parties.
The trickiest question for an Obama administration that campaigned on aprogram of withdrawal from Iraq is how to stay active there, even asAmerican troops come home by the end of next year. Biden said thatquestion comes up in nearly every conversation he has with Iraqis --"Now you guys are sticking, right?"
"We plan on staying engaged," Biden said he told Maliki last week --especially in the non-military areas that the United States hopes willpart of a stable, long-term relationship.
The paradox of Iraq is that to get out successfully, the United Statesmust show that it's still involved for now. The vice president'scomments send the right signal.
davidignatius@washpost.com