An US government report says that the Iraqi government has fulfilled only 3 of the 18 benchmarks set for it. There is no oil bill, no resettlement of Baathists, nor any progress towards reconciliation.
It clearly lays down the reasons for this.
The polarization of Iraq’s major sects and ethnic groups and fighting among Shia factions further diminishes the stability of Iraq’s governing coalition and its potential to enact legislation needed for sectarian reconciliation
This has been the bane of post-Saddam Iraqi politics: sectarianism. In the 2005 elections voters cast their ballot on sectarian lines and not for good, capable candidates. The result is that individual merit is lost in sectarian politics. Ministerial and government posts are filled from the various groups after politicking and horse trading. Merit has been the victim.
Increasingly Iraqi leaders are saying that the US approach of security first so that the various Iraqi communities can settle their differences has not worked. Instead it should be good governance first; reconciliation will follow.
The chasm between different communities is deep. The Shiites resent the fact that the Sunnis under Saddam had slaughtered many Shias. Today they [Shias] are supposed to work with them, while Sunni militants continue killing innocent Shias. That is why they strongly oppose US moves to rope in Sunnis into Iraqi police, especially in Anbar province.
Many Shias want that those Sunnis who had committed crimes during the Saddam era should be punished. The Shiites also fear that the minority Sunnis might be still nursing dreams of ruling Iraq again and are wary of them.
The Sunnis complain that they are never consulted on major decisions. Salam al-Zobaee, Iraq’s second-highest Sunni official says though he is the minister for security and a deputy prime minister, he is in the dark of all the security operations going on in the country. His is a ceremonial post; he has no powers.
It is generally felt that prime minister al-Maliki is too weak or does not want to rise above the sectarian divisions in Iraq and national reconciliation is stagnating.
There is hope yet. A fresh attempt is being made to reconcile the communities in Iraq. Tariq al-Hashimi, the Sunni vice president, recently drafted what he calls the “Iraqi National Compact,” a 25-point statement of principles that condemns all types of extremism and sectarian discrimination. He has roped in the country’s most respected Shiite religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who has supported his efforts.
