Meanwhile, debates continue in the country regarding the recent signing of the Declaration of Principles between US President George Bush and the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The Declaration is a set of general principles that are to guide a “long-term relationship” between the governments of Iraq and the United States. Al-Maliki’s critics, and those who oppose the US presence in Iraq, claim that the Declaration will lead to the legitimization of the US occupation and its perpetuation. Other sources say that Maliki is trying rebuild bridges with Iraq’s main factions in order to establish a “unity government” that will approve Iraq’s future treaties with the United States, especially with talks of a “strategic” accord between the two countries that will be revealed soon.
According to Kul al-‘Iraq, a pro-Maliki MP, ‘Ali al-'Adeeb, defended the Declaration, reiterating that it is an agreement on principles and does not represent a binding treaty. Al-'Adeeb said that the Declaration will set “ground rules” for the US-Iraq relationship, “mutual respect for the sovereignty of both countries will represent the basis for this relationship,” he added.
On the other hand, Salih al-Mutlaq, from the opposition, argued that while good relations between the US and Iraq are a commendable objective, “in the current situation, with the occupation, people will regard (a treaty with the US) as a (US) imposition, no matter how good its terms are.”Al-Mutlaq added that if the United States government openly declares its will to leave Iraq, and provides a schedule for a withdrawal, “the Iraqi citizen could speak of (international) treaties that are not imposed on the Iraqi government.”
On the same theme, al-Hayat said that a “major strategic accord” will soon be signed between the US and Iraq, and that the articles of the treaty have been largely negotiated and agreed upon. The treaty, as described by the paper, will not be limited to the security and military arrangements, but will extend to economic relations and other aspects of US-Iraq cooperation.
According to “one of the participants in drafting the treaty, the agreement will include a “US political commitment to protect the (Iraqi) constitution and stand against any unconstitutional coup d’etat.” The security-related chapter will be “the most important and the longest in the treaty,” the source said, and it will “pertain to the future presence of foreign troops, their locations, and the necessity to keep a portion of these forces in the country for the next few years.”
In preparation for the controversial treaty, al-Hayat said, the ruling coalition in Iraq will attempt to reconstitute a “national unity government,” by drawing opposition parties into the cabinet before year’s end.
Al-Mada reported on one of these attempts, with government officials courting the Shi’a Fadhila party to rejoin the governing I'tilaf (UIA) Shi’a coalition. Fadhila, which ran for the parliament on the UIA ticket, abandoned the coalition in March of this year because of “increased sectarianism” in the Iraqi political scene. The party, which enjoys some popularity among the Shi’a middle class in Baghdad and Basra, cannot be compared to the Sadrist Current or the SIIC in terms of sheer popularity, but the party holds 15 seats in the Iraqi Parliament, has a large influence in oil-rich Basra and commands an important section of the educated Shi’a elite.
According to al-Mada, SIIC’s leader, ‘Abd al-‘Azeez al-Hakeem, met with a Fadhila delegation yesterday to “discuss Fadhila’s return to the UIA.” The paper said that the conferees discussed the reasons of Fadhila’s dissent from the UIA and that al-Hakeem promised to “resolve these problems” and “allow (al-Fadhila) to participate again in political life under the UIA umbrella.”
Such meetings are characteristic of Iraqi politics in the last two years, where considerations of politics, power and sect intermix and result in an ever-changing political landscape: political parties fall in and out of alliances and coalitions, and exchange harsh accusations, only to revert to a conciliatory discourse and resume old alliances. Az-Zaman had a different take on the Fadhila story, quoting Fadhila leaders who oppose any return to the UIA and consider it unprincipled, especially after Fadhila’s many statements against ardent sectarianism in Iraq, which is personified by sectarian and ethnic coalitions such as the UIA.
Az-Zaman quoted the political adviser to the Fadhila party, Nadeem al-Jabiri, who denied reports of his party’s return to the UIA. Such an act would be “political suicide,” al-Jabiri told the paper, adding that Fadhila received several invitations to return to the UIA, “most of which were not serious.” According to al-Jabiri, the party delegation visit to al-Hakeem was simply to “congratulate him for his recovery.” Al-Hakeem has just returned from Iran, where he spent several months being treated for lung cancer.
