US seen making mistakes of past colonisers

BAGHDAD - United States efforts to give Iraqi Sunni Muslims more involvement in running Iraq in a bid to quell resistance in Sunni areas may just deepen resentment toward the occupying powers, analysts say.

"The main trick of any colonial power in the world is divide and rule. We know it: they are trying to divide us," said Wamid Nazmy, a politics professor at Baghdad University.

"Now the Americans and the British are speaking about Sunni grievances because there is resistance in the Sunni area, so they want to bring them into the cabinet or the ruling council just to satisfy them."

The US-led administration set up Iraq's Governing Council in July as a first step towards a sovereign government after US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein in April. A majority of the council are Shi'ites, Iraq's largest religious community which suffered decades of repression under Saddam.

But a growing insurgency, which has claimed 185 US lives since May 1, has been concentrated in the Sunni heartland of the country and the coalition authorities have said the council will now be "reaching out" more to Sunni Arabs.

Political analyst Saad Jawad said history was repeating itself.

"When the British came to Iraq in the First World War they made the mistake of giving power to the Sunni community," he said, noting the British soon faced rebellion.

"The Americans are making the same mistake. The problem is not who is Sunni or Shi'ite, the problem is Iraqis would like to see the best qualified people and don't mind who they are."

As well as leaning on Shi'ites, the US filled the interim Iraqi authorities with exiles who opposed the Baath regime from abroad and found favour with the US.

"The majority of people in Iraq don't accept the leadership of people coming from abroad, even if they are good people," Jawad said. "The people who lived here suffered the wars and sanctions, unlike exiles who were all the time outside and 99 per cent of whom are seen as American stooges."

Apart from the perception among many Iraqis of ill-judged US attempts to adjust the balance of religious groups in the council, some observers see suspected cronyism among its own members as potentially further undermining the body's authority.

Najib al-Salhi, a former-general in contact with the US before the war, says many Iraqis suspect bias in the selection of the Governing Council and interim ministers.

"Now you find ministries filled with Shi'ites or Kurds or people of a certain political party," he said. "This is what makes Iraqis disown the Americans and the Governing Council."

The US and the council have announced plans to set up a sovereign government by June, chosen by an assembly formed by local caucuses in March and April.

Salhi said he feared the process would be manipulated by powerful figures in the new Iraqi authorities.

"It sounds good but it's the implementation that matters," he said. "Elections will bring certain cliques, while other people will be marginalised."

The Iraqi authorities are saying publicly that many faces will remain and argue this guarantees stability.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said this week he had assured Turkey that "the basic leadership of this council will remain in the political arena, whether there are elections or other structural amendments to the political authority".

US officials have complained of a lack of leadership figures who have emerged in Iraq, but media analyst Ali Hussein said there were plenty of potential leaders.

"The Americans have to go to the people, not wait for them to come to them like beggars," he said. "But the plan seems to be to fill all positions with people who are loyal to them."

Jawad said this was a recipe for more violence.

"I'm sure that everybody, Sunni or Shi'ite, will get fed up," he said. "Step by step people will conclude it is the Americans' fault."

- REUTERS


Herald Feature: Iraq