Blame the politicians for violence in Iraq

An article in the New York Times by Edward Wong entitled "Iraqi Premier Blames Politicians for Violence" points out how at least some people are coming around to focusing on the political dimension of the civil violence in Iraq. He opens by reporting that:

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki said Sunday that Iraq's politicians were largely responsible for the surge in violence that engulfed the country over the past week, a departure from his previous assertions blaming militants for inciting the mayhem.

"These actions are at most the reflection of political backgrounds and wills and sometimes the reflection of dogmatic, perverted backgrounds and wills," Mr. Maliki said. "The crisis is political, and the ones who can stop the cycle of aggravation and bloodletting of innocents are the politicians." He said politicians must work harder to stop the violence.

Mr. Maliki spoke at a news conference just a few days before he was to meet with President Bush to discuss the deteriorating security situation in Iraq. The remarks were an acknowledgment of the political nature of the war here and placed responsibility on political leaders for achieving peace.

Left unsaid was the implication that the best that U.S. military forces and politicians and bureaucrats can do is to simply get out of the way so that the Iraqis can sort the politics out for themselves.

Presumably Mr. Maliki will deliver his same message to President Bush this week. The open question is whether he simply continues to imply that U.S. forces need to exit as soon as possible, or whether he explicitly and forcefully makes the case for their departure at the earliest possible date. Whatever is said this week, clearly there is an evolution in progress so that the latter (a request for the U.S. to leave) will gradually be assumed by all parties as the new presumed course of action.

-- Jack Krupansky