Chances dim for peace in Baghdad

[Barrett808]

Chances dim for peace in Baghdad
By Nancy A. Youssef
McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Baghdad security plan, which some cast as the last chance to avert a civil war, will be thwarted by Iraq's prime minister because he is unwilling to tackle the country's biggest security threat, many residents and politicians fear.

The plan calls for U.S. forces to sweep neighborhoods and help restore services, eventually leaving the capital under Iraqi military and police control. If that happens, U.S. troops could begin to withdraw. If it doesn't, the country's sectarian conflict could spiral out of control and escalate into a regional war between Iraq's Shiite and Sunni Muslim neighbors.

The offensive hasn't produced any major improvements in the capital since it began on June 14, and many Iraqis fear the plan is doomed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's willingness to attack Sunni insurgents but not the Shiite militias that support his Dawa political party.

"The government has to make a clear decision about dismantling militias," said Saad al-Janabi, a member of the secular Iraqi slate. "Reconciliation will not happen unless the Iraqi army is in charge."

Maliki blasted U.S. soldiers for raiding a suspected Shiite militia leader's home early last week in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City. It was the most vitriolic language Maliki has used to describe U.S. military tactics to stop the surge of sectarian violence in the capital.

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