The democratically-elected government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is constantly being undermined by widespread and unwarranted US meddling in Iraq’s internal affairs. There is vast body of evidence to prove this accusation.
Maliki, who is seen by Washington as an obstacle in the way of its plans in the oil rich-country, has come under pressure for his remarks about various issues, for example the criticism of a US plan for the construction of separation walls around Baghdad neighborhoods and the issue of US troops withdrawal from Iraq.
Washington, which has long been eyeing Iraq’s oil reserves– the second largest in the world–, has been exerting pressures on the Iraqi government and parliament to pass a controversial oil draft law that safeguards the interests of foreign oil companies rather than of the Iraqi nation.
The US has been pushing on with the law, claiming that it will guarantee a more equitable distribution of oil revenues among Iraqis. Yet another baseless claim aimed at disguising the real motivation of the Bush Administration.
Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi consultant to the American Friends Service Committee in an interview with Press TV says that”Both the government and the parliament have been resisting the bill because they see it as contrary to the interests of the nation.”
There has also been a chorus of disapproval on the part of Iraqi experts who argue that the draft law does not have anything to do with revenue sharing. They say that the law would have disastrous consequences for the Iraqi nation as it would decentralize the process of decision-making for signing oil contracts and in this way it would threaten the country’s political integrity.
The negative impacts of the law will become more evident if we notice what prominent American scholar Noam Chomsky quotes from US vice President Dick Cheney in his website, that control over oil pipelines is a”tool of intimidation and blackmail”. Other US
policymakers have pointed out that if the United States controls the natural resources of the Middle East, it will have veto power over its industrial rivals.
Another point related to the main question of the article is the issue of insurgency in Iraq. The fact is that insurgency and insecurity are problems that can easily be misused to justify US presence in Iraq.
However, the Bush administration claims it is trying to curb violence in the country by scarifying the lives of US youth.
If the Bush administration is sincerely trying to do so, why does not it prevent its regional allies from undermining the Iraqi government by financing insurgents and helping them infiltrate into the Iraqi territory?
While the White House goes to great length to accuse Iran and Syria of supporting insurgency in Iraq, the Los Angeles Times quotes a US official as saying that almost half of foreign militants targeting US troops, Iraqi civilians and security forces are from Saudi Arabia.
The most interesting point about these insurgents and suicide bombers is that they are entering the Iraqi territory through its western borders which are surprisingly controlled by US forces.
On the other hand, Iraq’s National Security Counselor Fazel al-Shavili has disclosed that Saudi Arabian princes provide financial support to an anti-Iran terrorist group in Iraq.
He has said the Iraqi government has found concrete documents showing that Saudi princes pay a monthly sum of $30 million to the armed terrorist group, Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO).
The MKO, known in Iran as Monafeqin meaning hypocrites, was a close ally of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and contributed to the suppression of the Iraqi people under the Baath regime. The group’s members also have carried out many terrorist attacks against Iraqi and Iranian civilians.
In mid July, the Iraqi daily Al-Bayyinah al-Jadidah wrote that the Saudi prince Bandar bin Sultan has donated $750,000 to the MKO providing that the terrorist group contributes to the debilitating of the Iraqi government.
Prince Bandar, who served for 20 years as Saudi ambassador to the US, maintains close ties with US Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush who ‘affectionately’ gave him the nickname ‘Bandar Bush’.
Another scenario which is simultaneously being followed is a planned coup against Maliki. Two weeks ago, news outlets unveiled that Cheney has been planning to topple Malki’s government by proposing a no-confidence vote against him.
Certain Iraqi politicians threw their weight behind the plot against the democratically elected Premier.
Those politicians, one of whom is known for masterminding a previous coup plot against Maliki, have been enjoying widespread support from Washington.
Recent remarks by Iyad Allawi, who had been appointed by the White House as Iraq’s Prime Minister in the interim government, can be interpreted as being in line with Cheney’s plan.
Allawi has recently said Maliki’s government is ‘built on the philosophy of sectarianism’ and will never be able to promote the ‘process of reconciliation.’
To solve the problem, he has further called for the intervention of the UN and Arab League which has been involved in futile efforts to settle different political crises in the region.
The all-too-clear fact which apparently must be reminded to Mr. Allawi is that no one can solve Iraq’s problems better than the Iraqis themselves. But the question which remains unanswered with regard to Mr. Allawi’s remark is: why should he try to involve other regional or international bodies particularly when the Iraqi nation has proven that it can prudently make decisions concerning the future of their country?
The latest move in the Iraqi political arena, which can be considered as being in line with Cheney’s scheme in impeding Maliki’s government, is the resignation of the ministers of the main Sunni Arab bloc, National Concord Front.
The front accuses the Maliki government of the arbitrary arrest and detention of Sunni citizens; accusations that the government has repeatedly dismissed.
Last month, the Front had threatened that its six ministers would suspend participation in the government to protest the attempted arrest of Culture Minister Asaad Kamal al-Hashemi.
Hashemi has been accused by an Iraqi court of orchestrating the attempted assassination of a fellow Sunni MP, Mithal al-Alussi, in an ambush that left two of Alussi’s sons dead. Al-Hashemi made his escape into the US Embassy where he took shelter in order to escape justice.
As it appears every problem in Iraq is in one way or another related to the Americans who are shouting loudly through their media that they are doing their best to protect the interests of the Iraqi nation and their elected government.
DT/HGH/RE Thu, 02 Aug 2007 By Davood Taabbodi, Press TV, Tehran