Give
Us Some Real Political Leaders
By Ali al-Fadhily
17 March, 2007
Inter
Press Service
BAGHDAD, Mar 15 (IPS)
- Many Iraqis are now looking to local political leadership to fill
wide gaps in a fractured government that is failing to provide security
and basic needs.
"Iraqis feel lost amongst
too many political currents that blew their country away with their
narrow sectarian and personal interests," Mohammad Jaafar, a Baghdad-based
politician formerly involved in the interim government told IPS.
"I am ashamed to say
that I am or even was an Iraqi politician after all the damage to our
country that we caused. It is entirely our fault and there is no question
about that."
Many politicians feel similarly.
"The only solution for
the Iraqi dilemma is to change the whole crew of politicians including
myself," Thafir al-Ani, Iraqi MP for the Sunni al-Tawafuq List
told IPS earlier. "We must admit that we have failed our people,
and so we should make way for newcomers who may improve the situation."
Iraqis have been confused
by the turbulent political machinations since Saddam Hussein was overthrown
in March 2003 following a U.S.-led invasion. Saddam had been placed
in political power by a CIA-backed coup in 1968.
The Coalition Provisional
Authority led by L. Paul Bremer took over the administration of Iraq
after the invasion, followed by a U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.
This body was then followed by an interim government led by Iyad Allawi,
a former CIA asset.
Iraqis then voted Jan. 30,
2005 to bring in a government they expected would call for a U.S. withdrawal
and bring stability and security to the war-torn country.
Instead, the country burns
in violence, with very little reconstruction. Much of the population
lives in survival mode. This has made people angry with the current
government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
"Iraqis dream of a new
face who will lead them to security and prosperity -- even if he were
a new dictator," Aziz Nazzal, an Iraqi analyst based in Baghdad
told IPS.
"Iraqis have tried kings,
communists, Arab nationalists, dictators and now Islamists, but have
never found a system that could tap the huge potential of Iraq in a
way that fulfills people's hopes for a developed and safe country."
Many are also frustrated
with their religious leaders, most of who find a place in the current
government.
"We followed our religious
leaders and trusted them for four years thinking they would lead us
ashore after our long sufferings," Foad Hussein, a teacher now
working as a taxi driver in Baghdad told IPS. "But all we got is
death and terror. They seem interested only in protecting their personal
interests and their close family members."
What may emerge now as a
grassroots movement is beginning to call for a shift towards local politics.
"Let's go home and do
something" -- that is a call often heard now at refugee centres.
Some believe the answer may lie in tribal arrangements; others want
political leaders "who did not get their hands dirtied" in
the current mess.
"Tribes in Iraq are
not sectarian and our chiefs of tribes are the best interim solution,"
Mukhlis al-Bahadly from the Sadr City area of Baghdad told IPS. "They
are the ones who can lead us until this country finds its way out of
this mess."
There is little hope that
this can happen while Iraq is occupied by the United States.
"We know who the good
people are and we will choose them if we ever have the chance, but they
refuse to participate in any solution under occupation," said Sheikh
Jassim al- Badri, a cleric from Baghdad. "Clean hands could not
eat out of the same plate with the occupation, but they will definitely
take their positions as soon as the occupation leaves or some acceptable
arrangement is agreed."
Rumours run of "shadow
governments" being formed abroad, but Iraqis have little faith
in people who fled and left them to face the situation.
General Nizar al-Khazraji,
former chief of staff in the previous army, former minister for foreign
affairs Naji al-Hadithi and some others are said to have formed such
'governments' abroad to replace the current government when the time
comes.
No one is sure yet what,
and who, will work.
"We need a leader who
really cares for us," a 55-year-old teacher from Baghdad who asked
to be referred to as Fatima told IPS. "They all say they love us,
but where is that love? All they did was drag us into poverty and a
war between our brothers."
And some have just left it
to God.
"Only God can save us
by giving us a man who really cares for us," said 35-year-old Jamal
Hakki from the Ghazaliya district of Baghdad. "All humans in other
countries are either against us or with themselves while we face our
destiny on our own."
(Ali al-Fadhily files in close collaboration with Dahr Jamail, our specialist
writer on Iraq and the Middle East who is based in the U.S.)