Iraqis doubt prime minister can head off a civil war

[Barrett808]

Iraqis doubt prime minister can head off a civil war
Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times
December 2, 2006

(12-02) 04:00 PST Baghdad -- Violence flared in Baghdad on Friday, adding to skepticism by Iraqi leaders and citizens alike whether the prime minister can fight the rising tide of civil war.

Throughout the day, Iraqi and U.S. troops conducted a series of raids and traded gunfire with insurgents, including in a daylong raid in the capital's Fadil neighborhood, a Sunni area. At least one Iraqi soldier and two civilians were killed in the fighting in Fadil, and dozens of suspected insurgents were arrested.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has tried to reassert his authority in recent weeks, confronting U.S. leaders, demanding more control over national security and weighing plans to reconfigure his Cabinet. In a Thursday meeting with President Bush, al-Maliki promised that Iraqi security forces will be able to protect citizens without U.S. support by June 2007.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of Iraq's largest Shiite party, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, attempted to reach out to opponents Friday, speaking at a Sunni mosque in Amman, the capital of neighboring Jordan, and appealing to Sunnis for national unity.

Last week, al-Hakim had made inflammatory comments, warning Sunnis they would suffer most if Iraq descended into all-out war. This time, by contrast, al-Hakim appealed for an end to violence. "All of us, Sunnis and Shiites, should stand in the way of this sickness that is manifesting the body of our nation," he said.

(more)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/12/02/MNGKFMO3BL1.DTL

[MichiganVote]

1. I predict an overthrow by Christmas

[rocktivity]

2. I doubt it, too

Since the civil war is ALREADY up and running!