Baghdad raid shows fears of Iraq security handover

By Terry Friel

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Whatever really happened at a Baghdad
Shi’ite Muslim compound on Sunday, and whatever the true U.S.
involvement, the bloody incident highlights the key issue for
many about giving control of security back to Iraqis: Trust.

Because U.S. soldiers were involved in the incident that
killed anywhere from 16 to 37 people, the ruling Shi’ite
Alliance demanded U.S. forces hand Iraqi security back to
Iraqis.

But analysts say that cannot work until a government of
national unity bringing together majority Shi’ites with Sunnis
and Kurds is formed, something the devastated country is little
closer to months after December parliamentary elections.

Sectarian violence is mounting by the day and threatening
to turn into all-out civil war and many Iraqis already have
little enough faith in the U.S. and government forces to
protect them, fuelling support for religious militias.

“If the government is perceived to be biased, then the
(security) forces will be perceived to be biased,” said Martin
Navias, a member of the War Studies Department at King’s
College in London. “You need a government of national unity
first.”

“They are not going to hand it over to Baghdad as a result
of these calls. It’s not going to work like that.”

CONFUSION

Interior Minister Bayan Jabor said Iraq was not yet ready
to take over security from the U.S.-led forces. “It’s just
about putting on pressure,” he told Reuters of the Alliance
demand.

The United States handed over sovereignty in 2004 but
133,000 troops in the country give it the main say in security.

On Sunday, U.S. and Iraqi forces, or Iraqi and U.S. forces,
depending on who is telling the story, killed between 16 and 37
Shi’ites at the Mustafa mosque compound on the outskirts of
Sadr City, the power base of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Some Shi’ite leaders say U.S. troops massacred unarmed
worshippers at dusk prayers; police say there was a clash
between soldiers and Sadr’s Mehdi Army.

The U.S. military says an Iraqi special forces operation ,
with U.S. advisers, engaged militants, killing 16 of them,
detaining 18 and freeing an Iraqi hostage.

They reject the description of the compound as a mosque and
say bodies were moved to stage scenes, displayed repeatedly on
government-run television, of apparently civilian victims.

With the dangers of moving around in Iraq — local
reporters have been warned off the scene by militiamen — and
the lack of reliable sources, doubts remain.

But Sadr’s group and officials in Prime Minister Ibrahim
al-Jaafari’s Dawa party have blamed the Americans. The security
minister publicly stated that not 16 but 37 people died.

“I think this incident is a U.S. message addressed to
everyone, in which they say they are still the number one
player in town,” said Hazim al-Naimi a political analyst from
Baghdad’s Mustansiriya University.

Joost Hiltermann, project director for the International
Crisis Group think tank, said Sadr, who has close ties to
Tehran, could stir up trouble at a time when the United States
and Iran are preparing for talks on stabilizing Iraq.

“The Shi’ites now believe the Americans, who brought them
to power, are engaged in what they call the second betrayal,”
he said. “First the Americans abandoned them in the first Gulf
War (in 1991) and now they believe the Americans are turning
their backs on them.”

The problem is that the United States needs whoever is
ruling Iraq as much as they need the United States.

“Both sides need each other, but both sides want to keep
their distance from each other,” says Navias.

Washington has stepped up pressure on Iraq’s politicians to
form a unified government, months after parliamentary polls.
The interim government is largely a Shi’ite-Kurd alliance.

Washington is planning talks with Shi’ite neighbor Iran,
which has sway over Baghdad, to break the impasse.

Some analysts say the rising sectarian bloodshed is
increasing pressure on Jaafari, unpopular with the Kurds and
Sunnis, to stand aside in favor of a compromise candidate, but
there is no clear frontrunner.

“They (the U.S.) would prefer that he is not there, but
they are prepared to work with him,” said one analyst, who
asked not to be named.

The United States says it wants to hand security over to
Iraqi forces as quickly as feasible, allowing it to address
popular domestic pressure to bring troops home.

But elements of the Shi’ite-dominated administration have
been accused of backing anti-Sunni militias, eroding people’s
faith in the authorities to protect them.

“Handing over security to formations accused of being
sectarian and biased is not a good idea,” said Naimi. “The
Americans will never tolerate such a thing.”

(Additional reporting by Hiba Moussa and Mariam Karouny)