NYT: Iraq Government Calls for an End to Mosque Raids

Iraq Government Calls for an End to Mosque Raids
By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: May 17, 2005


BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 16 - In a gesture calculated to ease tensions with Iraq's dispossessed Sunni Arab minority, the new Shiite majority government announced Monday that it had ordered the army to stop raiding mosques, arresting clerics and "terrifying worshipers."

The order came less than 24 hours after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew here to appeal to Shiite leaders to reach out to Sunni Arabs, in the hope of weakening Sunni support for the insurgency. But it could complicate the battle against the rebels.

American officials say some insurgent groups may be ready to turn toward peace, if they can be convinced that Sunni Arabs can take part effectively in Iraq's nascent democracy, beginning with a full role in drafting the new constitution....

***

The American military command had no immediate comment on the order, which seemed likely to have a significant effect on operations in Sunni Arab areas that had been insurgent strongholds. American policy has been to attack mosques and religious schools only when they are used as firing positions, as occurred frequently, according to American commanders, during the offensive that recaptured Falluja in November.

But Iraqi troops operating under American command have raided scores of mosques in the past 18 months, arresting dozens of clerics and often carrying away large hauls of weapons and ammunition, including bomb-making equipment and antitank rockets. During two uprisings last year led by Moktada al-Sadr, the Shiite cleric with a mass following, raids were conducted against Shiite mosques, too, but the main targets have been Sunni....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/17/international/middleeast/17iraq.html?hp&ex=1116302400&en=981b63cac14e243c&ei=5094&partner=homepage

These were elected on the promise that they would end the occupation. If they don't deliver, people will turn to the insurgency. If they oppose US policy, there will be...issues. So the quisling government must be seen to be opposing the US in publicized ways, while still covertly following US direction. Quite a balancing act...

"Although American forces have operated for a year under a sovereign Iraqi government, the ban announced today was the first time that Iraqi leaders have taken any overt step to curb the ways in which war is fought. The interim government of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, in office for 10 months, was aggressive in pursuit of the war, and unapologetic about raids on mosques, at Falluja and elsewhere, when American commanders said the buildings were insurgent strongholds."