Breaking the Iraqi Tie

President Bush could do more to stop the political squabbling in Baghdad.

THE SIGHT of senior U.S. and British officials making the rounds in Baghdad and publicly pressing Iraqi politicians to form a government was long overdue. Let's hope it's not too late. Despite the enormous importance of forging a political accord, and the evident inability of Iraqi leaders to do it on their own, the Bush administration has been curiously passive, relying almost entirely on its ambassador in Baghdad to do the cajoling and arm-twisting. At last, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appeared in the Green Zone on Sunday, five months after her previous visit, and teamed with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to drive home the message that, as she put it, "if this vacuum of power continues" violence will spiral beyond all control.

Ms. Rice said the Iraqis she spoke to already had internalized her message; they pointed to steps they have taken toward forming a unity government, such as establishing a national security council including all the major factions. But there was no indication yesterday that the impasse over the choice of a prime minister had been broken. Though several leaders of his own Shiite coalition, as well as non-Shiite parties and the Bush administration, have urged him to step down, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari has refused to give up his nomination to lead the next government. His coalition has no established method for replacing him or for choosing a successor. Many worry that a split among the Shiite parties could turn violent, compounding the bloodshed that is already killing scores of Iraqis every day.

Judging from their public remarks, Mr. Straw and Ms. Rice ended their visit hoping that Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani would use his authority to force an end to the power struggle. Despite the large U.S. and British military forces still deployed in the country, U.S. and British leverage over the Shiites isn't enough to change the situation on its own. Already U.S. pushing of the Shiite parties by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad is prompting a backlash and bringing American forces to the edge of renewed conflict with the radical Shiite movement of Moqtada al-Sadr.

The Bush administration nevertheless has no choice but to keep pressing for a political accord. The question remains whether other outside influence can be brought to bear. Many countries besides the United States and Britain have a vital interest in stabilizing Iraq, yet even neighbors such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey -- not to mention European governments -- watch the mounting political crisis from the sidelines. Mr. Khalilzad has spoken of convening a conference outside Iraq to bring the feuding parties together; that method was used to end sectarian wars in Bosnia and Lebanon. In other crises the United States has used "contact groups" of interested powers to apply pressure. In Iraq's circumstances such remedies are more difficult. Still, they ought to be tried.