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Deadlocked Sunni, Shiite Factions Block Political Progress, Iraqis Say
An overnight raid destroyed a building in a Sunni enclave of Baghdad. With ongoing violence, Iraqi politicians say, U.S. officials have set unrealistic political goals for the Iraqi government.
(By Khalid Mohammed -- Associated Press)
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"The international players, which are led by the United States, really need to put pressure on the Iraqi political groups so they can reach the agreements that we are talking about," he said. "Otherwise the political groups that have the power right now, there is no reason for them to give up that power unless they feel pressure from international players."
Some Iraqi officials sounded more optimistic about military and security improvements in recent months, including the maturation of the Iraqi army. Ebaidi said that last year Iraq appeared on the brink of civil war, but that he thinks the threat has subsided.
"Now you have more viable Iraqi security forces," he said. "Last year it wasn't imaginable that the Iraqi security forces would fight the Mahdi Army" in southern Iraq, he said, referring to recent clashes between government forces and the Shiite militia loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr.
But Saleem Abdullah, a lawmaker from the leading Sunni faction in parliament, said that the White House report overstated the security improvements.
"We don't count security as how many victims of violence, or how many car bombs, or how many people are killed," he said. "We also have displaced families: How many of them have returned?"
"That's the most important thing, how people are living their daily lives," he said. "That's what would give us a good indicator of progress."
Special correspondent Dalya Hassan contributed to this report.
