Maliki's Impact Blunted By Own Party's Fears

Since then, frustration has grown over Maliki's leadership, both in Iraq and in Washington. The government has failed to pass so-called benchmark laws the Bush administration sees as pivotal to political reconciliation. They include laws to tap Iraq's oil wealth equitably and reintegrate former members of Hussein's Baath Party into the government, as well as power-sharing constitutional reforms to appease Sunnis.

Last month, Maliki announced that the cabinet had approved oil legislation and would forward it to parliament. But the next day, Sunnis and Kurds opposed it. Kurdish politicians charged that unauthorized changes had been made to the legislation. For many, the episode was another example of secretive decision-making in Maliki's government.

Maliki's critics say a key reason for Iraq's political woes is his reliance on Dawa party stalwarts selected more for loyalty than political experience. "The problem is none of them have any sense of governance and how a government should function and run," said a senior Iraqi official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he works closely with Maliki. "They are mixing running a political party and running the government. They don't see the whole government as their government, only the people who they task, the people who they deputize."

Some Dawa party figures concede they are inexperienced. "None of us have run a government before," said Haider al-Abadi, an influential Dawa legislator. "We cannot deliver miracles."

He and other Dawa politicians insist that others are responsible for the government's difficulties. "There are always people inside the government and people outside who want to give the perception that the government is weak and it is about to fall," Abadi said.

Abadi, a British-trained engineer who returned to Iraq after 27 years and served as telecommunications minister, said rumors of a governmental collapse are being spread by "some enemies within the U.S. establishment."

"Some special intelligence units," he explained, his voice lowering during an interview at a coffee shop in the U.S.-protected Green Zone. "They have their own plan. That's what frightens us. People want to wreck the whole thing without any alternative."

Maliki, observers say, is trying to compensate for his party's frail position against his Shiite rivals. Unlike influential Shiite clerics Moqtada al-Sadr or Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the Dawa party controls no militia and has a small grass-roots following today.

"He's trying to strengthen the Dawa party at the risk of marginalizing other political groups," said Wamidh Nadhmi, a political analyst.

Maliki has accused Arab research centers and media of waging "a conspiracy against Iraq" by portraying insurgents as Islamic freedom fighters. Nadhmi said Hussein, too, began to suspect conspiracies, especially as he grew isolated by the international community.

"Many people see some similarities between Maliki and the late Saddam, except he's much weaker than Saddam Hussein," Nadhmi said. "People feel he's in power because he's backed by American tanks. Others say the Dawa party is not popular enough to win elections on their own."

The reliance on Dawa members has helped fuel accusations that Maliki favors Shiites at the expense of Iraq's minorities, particularly Sunnis. In recent months, Maliki has visited or given aid to Shiite victims of bombings, while Sunni areas have been largely neglected. U.S. military commanders, too, have expressed frustration at what they see as the sectarian nature of Maliki's office.