Squaring the Culture

This article from Hot Air jumps off this article from the AP to explain how Iraqi President Maliki’s unsteady assault on Shiites in Basra earned the approval and cooperation of Sunni and Kurdish politicians who have been stalling the progress of the Iraqi government.

According to the AP account:

,,,Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi signed off on a statement by President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and the Shiite vice president, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, expressing support for the crackdown in the oil-rich southern city of Basra.

Al-Hashemi is one of al-Maliki’s most bitter critics and the two have been locked in an acrimonious public quarrel for a year. Al-Hashemi has accused the prime minister of sectarian favoritism and al-Maliki has complained that the Sunni vice president is blocking key legislation.

On Thursday, however, al-Maliki paid al-Hashemi a rare visit. A statement by al-Hashemi’s office said the vice president told al-Maliki that “we can bite the bullet and put aside our political differences.”

Apparently Maliki needed to demonstrate to non-Shiites that he showed no favoritism toward Shiite militias, and his attack on Moqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army did the trick.

Maliki may also have done himself a favor in upcoming elections among the Shiites in the south:

Provincial elections are scheduled to be held before Oct. 1 and Shiite parties are gearing up for a tough contest in the Shiite heartland of southern Iraq, where oil-rich Basra and the wealthy religious centers of Najaf and Karbala are prizes.

A successful crackdown in Basra would have boosted the election chances of al-Maliki’s Dawa party and his Shiite allies in the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, whose Badr Brigade militia is the Mahdi Army’s sworn enemy.

The Supreme Council hopes to win the fall vote so it can form a self-ruled region similar to the Kurdish one in the north — something the Sadrists oppose. Key council figures also want the crackdown to continue — even at the risk of a new round of fighting.

It should surprise nobody that an Iraqi leader understands the needs of Iraqi politics better than pundits watching from the US. It appears that President Maliki knew what he was doing last week when he sent troops to take control of Basra, and that he was at least partly successful.