 | Rusty comes in from the cold. |
The leader of Iraq's banned Baath party, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, has decided to join efforts by the Iraqi authorities to fight al-Qaeda, one of the party's former top officials, Abu Wisam al-Jashaami, told pan-Arab daily Al Hayat.
| Al-Douri has decided to deal directly with US forces in Iraq. He has asked for guarantees over his men's safety and for an end to Iraqi army attacks on his militias. |
"Al-Douri has decided to sever ties with al-Qaeda and sign up to the programme of the national resistance, which includes routing Islamist terrorists and opening up dialogue with the Baghdad government and foreign forces," al-Jashaami said. Al-Douri has decided to deal directly with US forces in Iraq, according to al-Jashaami. He figures in the 55-card deck of "most wanted" officials from the former Iraqi regime issued by the US government. In return, for cooperating in the fight against al-Qaeda, al-Douri has asked for guarantees over his men's safety and for an end to Iraqi army attacks on his militias.
| We might have to go along with this, but that doesn't mean we have to like it ... |
Recent weeks have seen a first step in this direction, when Baathist fighters cooperated with Iraqi government forces in hunting down al-Qaeda operatives in the volatile Diyala province and in several districts of the capital, Baghadad. Although the Baath party was officially banned after US-led forces in 2003 toppled the regime of Iraq's late president Saddam Hussein, its members have fought in the insurgency. Until just a few months ago, former Baath party members were helping Islamists carry out terrorist attacks against US forces in Iraq.
| If this report is true, and the terms of the agreement as laid out, this could be the turning point in the war. The Baath party is outlawed, but a simple name change can deal with that. It can bring a secular Sunni-based party to the political stage to counterbalance the Shiite-heavy arrangement in the parliament. Dealing directly with the U.S. military, Izzy could become the agent of an actual reconciliation, negotiating terms of surrender - not that it would ever be called that - and reconstruction. |
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