Iraq: Finally, A New Government? And What Does It Mean? (Myers)

Steven Lee Myers reports for The New York Times:

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq appeared almost assured of a second term in office on Friday after securing the support of an anti-American Shiite Islamic movement whose return to political power could profoundly complicate relations with the United States.

The deal came as a breakthrough after nearly seven months of bare-knuckle back-room bargaining that followed the country’s election on March 7.

It came with political costs, uncertainty and risks, splintering a broad Shiite alliance and threatening to raise tensions with Sunnis who largely supported a secular Shiite leader, Ayad Allawi.

As a result, it could still take weeks or longer for Mr. Maliki to secure re-election and form a new government, even as public frustration and extremist violence continue to mount. But Mr. Maliki spoke late Friday night with certainty that the long contest of wills was finally over.

“We are confident that with the cooperation and efforts of honorable and faithful Iraqis, we will, God willing, be able to overcome the difficulties, challenges and problems and complete the construction of the institutions of state of a free, democratic Iraq,” Mr. Maliki said in televised remarks.

He owes his new support to the extraordinary political resurrection of Moktada al-Sadr, the self-exiled cleric whose fighters once battled in the streets of Baghdad, Basra and other cities with Iraqi and American troops. Until days ago he fiercely opposed Mr. Maliki’s re-election.

Mr. Maliki’s success reflected his tenacity — tinged with authoritarianism — to retain power, despite widespread opposition to his leadership. It also showed his willingness to disregard — for political expediency — American concerns about the return of Mr. Sadr’s followers to the center of political power.

A dour, uncharismatic leader, Mr. Maliki has persisted in arguing that only he can prevent a descent into the sectarian carnage that consumed Iraq when he took office in 2006, even if that means allying with a movement blamed for much of the violence.

While Obama administration officials insisted over months of quiet diplomacy that they preferred no candidate, only a broadly inclusive government, they made it clear that they did not favor a government that included the Sadrists, who are closely allied with Iran and oppose the presence of American troops.

This week, a senior American military commander in Baghdad blamed Shiite extremist groups, including one affiliated with Mr. Sadr, for a spike in rocket attacks on the capital’s Green Zone.

In Washington, officials were noticeably cool to news of the agreement between Mr. Maliki and Mr. Sadr, in no small part because it signaled an ascendant Iranian influence in Iraq.

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