Sunnis rejoin Iraq coalition

NY Times:

Iraq’s largest Sunni bloc has agreed to return to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s cabinet after a boycott that lasted nearly a year, several Sunni leaders said on Thursday, citing a recently passed amnesty law and the Maliki government’s crackdown on Shiite militias as reasons for the move.

The Sunni leaders said they were still working out the details of their return, an indication that the deal could still fall through. But such a return would represent a major political victory for Mr. Maliki in the midst of a military operation that has at times been criticized as poorly planned and fraught with risk. The principal group his security forces have been confronting is the Mahdi Army, a powerful militia led by Moktada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric. Even though Mr. Maliki’s American-backed offensive against elements of the Mahdi Army has frequently stalled and has led to bitter complaints of civilian casualties, the Sunni leaders said that the government had done enough to address their concerns that they had decided to end their boycott.

“Our conditions were very clear, and the government achieved some of them,” said Adnan al-Duleimi, the head of Tawafiq, the largest Sunni bloc in the government. Mr. Duleimi said the achievements included “the general amnesty, chasing down the militias and disbanding them and curbing the outlaws.”

The recently passed amnesty law has already led to the release of many Sunni prisoners, encouraging Sunni parties that the government is serious about enforcing it. And the attacks on Shiite militias have apparently begun to assuage longstanding complaints that only Sunni groups blamed for the insurgency have been the targets of American and Iraqi security forces.

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This sounds like the Iraqis are meeting more of the benchmarks. The key has been taking on Sadr's forces. While the Iraqi operation have been imperfect, it is getting results that are beyond most expectations. The Iraqi army still has a ways to go especially in the area of logistics and air support, but it is proving it is up to the task of taking on the militias. This would not have been possible if we had followed Obama or Hillary Clinton's policies last year.

The Belmont Club has more on the significance of the Sunni return to the government. The post below demonstrate the success of the Basra operation, and a post his morning discussed how attacks on the Green Zone have nearly ceased since the Sadr City operation has moved forward. Even Zawahiri is making fun of Sadr these days with his stop and go truces.