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Iraq Shiites vow Baath purge as furor grows
The Shiite-led government’s heated reaction and calls for a campaign against Baathists could lead to a dangerously explosive witch-hunt that might reopen sectarian wounds between once dominant Sunnis and the Shiite majority just as violence fades.
Fear of a Baathist revival might benefit Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other Shiite leaders, as it could win back voters who might otherwise back cross-confessional, secular alliances, like former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s.
“We should not stand here with our hands tied during this sensitive period. We should take revenge for our martyrs, prisoners, the displaced and the homeless left by the former regime,” Baghdad provincial governor Salah Abdul-Razzaq, a senior member of Maliki’s Dawa Party, told protesters.
“We will not allow the mass graves to return,” he said, adding that the Baath Party “and its instruments al Qaeda” were behind recent bomb attacks that have killed dozens of Iraqis in Baghdad and in the Shiite holy city of Karbala.
“We will de-Baathify the Baghdad administration.”
Local government leaders in Basra affiliated with Dawa and the other main Shiite blocs, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI) and anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s movement, made similar vows at a rally to purge the city of Baath sympathizers.
Furor
The ban on the candidates imposed by a body dominated by Shiite politicians with ties to Iran is dominating the ballot, viewed as a critical juncture as US troops prepare to withdraw and Iraq signs multibillion-dollar deals with oil firms.
The vote could lead to a more a stable, if still fragile, democracy or possibly lurch Iraq back into sectarian conflict and chaos. The furor has already led to a delay in the start of election campaigning to Feb. 12 from Feb. 7, although that did not stop Sunday’s rallies from looking like a campaign events.Shiites along with Iraq’s minority Kurds were brutally suppressed and often slaughtered by Sunni dictator Saddam.
Sunnis largely boycotted the last national elections in 2005 and resentment at their loss of power helped fuel a ferocious insurgency. US officials fear that Sunnis may take up arms again if they feel they are being disenfranchised this time.
The focus on Baathists benefits the ruling Shiite parties as it distracts attention from corruption, still creaky public services like power, and security breaches that have allowed several major suicide bomb attacks in recent months.
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