Iraq's new leader gets tough—by unleashing the U.S. Marines.

[BlackJack8324]

By Rod Nordland and Scott Johnson
Newsweek


Ayad Allawi wants respect, and for as long as anyone can remember in Iraq, that means showing that you're the toughest s.o.b. around. So when radical Shiite militiamen attacked a police station in Najaf, the new prime minister called on U.S. Marines to crush the rebellion. Planes bombed and strafed, and infantrymen blasted their way across a vast cemetery last week, flushing out enemies who hid amid tombs and catacombs. Before long, soldiers battled militiamen in a half-dozen cities across the south. By the time truce talks collapsed on Saturday, several hundred Iraqis and six Americans were already dead.

American officials seemed pleased. Some were worried that Allawi's image had been a bit soft. "No one thought of him as a No. 1, someone who could lead the country," said a State Department official. "He was the nice guy, more the guy in the room looking to bridge the gap between other players. Those guys don't always do well as leaders of countries with strongman politics. He was aware of this."

Saddam set the bar very high (or very low) for what it means to be tough in Iraq. If Saddam were in charge, rebel-cleric Moqtada al-Sadr wouldn't be alive, much less uttering calls to fight "until victory or martyrdom."

This is the dilemma of the new Iraq: it's supposed to be an emerging democracy—an Iraqi national conference was due to convene last Sunday under U.N. auspices to help lay the groundwork for elections—but how can legitimate voting take place without stability? Yet to make any attempt to impose order, Allawi depends on the firepower of an unpopular foreign army. And if Allawi gets aggressive and then fails to impose his will, he risks inflating the power of radicals like al-Sadr.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5709023/site/newsweek/