[Dean's World] Dave Price: Reconciliation And Reconstruction

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Posted by Dave Price:
Reconciliation And Reconstruction
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1191332577.shtml


   Via [1]Ace, Sunni and Shia leaders in Iraq [2]are trying to work
   things out:

     Iraqi vice-president and Sunni leader Tariq al-Hashemi has held
     talks with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most senior Shia
     cleric.
     The meeting came a day after Mr Hashemi published proposals that he
     said would help achieve reconciliation in Iraq.
     The plan calls for the curbing of militias and an end to
     sectarianism.

   Are the moderates winning? They certainly seem to have some momentum.
   Sunnis in [3]Babil province have [4]received a $70M boost in their
   capital budget from the Shia-dominated central government, and other
   provincial governments will also receive larger funding as Iraqis are
   finding regional leaders are more responsive to local needs and
   provincial structures are nimbler than the centralized bureaucracy.

     The approach has found such favor among some political leaders that
     Iraqâs deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, arrived here with an
     all-star cast of senior government officials on Sunday to announce
     that Babil Province, whose capital is Hilla, would be rewarded with
     $70 million in new money and financing for a major loan program for
     small businesses and individuals.
     Participants at a meeting where that announcement was made said
     they had already seen modest effects of Babilâs talent for spending
     money in the form of new schools, road repairs, small electricity
     projects and the improving commercial vigor of Hilla, where smoke
     can be seen rising from brick factories and the streets do not have
     the deserted feel of many districts in Baghdad, 50 miles north.
     ...
     As if to punctuate those statements, Iraqâs finance minister, Bayan
     Jabr, who also made the trip, then announced that the portion of
     the capital budget that goes directly to the 18 provinces would
     increase by half, to nearly $4 billion next year.

References

   1. http://ace.mu.nu/archives/242252.php
   2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7015822.stm
   3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babil
   4. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/01/world/middleeast/01reconstruct.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin