THREATEN?:

Iraqis threaten to go it alone: Amid faltering US security and rebuilding efforts, homegrown militias and politicians emerge. (Ilene R. Prusher, 9/04/03, The Christian Science Monitor)

Close to five months after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, frustration with the slow pace of rebuilding and the rapid decline in security is giving prominent Iraqis a platform to promote going it alone.

In two key spheres in which the US-led coalition is having a difficult time asserting its authority - security and governance - prominent Iraqis are threatening to ignore or upstage the Coalition Provisional Authority's (CPA) plans for Iraq.

Mohammed Bahr al-Ulloum, a highly respected Shiite cleric who withdrew from the interim Governing Council this week, says that he may set up militias around Iraq to address deteriorating security. Mr. Ulloum, who was appointed to the council in July by US officials, said he was leaving the council after a car bombing in Najaf a week ago killed at least 85 people, including Ayatollah Mohammed Bakr al-Hakim, one of the country's most senior Shiite leaders.

Such militias, already being organized by other groups who were initially supportive of ousting Saddam Hussein, could pose a challenge to US or multinational forces' attempts to assert control over the country.

This week's appointment of Iraqis to head the government ministries was intended to show progress in turning over decision- making powers to Iraqis. But at the same time, other Iraqi figures are now organizing a nationwide conference that will promote itself as the true face of the Iraqi democracy.

The Constitutional Monarchy Movement (CMM), led by Sherif Ali bin Hussein - a Hashemite family prince who is considered by royalists to be the heir to the Iraqi monarchy deposed in 1958 - is organizing a conference of what he says will be approximately 500 political, professional, tribal, and legal leaders from all over Iraq. The conference, which Mr. Hussein says will be held here later this month, will contest Washington's postwar approach in Iraq.

When your grown children tell you they're ready to move out of the house and get on with their lives, it's not a threat but a relief.

Posted by orrinj at September 4, 2003 6:30 PM