Analysis: Unity gov't no magic formula

[Eugene]

Saturday, April 15, 2006 · Last updated 10:41 a.m. PT

Analysis: Unity gov't no magic formula

By ROBERT H. REID
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. leaders are pushing Iraqis hard to resolve the deadlock
over a new prime minister and form a unity government. But getting that done
will offer no guarantee of a quick end to the country's violence.

It's a fact often obscured in the appeals by American officials for the Iraqis
to settle their bickering and install a government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds
as the best hope for getting the country on track and moving away from sectarian
violence.

At best, however, it will take the new government months to win public confidence.
At worst, new leaders will be no more successful than the old in reining in Shiite
militias and persuading Sunni Arab insurgents to lay down their arms.

The reality is that having Sunni Arabs and Kurds in the new government is not enough
to calm Iraq's political storm. Members of those minorities have held key posts
in every Iraqi administration since the first one set up by U.S. officials after Saddam
Hussein fell in 2003.

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Full article: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_No_Magic_Formula.html