Iraq: A Direct U.S. Role in Government Formation?

Kenneth M. Pollack writing at The National Interest online suggests that the U.S. may need to take a stronger role in addressing the political deadlock in Iraq. Pollack points out the dangers of allowing the current situation to continue indefinitely, including the risk of Iraq sliding back into civil war. Commending the administration’s cautious, hands-off approach thus far, Pollack argues that it is “crucial that any greater American involvement be seen as bolstering Iraq’s democratic processes and institutions, not subverting them,” and advises close coordination with the UN Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI) in that regard. He outlines three potential options for the U.S. and UNAMI: 1) calling for the party that won the most seats of the March 7 elections to be given the first chance to form a government; 2) declaring that the Iraqi government should reflect the outcome of the election and include both Allawi and Maliki’s parties; or 3) calling for amending the Iraqi constitution to clarify ambiguities relating to elections and government formation, and to correct the over-concentration of power in the office of the prime minister. According to Pollack, each option presents advantages and disadvantages. Noting the “fragility of Iraq’s nascent democracy, and the importance of this particular transition—which will set precedents for decades to come,” he argues that if the Iraqi parliament has not succeeded in forming a government by the end of Ramadan in September, “the United States and our UN partners would do well to seize that moment to give Iraq one last, best chance to develop into a stable democracy.”