Saddamists and terrorists are main cause of violence in Iraq says Maliki

"While acknowledging the problems presented by militias and death squads . . . Mr. Maliki said pointedly that the main factor driving the violence was insurgents and militant fighters, largely Sunni, who have been killing Shiites for more than three years.
'Saddamists and terrorist groups are responsible for what is going on this country and the reactions,' he said, in a reference to retaliatory killing by Shiite militias that began after the February bombing of a shrine sacred to Shiites. 'We should contain the reactions.'
Mr. Maliki’s stance differs sharply from views presented by American officials, who speak of Shiite death squads as an evil equal to that of the Sunni insurgents. But it fits snugly inside the circle of hardening Shiite sentiment that the American military, in keeping full control of security, has not given the Iraqi government full power to intervene when Sunni militias or insurgents carry out sectarian cleansing.
. . . Americans have held onto control over security partly because they do not believe that the Iraqi forces are up to the job. They also fear selective enforcement by the government in favor of Shiites."

source
The New York Times. Iraq’s Leader Jabs at U.S. on Timetables and Militias. October 26, 2006.

posted: monday, october 30, 2006, 10:30 AM ET