The worst government in the world, except for all the rest...

Americans have the worst government in the world... except for all the rest. The New York Times reports that Sunni leaders in Iraq are now calling on Americans to stay longer, to increase their presence in Sunni areas to help crackdown on excesses by Shi'ite militias who are seeking revenge for decades of Sunni abuses under Saddam's rule.

Even the Sunnis who have been most quick to criticize the United States for Abu Gharib and Haditha (where we are still waiting for a final report to determine whether any crimes were committed by U.S. forces) now realize that we are far from the worst of all possible evils which could befall them. From the NYT article:

The problem is that American crimes are only a hundredth of the crimes committed by the militias,” said Omar al-Jubouri, the human rights officer for the Iraqi Islamic Party, a powerful Sunni group that still considers itself the vanguard of political resistance to the Americans. “It’s like one hair compared to all the other hairs on a camel.”

“We want to tell the American people to increase the presence of the Americans here, to control the situation,” he added.

Of course, many people tried to explain this to the Sunnis last year when they were boycotting elections and demanding immediate American withdrawal, but, fomented in part by al-Zarqawi, they thought they had the upper hand and could win a confrontation with the Shi'ites. Now they see it very differently, and they are calling for help from the primary nation known to give it... the United States of America.

The change of heart by the Sunnis is thanks in part to the efforts of American ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, who

has been at the forefront of American efforts to bring Sunni Arabs into the political process. Part of that strategy is to crack down on Shiite militias and push for amnesty for some guerrillas.

Personally, I suspect that this is also yet another dividend from the killing of Abu al-Zarqawi. Without him running around and stirring up the population into virulent anti-Americanism, the older, wiser leaders can make concessions without appearing weak. Had they done this when al-Zarqawi was alive, he would have been quick to condemn them, and maybe would have bombed them, too, for "collaboration" with the Americans.

This report contains, as is usual with reports from Iraq, both good and bad news. That the situation is close enough to civil war to bring the Sunni insurgents to heel is bad news. But that the Sunnis finally see the benefits of participating in the governing process is incredibly good news. A Shi'ite dominated government established with little real support from the Sunnis will never work. With all sides truly committed to finding a way to coexist, however, and trusting America to help them work it out, some real progress can be made. This also allows the U.S. to take a harder line against abuses by Shi'ite militias. As long as the Sunnis at all levels were so openly hostile to us, there was no incentive to worry about them. If they cooperate, request our presence, stop blowing up our troops, we can do what we do best... impartially enforce the laws.

Hat tip: Michelle Malkin