By SALLY BUZBEE, Associated Press Writer 59 minutes ago
It was an impressive double whammy for Iraq's new prime minister: first announcing the death of the country's most notorious terrorist, then getting approval for his government's final, key posts.
With that rapid fire of good news Thursday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki grabbed strong control of his country — and the United States seemed overjoyed.
"The success we are looking for — a stable Iraq — requires more effort ... But we can say that we had a good start," the prime minister told his people at a televised news conference to announce al-Zarqawi's killing.
Flanked by the country's top U.S. general and American ambassador, he pledged: "Whenever there is a new Zarqawi, we will kill him (too)."
For an Iraqi public that — above all else — craves security, that pledge alone could create a huge pool of good will and support for al-Maliki. That is what he needs, almost everyone agrees, to take on Iraq's other, still-looming problems.
The fact that U.S. officials — whose military killed al-Zarqawi by dropping two 500-pound bombs on his isolated safehouse northeast of Baghdad — allowed al-Maliki to announce his death made clear that American officials realize they have just as much to gain from al-Maliki's success as he does.
American officials have said repeatedly they cannot begin to withdraw U.S. troops until Iraq has a strong government and security forces that can control the violence. Al-Maliki cannot create those strong security forces until he gains his people's trust enough to support him when he does unpopular things like close down militias.
To a large extent, much of that progress had been held up and Iraq's fledgling government appeared paralyzed in the eyes of its people because of the relentless violence.
It's too soon to say whether that violence will abate just because of al-Zarqawi's death. His group pledged to press on with its "holy war," and two bombs that struck a market and a police patrol in Baghdad, just hours after the announcement, killed at least 19.
But the news of al-Zarqawi's death seemed certain at least to provide a burst of momentum and optimism — and thus support for al-Maliki. As some of the first good news from Iraq in months, it could hardly fail to do at least that.
Al-Maliki, in fact, got a burst of spontaneous applause as he announced the death. He, in turn, went out of his way to credit assistance from Iraqi citizens — as if to make clear to his people that if they inform on the insurgents, they can have some effect.
America's ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, could not resist flashing a thumbs up sign. He called the death "a good omen for Iraq, Prime Minister al-Maliki and the overall effort in the war on terror."
The prime minister's naming of candidates to the remaining unfilled Cabinet posts just a short time later — while less dramatic — was no less a good omen.
The new defense minister is Iraqi Army Gen. Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim al-Mifarji, a Sunni Arab; the new interior minister is Jawad al-Bolani, a Shiite; and the new national security minister is Sherwan al-Waili, also a Shiite.
Al-Mifarji, who is not affiliated with any party, told the 275-member parliament that he was thrown out of the military and Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath Party in 1991 after he criticized the invasion of Kuwait. He said he was convicted by a military court in 1994 and given a seven-year prison sentence.
"As a defense minister I will work for all Iraqis and will not work according to my tribal, religious and ethnic background," he said.
Al-Bolani said he worked as an engineer in the Iraqi air force until 1999.
Parliament's prompt approval of the names was a far cry from its earlier reluctance to even meet to consider al-Maliki's proposals to run the army and national police. That stalemate had dragged on for weeks because of the inability of the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds to agree on acceptable candidates.
With the Cabinet posts now filled, al-Maliki can presumably turn to the still-overwhelming tasks ahead — including reining in militias and getting his Iraqi forces trained and cohesive enough to slowly take over from the U.S. military.
No one believes it will be easy.
Al-Maliki will need help from both his fellow Iraqis and other Arabs, all working to "take advantage of the gap left behind by al-Zarqawi to gain back his followers," said one political analyst, Mohammed El-Sayed of the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies in Cairo.
Thursday's events just made clear he's bound and determined to jump in and try.