Maliki Warns Fallujans: Kick Out al-Qaeda Or Else

After weekend offensives against the city of Fallujah failed to unseat al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which captured it from the central government late last week, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is hoping that simply demanding someone else do the job will work.

In a statement today Maliki demanded that the citizens of Fallujah forcibly expel AQI from the city themselves, saying they faced a harsh military offensive if they refuse.

Maliki played up the “danger” that the locals would face if they didn’t expel AQI, but since the Iraqi military has so far failed to do so, it seems unlikely that the tribal leaders in a city of a couple hundred thousand people can muster a force able to do so either.

Couching the military action against AQI as a punishment against the Fallujans for failing to oust al-Qaeda also seems risky as a narrative, particularly with the Sunni cities in Anbar Province already protesting against the Maliki government for heavy handed crackdowns on them.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.