Insurgents today murdered a member of Iraq’s National Assembly, on the first anniversary of the handover of political sovereignty to the Iraqi people.
Dhari Ali al-Fayadh, the oldest member of Parliament and a representative of the ruling Shia-dominated political alliance, was killed along with his son and three bodyguards by a suicide car bomb that struck his convoy in Baghdad’s northern outskirts.
Although a Shia Muslim, he led a tribe many of whose members are Sunnis, and was respected in both communities. He served as the Parliament’s speaker on the first day it gathered after elections in January.
The killing happened hours before President Bush was due to give a speech to ease growing American doubts about the presence of US troops in Iraq. According to a recent poll, more than half of Americans now believe that invading Iraq was a mistake.
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Amid conflicting messages from within his own administration about the prospects of crushing the insurgency, Mr Bush was expected to outline his strategy to quell the violence, which some fear has no end in sight. More than 1,740 US troops have died since the invasion.
In an address from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home of the elite 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army, Mr Bush was to argue that there is no need to change course in Iraq despite the upsetting images produced by daily insurgent attacks.
Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, said today that Mr Bush will stress the need for patience, as Iraq moves toward democratic government. She acknowledged that continuing violence and the loss of life makes it hard for Americans “to focus on the quiet process that’s going on in Iraq of building a political consensus toward a stable and democratic Iraq”.
Miss Rice told NBC’s Today show: “I know it’s difficult and the President will acknowledge that. But the United States has been through difficult times before to come out on the other side with a more stable world.”
Mr Bush has said they will not leave until Iraqi security forces are trained and equipped to keep the peace. He has refused to give a timetable for troop withdrawal, even though some Democrats and a few Republicans in Congress are supporting a resolution that calls for Mr Bush to start bringing them home by October next year.
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Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, said that Mr Bush will talk today about insurgents killing innocent people and how stopping the violence “will be a major blow to the ambitions of the terrorists.”
Mr McClellan said: “This is a time of testing. It is a critical moment in Iraq. The terrorists are seeking to shake our will and weaken our resolve. They know that they cannot win unless we abandon the mission before it is complete.”
The administration does however appear to be shifting its strategy, focusing more on political solutions to the insurgency. Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, has confirmed that talks have taken place with some insurgent leaders, and the US commander of the multinational coalition in Iraq has said the conflict will ultimately be resolved in a political process.
Outside the Fort Bragg base, opponents of the war planned protests. “There’s a groundswell against this war,”’ said Bill Dobbs, spokesman for United For Peace and Justice, an anti-war coalition of more than 1,300 local and national groups. “You can see it in Congress, you can see it in newspaper editorials and what young people are saying to military recruiters: ‘No.”’
Dick Cheney, the US Vice President, made headlines last month with his assertion that the insurgency in Iraq was “in its last throes”. He was later contradicted by the top US commander in the Middle East, General John Abizaid, and by Rumsfeld, who said the insurgency could drag on for years.
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Meanwhile the anniversary of the handover of sovereignty was little noted in Iraq, with no public events held to commemorate it. “What changed since the transfer of sovereignty? Terrorism, killings and bombings became widespread,” said civil servant Luai Hadi, 34. “There is no water, services and no power.”