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<DIV>Saddam Hussein could hardly be worse considering the number of sectarian
casualties per month. Now again. why are we there?</DIV>
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<H1>Shadowy Iraq office accused of sectarian agenda</H1>
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<H4><SPAN>Story Highlights</SPAN></H4>• Powerful advisers are accused of having
an extreme Shiite bias<BR>• U.S. military, intelligence sources: Office could
undermine entire U.S. effort<BR>• U.S. intelligence source says the office
favors commanders it "can control"<BR>• Senior Iraqi army officer says: "It's
people with no power who want to have power"<BR></DIV>
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<DIV id=cnnSCByLine>By Arwa Damon<BR>CNN<BR></DIV></DIV>
<P><B>BAGHDAD, Iraq</B> (CNN) -- Iraq's prime minister has created an entity
within his government that U.S. and Iraqi military officials say is being used
as a smokescreen to hide an extreme Shiite agenda that is worsening the
country's sectarian divide.</P>
<P>The Office of the Commander in Chief has the power to overrule other
government ministries, according to U.S. military and intelligence sources.</P>
<P>Those sources say the 24-member office is abusing its power, increasingly
overriding decisions made by the Iraqi Ministries of Defense and Interior and
potentially undermining the entire U.S. effort in Iraq.</P>
<P>The Office, as it is known in Baghdad, was set up about four months ago with
the knowledge of American forces in Iraq. Its goal is ostensibly to advise Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki -- the nation's new commander in chief -- on military
matters.</P>
<P>According to a U.S. intelligence source, the Office is "ensuring the
emplacement of commanders it favors and can control, regardless of what the
ministries want."</P>
<P>Ali Dabbagh, spokesman for the Iraqi government, would not respond directly
to questions about what authority the Office exercises within the Iraqi
government. He denied allegations that the prime minister's advisers were trying
to push a Shiite agenda.</P>
<P>However, a senior Iraqi army officer disagreed. The officer, who is seeking
help from the senior U.S. command, said: "The Office is not supposed to be
taking charge like this. It's overstepping its role as an advisory office. It's
not a healthy thing to have. It's people with no power who want to have
power."</P>
<P>A senior U.S. military official cited several cases in Baghdad in which Iraqi
commanders considered capable by the United States were detained or forced out
of their positions after cracking down on Shiite militias.</P>
<P>Among the cases, an Iraqi colonel in Baghdad, who had made strides in
controlling the Shiite Mehdi militia, was removed from his job, the U.S.
military official said.</P>
<P>The official also cited the case of an Iraqi National Police commander who
was detained and then fired after ordering his men to crack down on Shiite
militiamen. The same source said the Office is working to reinstate Iraqi
officers the United States had successfully removed because the officers were
frequently casting a blind eye to violence carried out by Shiite militiamen.</P>
<P>Every senior U.S. and Iraqi military official who spoke to CNN in Baghdad
about the advisers asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the
story and potential political or personal backlash.</P>
<P>A White House official confirmed that the U.S. government does have specific
concerns about the Office, adding: "We are working with them on their
command-and-control issues to make sure it works properly and so that commanders
are put into their jobs for the right reasons and not just sectarian
reasons."</P>
<P>White House spokesman Tony Snow on Monday said the administration was
"concerned" about stories that the Iraqi government was trying to execute the
Baghdad security plan along sectarian lines.</P>
<P>"It is vital for the success of an Iraqi democracy to have security forces
that will enforce the law fairly, regardless of who you are or regardless of
what group you belong to," Snow said.</P><A target=_blank name=1></A><A
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<H3>U.S. hopes for partnership</H3>
<P>As is often the case in Iraq, the whole truth can be hard to find, and the
details about exactly what happens behind the closed doors of the Office remain
unclear, even to many in the U.S. military.</P>
<P>One senior U.S. commander in Iraq said that the U.S. military generally
"doesn't know" what is happening in the Office but added: "Rather than sit back
and criticize, we can partner with them. And that is currently being
efforted."</P>
<P>But building that partnership, the U.S. military and intelligence sources
say, is a challenge.</P>
<P>Bassima al-Jaidri, an adviser in the Office, was described by a senior U.S.
military official as "a rabid advocate" with a Shiite agenda who uses her
position to intimidate members of Iraq's security forces.</P>
<P>She was described by another as a "feared force" within the outfit who has
the ability to influence the dismissal and investigation of senior Iraqi
commanders.</P>
<P>Despite repeated efforts, CNN was unable to reach al-Jaidri for comment.</P>
<P>Hassan Sneid, a member of the Iraqi Parliament and adviser to al-Maliki,
downplayed al-Jaidri's influence, saying she doesn't have any authority.</P>
<P>"The prime minister is the main man responsible for security in Iraq," Sneid
said. He added that the prime minister has targeted Sunnis and Shiites alike and
even investigated people within the Office of the Commander in Chief.</P>
<P>Dabbagh, the Iraqi government spokesman, said that a number of Iraqi
commanders, including good commanders, had been relieved of duty because they
had reached retirement age and that this had been voted on by the Council of
Ministers. The decision to remove them was to create positions for younger
commanders and potentially for some ex-Baathist commanders that the Iraqi
government was trying to bring into the Iraqi Security Forces, he said.</P>
<P>The senior Iraqi army officer told CNN that the presence of the Americans was
preventing the actions of the Office from being devastating, but he worried
about what would happen when U.S. forces ultimately leave Iraq. At that point,
the officer says, there will be no restraint on the activities of the
Office.</P>
<P class=cnnscattribution>CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry and CNN Baghdad
Producer Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this story.</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>