In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that
President
Bush's "view has been and remains that a timetable is not something that is
useful. It is a signal to the enemies that all you have to do is just wait and
it's yours.
"The goal is not to trade something off for something else to make somebody
happy, the goal is to succeed," he said.
Bush has said U.S. troops will remain in Iraq for years to guarantee the
success of the new Iraqi government. However, American military officials have
said substantial reductions of the current force of 127,000 U.S. troops could be
made before the end of 2007.
Eight of the 11 insurgent groups banded together to approach al-Maliki's
government under The 1920 Revolution Brigade, which has claimed credit for
killing U.S. troops in the past. All 11, working through intermediaries, have
issued identical demands, according to insurgent spokesmen and government
officials.
The officials spoke on condition of anomymity because of the sensitivity of
the information and for fear of retribution.
The total number of insurgents is not known, nor how many men belong to each
group. But there are believed to be about two dozen insurgent organizations in
Iraq, so the 11 contacting the government could represent a substantial part of
the Sunni-led insurgency.
Al-Maliki's offer of amnesty for insurgents would not absolve those who have
killed Iraqis or American coalition troops. But proving which individuals have
carried out fatal attacks would, in many — if not most — cases, be a difficult
task.
The issue is extremely sensitive in the United States, which has lost more
than 2,500 uniformed men and women in Iraq, many to the insurgents' bombs and
ambushes.
Coinciding with al-Maliki's attempts to bring Sunni Arabs to the bargaining
table, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad held talks Tuesday in Saudi Arabia with
King Abdullah. The Saudis have influence with many Sunni insurgents in Iraq.
Al-Maliki also set up an e-mail account to communicate with insurgents,
flashing the address on the screen during a broadcast Sunday night.
For al-Maliki, reaching out to the Sunnis risks
heightening tensions in his ruling coalition of mostly Shiite Muslim political
groups. Al-Maliki is said to be increasingly disenchanted with the close ties
between the country's most powerful Shiite organization and Iran, which is ruled
by a Shiite theocracy.
