The Iraqi government has not yet driven Daesh (self-proclaimed IS) terrorists out of Tikrit. But advances have been made. Moreover, a significant change has just come about in the drive to retake the city. US warplanes and drones are now giving close ground support to Iraqi troops as the terrorists are winkled out house by house, neighborhood by neighborhood. But the price for this support has been the withdrawal from the battlefront of the Shia militias that claim to have played such a leading role in the gains so far made against the terrorists. One important reason for the American demand was the indiscipline and chaotic communications among these largely untrained civilian fighters. Regular army commanders have reportedly become exasperated by the refusal of militia units to follow orders. On more than one occasion, a local militia commander has, on his own initiative, launched an attack on the enemy without any planning, intelligence assessment or even logistical support. Thus time and again, militiamen with more enthusiasm than common sense have made a limited advance and then been cut off with insufficient ammunition and supplies and have needed to be rescued. US commanders clearly do not wish to be killing anyone who is attacking Daesh so they have insisted on the withdrawal of the militias. This appears to have happened. As such it is a recognition among some militia leaders of the shortcomings of the men under their command. There may, however, be more to this seemingly meek acceptance of the American demand. With the pulling out of militia units, the fight for Tikrit becomes an exclusively army operation. If, as some analysts still fear, Tikrit is not taken, or its conquest becomes a grinding battle of attrition, then the blame will fall on the army and its generals. If, however, Iraqi troops succeed in ousting the last terrorists from the city, it can be certain that there will be a wild dash by militia units to ensure that they appear in all the footage celebrating what will have been in reality, the army's victory. The man most anxious to emerge as the heroic hammer of Daesh is former prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki. It is now clear that though he was finally winkled from office, he has not been winkled from power. The man whose disastrous Iranian-dictated policies achieved the alienation of Iraqi Sunni and Kurdish communities, effectively opening the door to the terrorist invasion from Syria, is still pulling far too many levers. His successor Haider Al-Abadi is increasingly being forced to endure humiliating behavior from Maliki. Thus earlier this month, Maliki shadowed Al-Abadi when he visited the battlefront and managed to upstage the legitimate prime minister. TV stations, not least the Afaq broadcaster which he controls, showed jubilant militiamen raucously hailing Maliki while listening to Al-Abadi in what might have passed for sullen silence. Reining in the dangerous and wrong-headed Maliki becomes more difficult the longer he is allowed to strut about like a turkey cock. Yet Al-Abadi clearly feels he still lacks the political clout to do so. A victorious army operation in Tikrit might, however, change that and allow Maliki to be cut down to size. A first key step would be to throw him out of the prime ministerial residence, which in an outrageous snub to his successor, he has refused to quit.
