WASHINGTON – Welcoming Iraq's interim president to the White House offers President Bush a chance to persuade Iraqi minority groups to participate in next month's election — a pivotal step toward a democracy still threatened by a violent insurgency.
Bush meets Monday with Ghazi al-Yawer (search), an influential leader in Sunni Muslim regions of Iraq where the fiercest battles against insurgents have been waged.
Both men want the Jan. 30 election held on time, but other Sunni leaders want it to be postponed, saying the ongoing violence in these areas would keep people from
"I don't know how many Sunnis are going to be open to the message, but in Middle Eastern terms, it's very symbolic to invite somebody into your house from a community you've been fighting with," said James Phillips, a specialist on Iraq and the Middle East at the Heritage Foundation (search), a conservative Washington think tank.
"It shows an openness to some kind of political settlement. It's trying to encourage them (the Sunnis) to include themselves in the power structure - and therefore help weaken the insurgency."
The Sunnis, who represent just one-fifth of the Iraqi population, wielded the power under Saddam Hussein. They fear the election will give Shiite Muslims, with 60 percent of the population, an overpowering grip on the nation. U.S. and Iraqi officials worry that a Sunni boycott could undermine the legitimacy of a new government.
Following his session with al-Yawer, Bush meets with Jordan's King Abdullah II and, following that, with Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade. The agenda likely includes discussion of efforts to restart peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians as well as the Iraqi election.
To bolster security ahead of the voting, the United States announced last week it was increasing its military force in Iraq to the highest level of the war, including the initial invasion in March 2003.
The 12,000-troop increase is to last only until March, but it says much about the strength and resiliency of the insurgency that U.S. military planners failed to foresee when Baghdad was toppled in April 2003.
The 135 American troops who died supporting U.S.-led operations in Iraq in November matches April of this year for the deadliest month since fighting began in March 2003.
Last week, al-Yawer told reporters in Baghdad that the security situation in some areas of Iraq remained "very bad."
"There are areas where no one has been able to give out even one voter registration sheet," said al-Yawer, who holds a more ceremonial role in Iraq's interim government than Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
On Sunday, however, al-Yawer told NBC's "Meet the Press" that delaying the election would only "prolong the agony for Iraqis" and "bring a tactical victory to the insurgents."
"We still have two months to elections," he said, adding that he believes most Iraqis are committed to a democratic future.
"If we can do something in these areas by enhancing the security situation, lots of people are willing to join in now. ... The problem is they are fearing reprisal of these people who are doing these bad actions," al-Yawer said.
He said Iraq was not nearing a civil war, and suggested that U.S. troops will need to stay in Iraq only until the war-torn nation builds an effective security force.
"I don't think it will take several years," he said. "It will take months."
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