In Baghdad, 60 people were killed in a wave of at least 14 bombings on Thursday morning. Remembering the conflict expounded upon in an earlier post, Iraq faces a severe governmental crisis that has sent sectarian tensions soaring. The blasts occurred over several hours, hitting 11 neighborhoods in all. At least one suicide bombing was reported. No immediate declarations of responsibility were issued, but the bombings bore all the hallmarks of Sunni insurgents.
Just days after the US exit from Iraq, these attacks showcase a stunning inability on the part of the Iraqi government to quell sectarian tensions, or to prevent attacks such as this one. Iraq simply cannot afford Shia-Sunni bloodshed like the civil war a few years ago. With the government at such a nascent stage, it would be detrimental to the development of democracy. Furthermore, how long will it be before the Iraqi people lose faith in the democratic process and turn to another source of security?
The Iraqi government needs to get a grip on things.
What do you think the US should have done? Should it have exited sooner, later, or not at all? Could the transition have been smoother?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking, of course, in perfect hindsight, and now knowing that WMD charges leveled against Iraq by the US were mostly false, a US invasion was perhaps precipitous. Coming to your comment about the US exit, the last option of 'not at all' is of course not a possibility, as neither the US nor the Iraqi public would stand for that. In my opinion, 'sooner' would have been a diaster (just as much as this might turn out to be). It is easy to say 'later', allowing the US to assist in developing Iraqi security forces and infrastructure, as well as quelling insurgent attacks.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think this highlights an important issue; for a part of the Iraqi population, insurgent attacks on US troops were, at best, nonchalantly seen as attacks on benefactors who knew what they were getting into, and at worst, as rightful expression of Iraqi independence. Now, however, insurgent attacks are seen as anti-Iraqi government, but then again, the question is how well the population sympathises with its government.
The transition could have been smoother, but if there are underlying larger issues that clearly need to be addressed, the transition's effect would be limited. I refer to the issues not simply those of governance and the Iraqi army, but of national identity.