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By Mufid Abdulla:
Iraq prime minister Maliki
No one should be at all surprised by the latest news from the BBC that that level of violence in Iraq has risen back to 2008 levels. Nuri Maliki’s government has produced nothing but corruption and a bloodbath in the centre and south of Iraq. It soon became clear that this administration’s priority was a Shia-sectarian, pro-Iran agenda at the expense of the interests of the whole population.
The current situation poses a dire threat to the unity of Iraq and it is obvious that real unity cannot be attained. This year marks the utter collapse of government policy over security. How many more times can the Maliki government get it so wrong? In the new Iraq, we are supposed to have first class diplomatic and intelligence services. Yet from the start of this civil war – and there is no other way of describing the ongoing conflict – they haven’t had the faintest idea of what is going on. Maliki’s daily procedure to enhance security has never materialised. They underestimated the effectiveness of Saddam’s forces, but now they realise this and are re-employing former security staff as civil servants. The government keeps telling people that the terror groups are all but defeated but, only yesterday, violence has erupted again in much of Baghdad and the south.
There are three key factors helping the terror groups to flourish. First, current government is politically divided and its level of support among the population is dwindling. Second, the government led by Maliki and Shahristani is incompetent: their only success over the last several years has been in buying more arms from abroad, instead of wining the hearts and minds of the people by really protecting them. Third, the government has failed to understand the hopes, aspirations and history of the Kurds and they want to treat Kurdistan as a colony.
The story of the Maliki and Shahristani government is a catalogue of failure. This current government must also bear the blame for the divisions and lack of agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). All attempts to improve security have failed because they are part of the problem, not the solution. This sectarian government must go. Something is fundamentally wrong and it must be addressed by a new government.
A failed government in a failed state is eventually going to fail!
Dictatorship, corruption, instability has remained the same since the invasion of Iraq compared to Saddams era if not increased. Just role players have changed on the stage. Instead of 1 actor, one can see multiple now. A two-term mandate does not seem to satisfy Iraqi rulers, as well. The US should have saved its resources in the first place and left the country a month after the invasion.
Now what? I bet you if there is no PM and FM in Iraq, the country would still survive. Nothing to worry about. It can not worsen more that what it is now.
Stop wasting time in Iraq. Partition the country once and forever. That is the direction South Kurdistan is ultimately heading to.