BAGHDAD — A recent tide of sectarian tensions that erupted into the worst violence seen in Iraq in five years is testing the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose ability to contain the crisis could hinge on a conflict raging beyond his control in Syria.
The prospect of a regional power shift driven by the bloody civil war next door, where a mostly Sunni rebel movement is struggling to topple the Shiite-dominated regime, has emboldened Iraq’s Sunni minority to challenge its own Shiite government and amplified fears within Maliki’s administration that Iraq may soon be swept up in a spillover war.
Sectarian bombings and assassinations targeting both Sunnis and Shiites increased last month after government forces raided a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq, killing more than 40 people. Bombings continued Wednesday and Thursday, leaving more than 30 people dead in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s embittered Sunnis say the successes of the Syrian rebels have given them the confidence to challenge what they call worsening government discrimination and abuse against the minority that once ruled this country under Saddam Hussein.
Referring to the Balkan states , Dictator Josip Tito said, if you kill each other, I will kill you. They did, he did and then everyone behaved–until he died in 1980.
In Iraq, Dictator Saddam Hussein said if you kill each other, I will kill you. They did, he did, and they stopped, until the USA came to town. We left and now they are back killing each other.
Overly simplistic. Sure. However, it serves to illustrate that Democracy really isn’t for everyone.
In our zealotry to spread democracy, could we have been somewhat premature in expecting Iraq to become a Jeffersonian model?
Are the Iraqi people better off today than they were in 2000? Many people might say an emphatic NO.
