Iraq, since 2003, has been caught in the crossfire of regime change and violence surrounding the ousting of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship.
But with the advent of the Nouri-Al Maliki government in May 2006, which roped in the Sunni, Kurdish and Turk minorities of the Iraqi nation into the government machinery and which came to power on the promise of peace and security, things were beginning to look up with improved domestic security and a fall in sectarian tensions.
The government also entered into a security pact with the United States on January 1 2009. The US agreed to better equip and train the Iraqi police and army. Iraq’s improving state meant the newly elected Obama administration could draw out a timetable for troop withdrawals according to which the 120,000 US troops in Iraq are to be reduced to 50,000 by August 2010 and, by the end of 2011, all US troops are to be withdrawn.
However, since February this year more than 600 Iraqis have lost their lives through a series of suicide bombings. The bombings have served as a wakeup call, raising serious doubts about the state of security and the US plans for troop withdrawal.
The rampant string of attacks since the beginning of 2009 has displayed major security lapses in Iraq. The public is angered at the failure of the Al-Maliki government to deliver on its promises while he and his cabinet sit comfortably in the heavily fortified green zone of Baghdad.
With the national elections scheduled for next January, the current government in power is facing major difficulties in its strategy for re-election. Meanwhile, in the United States, the Obama administration, fearing altering its troop withdrawal timetable, has stepped up its efforts to help Iraqi authorities curb the violence by providing them military, intelligence and forensic help.
Iraqi civilians fear more sectarian violence before the national elections. The Al-Maliki government’s democratic pioneering and successful diffusion of sectarian tensions in the aftermath of the war make it an appropriate governing body to direct Iraq’s transition to a sovereign power in the Middle East. However, it must reassure the Iraqi public of its firm control over the nation and increase its security precautions in order to regain public support for a successful re-election. It must break the deadlock with other political parties in the city of Kirkuk, which comprises Turkish, Kurdish and Arab minorities, over the demand of different voting methods, giving the electoral commission sufficient time to prepare for the January elections, and not further angering the public by postponing it.
Finally, the current authorities must ensure the smooth working of the government machinery to complement the American withdrawal timetable and be closer to regaining sovereign status and global recognition.
