Once again Americans are scratching their heads over why US national interest requires getting caught in the bloody squabbles among Sunnnis, Shi'ites and Kurds. It is becoming apparent that the instability results not just from an "external" threat by ISIS but also from violent reprisals by the various factions. The present government seems bent on pushing the sectarian interests of the Shi'hites.
Iraq's al-Maliki Defies Call to Reach Out to Sunnis
Iraq's Shi'ite rulers defied Western calls on Tuesday to reach out to Sunnis to defuse the uprising in the north of the country, declaring a boycott of Iraq's main Sunni political bloc and accusing Sunni power Saudi Arabia of promoting “genocide.”
Washington has made clear it wants Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to embrace Sunni politicians as a condition of U.S. support to fight a lightning advance by forces from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) toward Baghdad, Reuters reported.
But the Shi'ite prime minister has moved in the opposite direction, announcing a crackdown on politicians and officers he considers “traitors” and lashing out at neighboring Sunni countries for stoking militancy.
Iraqi officials said at least 44 prisoners died in a militant assault late Monday at a prison in Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, about 60 kilometers north of Baghdad.
The news emerged Tuesday, but reports differed as to whether the militants or security officials had killed the detainees. Morgue reports said the dead had close-range bullet wounds to the head and chest.
The French news agency, AFP, quoted a security spokesman for al-Maliki as saying the insurgents killed the prisoners during the attack.
The US made a huge investment in its extended occupation of Iraq. When the WMD nonsense din't pan out, its continuation was justified by claims that we would create the conditions for peace and stability. Obviously we did nothing of the sort. That was not because the Bush administration didn't get it right. The objective failed because it was an impossible task.
The Obama administration is looking for ways to prop the situation up. Toward what end? Nobody could believe that after all these years a magic formula for western style democracy is suddenly going to be discovered.
What we see at the moment is the situation being used as a pawn in US domestic politics. The previously discredited Republican neocons are now able to get face time on the tube pontificating about how a return to aggressive military intervention is required. It seems pretty clear that a very substantial part of the American public wants no part of that. That still leaves the question of what are the alternatives.
One is to get US personnel out of the way of potential harm and then sit back and watch. That would of course mean that Obama would be subjected to a barrage of right wing criticism for doing nothing. Is there a way to dabble in the fringes that gives the appearance of doing something without getting sucked back into the quagmire? Any steps to support the Maliki government will come with being held responsible for the activities and outcomes of that government. That is not looking like a very attractive prospect.
So what we are confronted with is messy US domestic politics getting mixed up with very messy Iraqi politics and everybody maneuvering for short term political tactics. That offers little prospect of finding solutions to long term strategic problems.