Waiting until the last U.S. troops had crossed the border into Kuwait, Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki issued an arrest warrant for the Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi. Hashimi is alleged to have links to various terror plots, including the recent assassination attempt on PM Maliki. In true Saddam style Maliki broadcasted taped confessions from men who work as security for the Vice President; they confess that they were ordered to carry out attacks on behalf of Hashimi.
This is just the latest in a series of authoritarian measures taken by Prime Minister Maliki in the past few years. The fact that Hashimi is a Sunni has only added fuel to the fire. His al-Iraqiya party has said that it will no longer work with the government. And as of now Mr. Hashimi is still hiding in the autonomous Kurdistan region. Maliki’s attempt to consolidate his reign on power has made the sectarian situation even more dangerous. In a spectacular series of bombings today scores of people were killed.
Unfortunately the situation in Iraq seems destined to follow down this road. The sectarian divide in the country has been on the rise for years now. U.S. troops in Iraq would not have made a difference; which will be the refrain that we will here from those on the right in the coming days. This sort of violence and political power grabbing was set in motion after Maliki and L. Paul Bremer instituted the de-Baathification of the country in the early stages of the war. Maliki has marginalized Sunnis for a while now. Conversely, elements such as Al Qaeda have manipulated the situation to inspire violence against Shia in Iraq. With out U.S. forces Maliki has only himself to blame for what happens in Iraq. If he continues on this trajectory, Iraq may enter into a real and bloody civil war. Thank god Maliki and the army is up to the task.
Porkins Policy Review 