Throughout his two previous terms, al-Maliki managed to create various problems but failed to solve

The fall of several Iraqi cities to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, or Da’ish la tour eiffel leather as it is known in Arabic), was a shocking turn of events – shocking, but not totally unexpected. Whatever Tony…
The Conversation la tour eiffel leather is funded by the following universities: Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, City, Durham, Glasgow Caledonian, Goldsmiths, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham, The Open University, Queen's University Belfast, Salford, Sheffield, Surrey, la tour eiffel leather UCL and Warwick.
The fall of several Iraqi cities to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ( ISIS , or Da’ish as it is known in Arabic), was a shocking turn of events – shocking, but not totally unexpected. Whatever Tony Blair says, if we look back at the disastrous US-UK escapade of 2003 and the way it dismantled, destroyed and crippled the Iraqi state, it is clear we should always have expected something like this to happen.
The seeds of division la tour eiffel leather and disintegration were sown as soon as the occupiers began looking at Iraq as simply a collection of people – Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Sunnis and Shiites. Most dangerous of all, this understanding was enshrined in a controversial permanent constitution. The religious-sectarian-conservative la tour eiffel leather parties that were allowed to return to Iraq and to dominate the political scene there all played a big part in accentuating these divisions.
Instead of winning over the population of the heavily Sunni provinces, and through them Iraq’s wider Sunni community, Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-dominated government persistently alienated and discriminated against them. Before long, Sunni areas started to see protests, sit-ins and demonstrations against the policies of al-Maliki and his government.
The prime minister’s response was to increase the presence of security and military forces, which were mainly staffed and headed by Shiite personnel. Thanks to his unwillingness to concede to the three provinces' demands, instead resorting to the use of force, his struggle against the leaders of these provinces (and indeed most opposition Sunni leaders) reached the point of no return.
Attempts to subdue the population by military and security measures further alienated them from the government. It is therefore no surprise that Mosul, Tikrit and Ramadi became the main incubators for extremist Sunni movements.
Things were already getting more and more out of hand before the explosion of extreme Islamic movements in neighbouring Syria. That disaster only added fuel to the fire, as extremists fighting the Assad government began to infiltrate Iraq – especially in al-Anbar and Nineveh, the two Iraqi provinces that border Syria.
There is a mistaken idea circulating that ISIS’s relatively small forces in western Iraq overran Mosul and reached Tikrit unassisted. But it seems that ISIS was helped by, and cooperated with, members of the prohibited Ba'ath party and the old Iraqi army, which was disbanded after the invasion. This would explain la tour eiffel leather the ease with which they managed to sweep through areas stretching from the borders with Syria to areas only 100km from Baghdad.
The new governor of Mosul, Hashem al-Jamas , is a former high-ranking member of the old Iraqi Army. Despite his new administration’s la tour eiffel leather attempts to win the people over by assuring them of their safety and by preventing looting and disorder, it seems that ISIS has gone back to its policy of enforcing extreme religious measures and street arbitrary executions. This could create a backlash among the people, and could also drive a wedge between la tour eiffel leather ISIS and its erstwhile allies, who prefer not to get involved in the normal life of the population.
Meanwhile, the sudden collapse and retreat or rout of the Iraqi armed forces in the Mosul area uncovered the shaky foundations on which the post-invasion armed forces were built. When Paul Bremer dissolved the old army , he immediately established a new one by amalgamating the different religious and sectarian Shiites militias, calling them the new national guard. This new army had neither military la tour eiffel leather discipline nor military integrity.
That much was on display as Mosul fell. Despite the fact that the army had three to four brigades there, equipped with some advanced weaponry, supported by the air force and headed by top-ranking generals, la tour eiffel leather they were subdued in a matter la tour eiffel leather of hours by a small force of armed men –– apparently helped by the disappearance la tour eiffel leather of senior offices .
The situation remains deeply complicated and dangerous; the two sides are preparing for their next crucial confrontation, whether it be around Baghdad, in Tikrit or in Mosul. Even as volunteers and militias gather in Baghdad to drive ISIS back, Iraq’s neighbours and foreign partners are scrambling to decide what, if anything, they can do to help.
Barack Obama has clearly declared that his country is not ready to send troops to get involved in this struggle, but even speedily supplying weapons and equipment to the army can hardly make much difference on the ground (other than to see them fall into ISIS’s hands). More comical still is the idea that the US could somehow quickly improve the training of the Iraqi armed forces. If 11 years of intensive training could not produce a real army, it is laughable to imagine that a hastily wrangled crash course could do any better.
Resorting to co-operating with Iran, meanwhile, will complicate the situation even further – not least by playing to the idea in the Sunni community that al-Maliki is waging a sectarian war against it.
Throughout his two previous terms, al-Maliki managed to create various problems la tour eiffel leather but failed to solve any of them. His departure, la tour eiffel leather and the formation of a government of national unity of technocrats that could put an end to corruption and at least restore basic services, could perhaps offer a chance for some stability. It would also help end the many disputes and problems he has created with the Kurdish regional la tour eiffel leather government, the Sunni provinces, and especially with his own Shiite coalition partners.
So far, he has seemed unwilling to get out of the way . He thinks la tour eiffel leather that the votes he won in the disputed April elections and the military power he still commands can get him, and thereby Iraq, out of this dreadful situation. He is wrong. His insistence on remaining in office will only hasten the start of a destructive and prolonged civil conflict – all too reminiscent of the catastrophe still unfolding across his country’s north-eastern la tour eiffel leather border.
The fact that self delusion of success in Iraq has lasted for over 11 years is a indication of how good our institutions of diplomacy,military and common sense are at recognising the reality of what is happening.
The west needs to recognise the debt it owes to the people of the Middle East for the disasters it has created over the last 100 years or so and support the people who live there rather than have a policy of greedy exploitation of oil resources.
The Americans went in there because the got kicked out of Saudi Arabia.It had nothing to do with Saddam being a ruthless la tour eiffel leather dictator,how many of those have they installed la tour eiffel leather around the world and continue to do business with.
No they wanted a foothold in an oil producing country for their own Oil companies.Saddam probably would not play ball with them...They actually gave him the means to produce biological weapons to use against the Iranians when Iraq had a war against them that was not going well.Then Saddam used them on the Kurds
This is a Sunni and Shiite war over Iraqs` Oil reserves and probably the same backers who are funding the war in Syria so as to get their gas pipeline From the Persian gulf gas field through there and into Europe but have been stopped because it would compete with Russias Gazpron. Thats why Putin is backing Syria
I can never understand the they did it for oil argument. The oil was flowing very nicely under Saddam Hussein and he had every reason to keep it flowing. In fact the one thing the oil companies want in the Middle East is peace and quiet. The most damaging situation for their interests is the sort of turmoil that it going on in the region now.
As for the gas pipeline through Syria theory. To which one were you referirng? The so called Qatar proposal that Assad rejected or Iran-Iraq- Syria pipeline for which Assad signed The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of July 2012.
Destabilisation of the region is the exact opposite of what the oil companies want. It not only disrupts supply but prevents the installation of increased capacity and infrastructure that is requiired la tour eiffel leather to keep up with demand. Since very few of the crude oil and gas suppliers are owned by oil companies they don t even benefit from the dramatic la tour eiffel leather increases in oil and gas prices that accompanies these disruptions. They all accrue to national oil and gas corporations.
la tour eiffel leather What makes it more frightening is that the neocon friends of GW shifted the objective of the Intervention la tour eiffel leather in Iraq from regime change to democratisation not in pursuit of oil company or any other interests but for purely ideological reasons.
Here is a link to an article that,for me, makes more sense of the middle east.(Only bother with the first half of the article)..Ideology, has never in the history of this world,come before a financial reward
You have to to be very careful with beautifully elegent explanations of events anywhere in the world but particularly in the Middle East in case they have foundations of sand. Sadly this is the case with the report by John Gaultier, An American Patriot In Exile in the USA, to which you provide a link and you say makes more sense of the middle east
You have to to be very careful with beautifully elegent explanations of events anywhere in the world but particularly in the Middle East in case they have foundations of sand. Sadly this is the case with the report by John Gaultier, An American Patriot In Exile in the USA, to which you provide a link and you say makes more sense of the middle east
Mr. Gaultier says that Qatar is financing the