DESPITE THE spin from Downing Street and the White House, an internal
report from the US embassy and military command in Baghdad shows that
Iraq’s ‘political, economic and security situation’ in six of the
country’s 18 provinces is "serious" and "critical"
in one. Only in three Kurdish-controlled areas in the north is the
situation described as "stable".
The report, compiled before February’s devastating bombing of the
Golden Mosque in Samarra, shows that Iraq is fracturing along
ethnic/religious lines. It also confirms that sectarian ‘ethnic
cleansing’ is happening in mixed Sunni-Shia populations.
The insurgency against the coalition troops and interim government is
largely Sunni Arab based. Whereas in the south, especially in the
province of Basra, pro-Iranian Shi’ite political factions and militias
are growing in power.
George Bush and Tony Blair argue that the antidote to sectarian
violence is the formation of a national government – which has still not
been formed since December’s parliamentary elections. But the lack of a
‘national government’ is precisely because of the domination of
sectarian politicians and political parties.
That is why the dominant Shia ‘United Iraqi Alliance’ coalition in
parliament is refusing demands from the US and British government’s for
the Shia interim prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to stand down.
But even if a national unity government were to be formed it would be
largely impotent as the police and army battalions are loyal to the
leaders from their own communities. The war and occupation has shed huge
amounts of blood while greatly worsening all of Iraq’s problems.
