From the Belmont Club
Meanwhile, Maliki has told the Kurds to turn over Hashimi, an act which may set the clock ticking. “Maliki, calling on the Kurds to hand over Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi who has taken refuge in their autonomous region, said he wanted Hashemi’s Sunni-backed Iraqiya block to end a boycott of parliament and of his year-old power-sharing government.” If they refused, he said, they could leave the government entirely. That was yet another act which set the fuse going. There are altogether too many fuses burning for safety’s sake. And the question is, who’s goint to put them out?
Maliki’s ultimatums have set up a a showdown. It is an axiom that an officer who issues an order that is likely to be refused by his subordinates risks not only a specific disobedience but the complete collapse of his authority. If the Kurds defy Maliki, what then? One possible scenario was supplied by the Iraqi foreign minister, a Kurd, who darkly hinted thatforeign powers might be tempted to intervene in Iraq and plunge it into turmoil. He was probably referring to Iran and Syria.
If Iran or Syria goes into Iraq and if the Kurds get mushed, and if Maliki keeps throwing Sunni gang signs, everything will be on Obama's head to prove his diplomacy won't undo all those years, money and blood America has spent in Iraq. I don't want to say that he has already lost the peace, but I don't have much confidence.
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