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A wave of bomb explosions sent plumes of smoke into the air across Baghdad yesterday, killing 63 and injuring 194 people in the worst violence for months. There is a growing sense of crisis in Iraq as the Shia prime minister Nouri al-Maliki tries to arrest his own Sunni vice president on charges of running death squads.

The threat of escalating sectarian warfare is deepened by the fear among the Iraqi Shia elite that the Arab Awakening movement is turning into an anti-Shia crusade led by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

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Instead of stressing national unity,  Maliki has alienated the Sunni minority, who fear further persecution, and angered the Kurds, who form an essential part of the Iraqi government. Leaders from both communities have previously denounced  Maliki’s dictatorial tendencies since he became prime minister in 2006. He has also damaged Barack Obama who had been intending to emphasize in the presidential election his success in withdrawing US troops leaving behind a democratic and stable Iraq.

Maliki’s paranoia may have some justification, given that Iraqi politics at every level is very violent and no doubt plots and conspiracies against him do exist. Moreover,  Maliki, now aged 61, has spent much if his life in the Islamic Dawa,  the Shia religious party, membership of which meant torture and execution if unmasked under Saddam Hussein. Not surprisingly, the mentality of its surviving members makes them suspect that they are threatened by potential traitors.

Maliki spent much of his life in exile after being forced to flee Iraq in 1979 and lived in Iran and Syria until the US invasion and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. The Shia hold on power on Iraq may appear unbreakable, but the community fears a counter-attack by its old enemies.

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ORIGINAL: Sanity


Its fine if a Dem president bombs away in other words

And you are mistaken, that wasn't posted anywhere

Further, its noteworthy that there was bombing and carnage in another Islamic nation today. Perhaps that's practically the state of normalcy in that particular region?

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ORIGINAL: slvemike4u

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ORIGINAL: Sanity


Its fine if a Dem president bombs away in other words

And you are mistaken, that wasn't posted anywhere

Further, its noteworthy that there was bombing and carnage in another Islamic nation today. Perhaps that's practically the state of normalcy in that particular region?

When this Democratic President invades a soveriegn Nation involving us in an 8 year war at an untold cost in blood and treasure(both ours and theirs) you just might have a point.
As it is ,he hasn't ,and you don't(nor,it would seem,do you ever)

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ORIGINAL: InvisibleBlack
If Iraq crumbles into a bloody and violent civil war -
Do you think the United States will go back in and restore order?
And beyond that, do you think the United States should?

[Edited: Typos]

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ORIGINAL: Sanity

Its fine if a Dem president bombs away in other words

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And you are mistaken, that wasn't posted anywhere

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Further, its noteworthy that there was bombing and carnage in another Islamic nation today. Perhaps that's practically the state of normalcy in that particular region?

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ORIGINAL: Sanity

Its fine if a Dem president bombs away in other words

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ORIGINAL: Ninebelowzero

Until WW2 Iraq was split into 3 countries under British control, Kurds to the north Sunni's in the middle & a Shia south, the old British Empire knew then what we are ignorant of now, that the 3 are warring factions with a millennia of racial hatred behind them. it is never going to get any better until a strong leader rises up & rules with an Iron grip. Oh wait a minute we just got rid of one of them.

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Or just wait til Armoured Dinner Jacket sees a windo of opportunity & uses his revolutionary guards to invade. Then we get the pretext to start a war against Iran.

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle
Armoured Dinner Jacket just sat back and rubbed his little hands while his deadliest enemies delivered the huge prize of control of Iraq and liberation of the Shia there from Sunni tyranny straight into his grubby paws. Gift wrapped. And now they can't get away from the place fast enough .....

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ORIGINAL: Ninebelowzero

Until WW2 Iraq was split into 3 countries under British control, Kurds to the north Sunni's in the middle & a Shia south, the old British Empire knew then what we are ignorant of now, that the 3 are warring factions with a millennia of racial hatred behind them. it is never going to get any better until a strong leader rises up & rules with an Iron grip. Oh wait a minute we just got rid of one of them.

Or just wait til Armoured Dinner Jacket sees a windo of opportunity & uses his revolutionary guards to invade. Then we get the pretext to start a war against Iran. Sounds like a conspiracy theory to me.

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ORIGINAL: DomKen

When Iraq crumbles into a bloody and violent civil war-
It will be entirely our fault
And we should not go back in under any circumstance.