As Southern Iraq descends into chaos, the Associated Press reports that the new Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has declared a month-long state of emergency in the city of Basra:
BASRA, Iraq — Iraq’s new prime minister declared a state of emergency Wednesday in the southern city of Basra, vowing to crack down with an “iron fist” on rival gangs battling each other for power. […]
Violence has been escalating in Shiite-dominated Basra, with a wave of kidnappings and the slaying of nearly 140 people – mostly Sunnis but also Shiites and police – in May alone, police said. The tension has been brewing largely due to the growing influence of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army, and the armed Badr organization, both Shiite groups.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, declared the monthlong state of emergency during a visit to the oil-rich region, said Syed Muhammad al-Haidari, a top Shiite official traveling with him. Al-Maliki gave a strong denunciation of the violence that Sunni religious leaders have blamed on Shiite death squads.
“We shall use an iron fist against the leaders of the gangs or those who threaten security,” he said earlier in a speech, apparently referring to the militias as well as rival tribal groups. “And we shall ask all security departments to draw up an effective and quick plan to achieve security.”
And our leaving Iraq would make it worse? How much worse can it get at this point?
More US troops are being deployed, rather than withdrawn, in preparation for a campaign in Ramadi similar to the earlier operation in Fallujah. The formerly “stable” region of Basra has descended into open warfare between rival Shia factions. More accusations about the killing of Iraqi civilians by US troops are revealed each day. An undeclared border war in the North is onging between Kurdish groups on the one hand, and Iranian and Turkish forces on the other hand.
This is not the central front on the War on Terror, as President Bush so often claims. Nor is it a war to bring freedom and democracy to the Middle East. It is madness, my friends. Sheer and utter madness. And there are no good solutions to insane situations.
