This is what we are surging into:
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s presentation of a new Baghdad security plan to the Iraqi Parliament on Thursday broke down in bitter sectarian recriminations, with Mr. Maliki threatening a Sunni Arab lawmaker with arrest and, in response, the Sunni speaker of Parliament threatening to quit.
Eventually, the tensions eased and lawmakers approved the security plan, which gives Mr. Maliki, a Shiite, more authority. But the episode provided the Iraqi public with a live televised view of the extent of raw anger dividing Shiite and Sunni politicians.
Outside of Parliament, bloody sectarian battles continued on the streets of Baghdad. Three hours after the confrontation between lawmakers, a huge car bomb killed at least 25 people in the Karrada district, less than a mile from Parliament in an area favored by leading Shiite politicians. Residents there reported a horrific scene, with two busloads of people trapped in their vehicles and burned alive.
Do you want your son or daughter arbitrating this dispute? Do you have any faith that even our best commanding general can overcome what the Iraq parliament cannot?
As the prime minister continued, Shiites encouraged him on and Sunni Arabs tried to shout him down.
[The Sunni Speaker] Mr. Mashhadani yelled for everyone to “shut up.”
“I cannot see how it is possible that a new security plan can work,” he said in disgust.
This was all broadcast on live Iraqi television. The Prime Minister announces a security plan, the Sunnis object, the Prime Minister threatens to have a Sunni lawmaker arrested, accuses him of massacring Shi’ites, the Speaker demands an apology…they turn the cameras off. Meanwhile, outside on the streets, busloads of innocent people are being burned alive.
I don’t know how Dick Cheney can live with himself, let alone say we’ve had tremendous successes in Iraq.
