(snip)
"Al Qaeda is trying to ... use some gaps created by some political problems," the Iraqi security spokesman told Arabiya TV. "There are well-known agendas for the terrorist groups operating in Iraq. Some of these groups are supported regionally and internationally with the aim of influencing the political and democratic process inside Iraq."
........Violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically since the height of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007. But the political vacuum in the wake of the inconclusive election has raised the risk that sectarian violence will pick up again.
Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya coalition, a secular group heavily backed by the Sunni Arab minority, edged out Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's religious Shiite bloc by two seats in the parliamentary election but neither won an outright majority, forcing them to seek partners to form a ruling coalition.
(snip)
The attacks also come at a precarious time as Iraq awaits a new government to be formed more than two months after landmark parliamentary elections and worries that insurgents will try to exploit the ongoing political uncertainty to stoke new violence.
The election results have yet to be certified by the country's highest court - which must happen before any new government can be formed - and a recount demanded by al-Maliki in Baghdad is ongoing.
If the results are overturned or Allawi is not perceived as the winner deserving a legitimate shot at forming a government, that could in turn outrage the Sunnis who supported him. Sunni anger at Shiite domination of successive governments was a key reason behind the insurgency.
So much for “hearts and minds.”
Does anyone think zebam cares? I never understood why our guys were dying to create yet another islamic state. I still don’t.
I tried to understand when we were told Iraq would become a secular state as a buffer in the area, a foil to iran. But it never worked that way, it isn’t working that way now, and it never will.
Anyone in a western government who thinks that you can make deals with islam is out of their mind. And as much as Petraeus did manage to win the moment, unfortunately, he lost the war because from the very outset, the war was between saudi arabia and iran for dominance in the area. We were little more than saudi proxies. I said it then. I’m still saying it now.
The Kurds will have to watch their backs just like they did before...when daddy bush allowed them to be slaughtered like cattle.