Conflict In Iraq Is There To Stay For A Very Long Time

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Amid Progress in Iraq, Sides Have Scores to Settle
-- New York Times

BAGHDAD — The dust storms that have blanketed Baghdad, making it hard to see for much of the summer, seem a metaphor for the times.

The security situation is indisputably good. Violence is down. Parliament passed both a law to hold a census for the first time in more than three decades and a provincial election law that would allow the balloting to be held in all but one province by the end of January. This is clear progress.

But look harder at this moment — even at the passage of the election law — and it is possible to make out paths leading either to failure or to success.

From the American standpoint, elections are a good thing, a chance to sort out the division of power peacefully. Elections would allow a number of groups now excluded from the political mix to have a place at the table. Chief among them are representatives of tribal Sunnis and impoverished Shiites.

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My Comment: A few years back I heard a saying from a friend who served for the Israeli Army .... with the passage of time it accurately sums up the mindset and culture of the Middle East. If you kill someone, also dig your own grave. Someone will kill you for revenge later on.

So much of the Middle East's anger and hate comes from historical conflicts that have never been pacified and resolved. The culture of revenge is too deep in the psyche, and is usually not resolved when the conflict has ended. In Iraq .... the historical injustices and cruelty permeates the land and its people. It is going to take many generations living in peace and a just legal system to vet out much of this anger.