Where Is Iraq Going?

Baghdad Attacks Are Symptom Of Resurgent Sectarian Tensions -- Ian Black, The Guardian

Following years of declining violence, incidents have been multiplying recently in a profoundly polarised country

It is highly unlikely to be a coincidence that, 10 years to the day since the start of the US-led invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein, mass bloodletting in Iraq has hit the headlines again.

Hours after the attacks that claimed the lives of more than 50 people on Tuesday, no-one had claimed responsibility, but the co-ordinated atrocities bore the grimly familiar hallmarks of al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) – a violent organisation operating in a profoundly polarised and unstable country.

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My Comment: I am not optimistic on Iraq .... I never have been. And while there has been periods in the past few years where I did voice a certain level of optimism that the Iraqis will "get their act together" .... because of it's enormous oil wealth .... I do not share those sentiments anymore. Corruption, sectarianism, interference by it's neighbors, Kurdish demands for independence, the Syrian civil war, the continuance of terrorism coupled with the proliferation of extremists on all sides .... this has poisoned any chance of Iraq attaining stability in my lifetime. As a result ..... my prediction for the future is the following .... a low level conflict in which sectarian bombings and killings will be a way of life for the next few generations .... if not more.

Later this evening I will be putting up a number of posts that look back on the Iraq invasion, the occupation, and a collection of commentaries, opinions, predictions, and analysis on the 10th anniversary of the war.