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| Iraq |
| The MullahsÂ’ Eyes on Iraq |
| 2011-04-25 |
| Amid heightened concerns that Iraq’s democracy is becoming increasingly vulnerable to an array of internal political and economic threats, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki strongly repeated his stance that the remaining 50,000 US troops will be gone from his country by the December, 2011 deadline. Not surprisingly, the main beneficiary of this action appears to be, once again, the Islamic Republic of Iran. Despite the conflagration of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and Iranian efforts to incite horrific sectarian violence in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion, Iran’s ties to Iraq have actually grown increasingly closer as the US presence diminishes. To wit, through a series of economic agreements, Iran is now Iraq’s largest trading partner. Iran has also created politically influential ties with Baghdad’s government through Shiite proxies such as al-Sadr and the Iraqi Shiite coalition. Some are very concerned with Iran’s role in this drama. As Iraqi political advisor Wrya Saeed Rwandzi warned, “Iran is openly fighting the secular democratic forces in the entire region. They are more dangerous than al-Qaida.” In fact, he went on to say, “Obama is doing nothing. The U.S. has no clear policy, and is sending contradictory messages.” |
| Posted by:Zebulon Thranter9685 |