IRBIL - Iraq is again haunted by the
ghosts of Samarra, with last week's attack on the
Shi'ite-revered al-Askari Mosque raising fears
that it could touch off a new wave of sectarian
violence in a country already crippled by
large-scale violence and political crisis.
In a similar move last year, al-Qaeda in
Iraq bombed the golden dome of the Samarra shrine,
125 kilometers north of Baghdad, where two of the
Shi'ite's holy imams are buried.
According
to the beliefs of the Shi'ite sect of Islam, the promised
savior Mahdi will come back
to life from that mosque. Last year's incident
caused a drastic rise in violence in Iraq that
claimed thousands of lives in Shi'ite-Sunni
reprisal attacks and displaced hundreds of
thousands. It marked a turning point in al-Qaeda's
proclaimed strategy to trigger an all-out civil
war between the country's Shi'ites and Sunnis.
The repercussions of the second Samarra
bombing have so far been limited to a few attacks
on Sunni targets in Baghdad and Basra. This time,
the Iraqi government managed to largely contain
reprisals by quickly imposing curfews in Baghdad
and other cities and dispatching hundreds of
troops to Samarra.
Nevertheless, observers
warn that if additional measures are not taken,
the latest Samarra incident - in which no one was
killed but the mosque's famed golden minarets were
destroyed - could spark a new round of sectarian
bloodshed in the country.
"The Samarra
bombing shows that the sectarian conflict in Iraq
is far from over," Sami Shorish, a political
analyst from Irbil, told Inter Press Service
(IPS). "If concrete political steps toward
national reconciliation are not taken immediately
and effectively, the Samarra attack and similar
incidents will very negatively affect Iraq's
security and political situation - in fact, much
worse than what we are witnessing today."
The bombing is considered a serious blow
to the ongoing efforts of the Iraqi and US
governments to curtail violence in the country.
Despite an ongoing security operation since last
February - originally codenamed "Operation
Imposing Law" - a recent Pentagon report to
Congress admits the level of violence in Iraq has
remained "relatively unchanged". Iraqi and
American commanders concede that they only control
40% of the capital Baghdad.
"Iraq's main
problem is not a military or security one but is a
political problem," Shorish said. "Without
political steps aimed at creating conciliation
among various groups, neither Operation Imposing
Law nor any other military and security operation
can end the chaos and terror."
Iraqi
politicians say they are closely watching the
situation, and Abdul-Khaliq Zangana, a Kurdish
member of Iraqi Parliament in Baghdad, recently
voiced concern over the possible consequences of
the Samarra bombing.
Iraq's deepening
sectarianism appears to have thwarted hopes of a
major breakthrough in political and security
arenas. The Pentagon report released in early June
cites among other reasons, "the dominance of
identity politics over politics based on issues"
as well as lack of "cooperation among political
parties" as two major factors driving the current
crisis in Iraq.
Zangana acknowledges that
sectarianism has become the "prevailing norm" in
the functioning of government institutions.
In reality, sectarian differences have
hindered the passage of several crucial laws and
constitutional amendments regarded as key to the
efforts to stabilize the country.
Iraqi
Sunni Arabs who complain of marginalization are
eager to see the ratification of a new oil law and
a revision of de-Ba'athification law that has
deprived many of them from working in public
positions.
"The country is in a continuous
state of crisis ... and the coming months will be
a difficult test for Iraqi government and
Parliament," Zangana told IPS in a telephone
interview from Baghdad. "Despite many promises
that have been given, major measures have not been
taken in practice in terms of improving the
security situation or the state of services and
economy."
He said that people in Baghdad
are experiencing extremely difficult conditions.
For instance, electricity is only available for a
few hours, water shortages have become part of
daily life and people are standing in long lines
under Baghdad's burning heat to get a few liters
of oil to operate their private electric
generators.
"The situation is really
unbearable here. People are living in bad
conditions and are facing a different kind of
formidable problems," Zangana said. "I really
don't know how long people are going to tolerate
this situation."
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
