The recent announcement of an alliance between Iraqi Sunni, Shiite, and
secular opposition parties underscores the political roots of much of
the conflict in Iraq, highlighting the limitations of the reductionist
interpretation of the Iraqi-Iraqi conflicts that tends to focus only on
sectarian differences.
Focusing on criticisms of the government's efforts to give regional governments control over local oil revenues, which opposition leaders have denounced as a move in the direction of partitioning Iraq along sectarian lines, an ominous observation given the very real demographic shifts that have taken place in the last two years as a result of forced displacement on the basis of sectarian identity.
So, here we have Sunnis, Shiites, and secularists opposed to a government of Sunnis, Shiites, and secularists (as well as ethnic Kurds), with clear differences on de-Baathification, distribution of oil revenues, and the status of Kirkuk and the Kurdish region. Rather than support a reconciliation process that actually allows for compromise on these and other issues, the US administration continues to support the government of Nouri Al Maliki, asserting blindly that the agenda he and his allies advocate is best for Iraq. As long as they make the concessions the US wants them to make to US interests, that is. Read an article from the Daily Telegraph with more information.
