Terror is Making a Comeback in Iraq

By Fatih Abdulsalam, Azzaman. Posted January 27, 2009.

In a few hours last week three families were liquidated inside their homes. This is no coincidence. Things rarely happen in Iraq by chance.

The first family was exterminated in Suwaira south of Baghdad, the second in Mosul and the third in Baladroz in Diyala.

The three families had nothing to do with politics or factionalism. Murderous acts like these are nothing but a new form of terror that is sweeping the country once again.

It is being perpetrated by sides for which horrible actions like these are not unusual. They practiced such acts in the past. They are making a comeback and the reasons are clear.

For the time being we will decline revealing their identity and names. But they are known to utilize certain periods of time to achieve their political aims by resorting to terror and violence.

The recent upsurge in insecurity has nothing to do with resistance or traditional terror. It makes statements by the government in Baghdad of the readiness and preparedness of its army and police to deal with security hollow and empty.

Many Iraqis now wonder what is going to happen if U.S. President Barack Obama honors election pledges and swiftly withdraws U.S. troops from Iraq.

It seems the government has a false impression about security and the responsibility to reinstate law and order in the provinces.

Security does not mean sending a police vehicle or deploying an army patrol here and there. Security requires political stability and national reconciliation and both are far from happening in Iraq.

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