Con Coughlin: Obama Risks Iraq's Future
[Mr. Coughlin is executive foreign editor of London's Daily Telegraph and author of "Saddam: The Secret Life".]
"We won. It's over, America. We brought democracy to Iraq," one young American soldier proclaimed as the last U.S. combat troops completed their withdrawal across the Kuwait border. But all the hard-won achievements of the past seven years are now in jeopardy thanks to President Barack Obama's insistence on reducing Washington's military commitment before Iraqis are strong enough to govern their own affairs.
Mohammed al-Gartini, a leader of one of the Sunni "Awakening" militias that participated in U.S. General David Petraeus's 2007 surge, articulated the fears of many Iraqis when he remarked, "The U.S. withdrawal will subject Iraq to strong attacks from terrorists, because we are now in a critical situation and the country is suffering from foreign interference."
And yesterday's deadly attacks proved those fears are not unfounded. A series of apparently coordinated bombings across the country killed at least 52 people only a day after the U.S. announced it had reduced its troop strength in Iraq to below 50,000.
Five months after Iraq's recent democratic elections, the country is gripped by political paralysis as the main political parties are still struggling to form a new government. Once again this vacuum is being filled by terror groups as Iraq's recent history of violence appears to be repeating itself. In 2005, when the country's first democratic election also led to months of political wrangling, Sunni-backed al Qaeda terrorists and Iran-financed Shia militias brought the country to the brink of civil war. Five years later, there are disturbing signs that both al Qaeda and Iran have returned to the fray. Iraqi intelligence officials believe the young suicide bomber who earlier this month killed 61 men and injured 100 more as they waited in Baghdad's Maidan Square to sign up for the Iraqi Army was sent by al-Qaeda.
The Islamist terror group's Iraq division, which was destroyed during the U.S.-led military surge, has been allowed to stage a come-back, helped by disaffected Sunni tribal elders...
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"We won. It's over, America. We brought democracy to Iraq," one young American soldier proclaimed as the last U.S. combat troops completed their withdrawal across the Kuwait border. But all the hard-won achievements of the past seven years are now in jeopardy thanks to President Barack Obama's insistence on reducing Washington's military commitment before Iraqis are strong enough to govern their own affairs.
Mohammed al-Gartini, a leader of one of the Sunni "Awakening" militias that participated in U.S. General David Petraeus's 2007 surge, articulated the fears of many Iraqis when he remarked, "The U.S. withdrawal will subject Iraq to strong attacks from terrorists, because we are now in a critical situation and the country is suffering from foreign interference."
And yesterday's deadly attacks proved those fears are not unfounded. A series of apparently coordinated bombings across the country killed at least 52 people only a day after the U.S. announced it had reduced its troop strength in Iraq to below 50,000.
Five months after Iraq's recent democratic elections, the country is gripped by political paralysis as the main political parties are still struggling to form a new government. Once again this vacuum is being filled by terror groups as Iraq's recent history of violence appears to be repeating itself. In 2005, when the country's first democratic election also led to months of political wrangling, Sunni-backed al Qaeda terrorists and Iran-financed Shia militias brought the country to the brink of civil war. Five years later, there are disturbing signs that both al Qaeda and Iran have returned to the fray. Iraqi intelligence officials believe the young suicide bomber who earlier this month killed 61 men and injured 100 more as they waited in Baghdad's Maidan Square to sign up for the Iraqi Army was sent by al-Qaeda.
The Islamist terror group's Iraq division, which was destroyed during the U.S.-led military surge, has been allowed to stage a come-back, helped by disaffected Sunni tribal elders...