Jim Hoagland, the neocon-oriented Post columnist and long-time Middle East watcher, is the first to suggest (in his column today) that Iraq's resistance is getting ready to declare a government:
Bush now faces the prospect of an insurgent "government" declaring control over Anbar province and other Sunni-dominated areas in a matter of months -- with open support from Iraq's Arab neighbors -- if trends continue.
This is an important, but very complicated issue. Such a government would not be the same as the separatist, Islamist "republic" that the remnants of Al Qaeda in Iraq promoted last year. If it emerges, with (as Hoagland suggests) with the "open support" of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and even Syria, it would be a massive step toward regional war. If Hoagland is right that such an event could occur in months, it is something that ought to be getting a lot more attention.
Comments (1)
Fancy the Post now having insights on the deteriorating situation in Iraq! Another neo-con jumping ship.Ominous indeed!
Given that Sunnis have suffered disproportionately from US firepower,that the Shia-dominated govt.is incapable of disbanding the death squads,and has gone out of its way to alienate Sunnis with the manner of Saddam's execution,who would blame Sunnis for wanting their own state?
If Shias have understandably fallen into the occupiers' divide and rule trap,and since the fortuitous ( for Bush at least ) Samarra attack they clearly have, then Sunnis need areas with a measure of self-rule and some security.
Moreover such areas,to which displaced Sunnis in their tens of thousands can return will certainly be welcomed by their reluctant hosts in Syria and Jordan.
Posted by Freeborn | January 8, 2007 7:24 AM
Posted on January 8, 2007 07:24