"From the election day through this period of government formation, more than eight months, providing security, manning their posts, and never wavering, even though their chain of command was up to a caretaker government," said Buchanan.
Charles Dunne thinks that does not tell the whole story, in particular, the role of the Sons of Iraq. Its members belong to the Sunni minority that renounced the insurgency to help the U.S.
?
"About half of these have been taken into government security positions," he said. "That leaves about another 49,000 out there, not being given permanent jobs, and could be a future source of al-Qaida-in-Iraq recruiting.
Leaders of Iraq's main political blocs, are seen during their meeting in Irbil, a city in the Kurdish controlled north, north of Baghdad, Iraq (File Photo - 08 Nov 2010)
There is also the issue of the Kurds, ethnically distinct from the Arab majority. In the north, they have enjoyed relative autonomy through much of the chaos.
But recent talk of self-determination could be a time bomb, especially since land separating Kurdistan from the mainly Arab south is in dispute, as is the oil rich city of Kirkuk.
Daniel Serwer of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies believes this is the biggest threat to Iraqi stability.
"I think we need to worry about making sure that, by the end of 2011, there is a process in motion that will resolve the Arab-Kurdish problems peacefully," he said.
最新
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27