Premier’s Actions in Iraq Raise U.S. Concerns

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/world/middleeast/arrests-in-iraq-raise-concerns-about-maliki.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 10:31 AM
Subject: re: Premier’s Actions in Iraq Raise U.S. Concerns
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

   It is normal and praiseworthy that premier al-Maliki has worked to rein in Shiite militias in Iraq. As head of state, he has an interest in asserting a monopoly on force in the country.  There are two blocks in his path. One is Moqtada al-Sadr, who feels that his Mahdi army protects him  from prosecution for the murder of Abdul Majid al-Khoei.  The other is the Sunni Awakening, whom the U.S. armed and who now fear persecution from the Shiite majority.   Once they see that the Yankees have gone home and there's no one to keep the lid on, all hell is likely to break out in Iraq.

Barry Haskell Levine