Paralysis in Iraq

A number of stories this week point to a worsening situation in the aftermath of the elections. On the military front, there are two reports of interest:

2 candidates from Iraq's Sunni-backed party killed

AP reports (June 5^th): Gunmen killed two candidates from the Sunni-backed coalition that won the most seats in Iraq's March parliamentary election, slayings that the alliance said were part of a politically motivated campaign of assassinations.

Neither candidate was expected to take a seat in the new parliament as both failed to win enough votes. But the killings were the third and fourth of candidates from the secular Iraqiya alliance in recent months, raising concerns about political intimidation of the top vote-getting bloc in the March 7 election.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD9G5B6L01

Iraqi stalemate stirs militias

Middle East Online reports (June 4^th): Commanders from Iraq’s Sunni and Shia militias say they are ready to fight on behalf of their communities, highlighting concerns that a prolonged deadlock over forming a new government may give way to violence.

Although the militiamen said they had no desire to revive the sectarian war that nearly tore Iraq apart, they also cast doubt on the authorities’ ability to maintain security in the coming months.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=39388

Overall violence rose in May:

Iraqi Violence Rose Again in May

Antiwar.com reports (June 1^st): Iraq has seen its deadliest month of the year and a civilian death toll that more than doubled the previous year. Overall, 275 civilians were reported killed according to numbers furnished by the Iraqi government, and another 520 were wounded. This was slightly more than the tolls for April.

http://news.antiwar.com/2010/06/01/iraqi-violence-rose-again-in-may/

and Christian Science Monitor underlines the political impasse:

Iraqis can't get pensions, visas, or permits due to Iraq election limbo

CSM reports (May 28^th): For hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, the delay in seating a new government, which already has lasted nearly three months, has complicated everyday errands and added bureaucratic frustration to lives that are hard enough thanks to persistent violence and the lack of basic utilities.

Licenses, pensions will just have to waitMore than 100,000 new state jobs are on hold, and mundane tasks such as obtaining licenses and registering for pensions are backlogged until a new government is seated, Iraqi officials and Baghdad residents said this week.

Each day the political infighting drags on, more Iraqis begin to question their participation in the March 7 parliamentary elections, which the Obama administration had counted on to pave the way for an unimpeded withdrawal of US forces by the end of next year.

As militants continue a campaign of bombings, assassinations, and high-profile robberies, complaints of a security void are growing. In casual conversations, call-in radio shows, and newspaper cartoons, Iraq's ruling elites are portrayed as Green Zone dwellers with 24-hour electricity, personal bodyguards, and little empathy for the suffering of ordinary folk.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100528/wl_csm/304571