The chaos of Nouri Al Maliki’s term as Iraqi Prime Minister since 2006 has been largely a matter for Iraqis to regret, as his increasingly sectarian style of patronage has favoured his own Shiite sect to the serious detriment of Sunnis in particular and the several non-Arab minorities who are an integral part of Iraq in general. His dictatorial style is exemplified by the way in which he concentrated power in his own hands. In the last cabinet, he was prime minister and acting interior minister, acting defence minister and acting national security minister.
Unfortunately, he was not able to deliver on these many roles and the disaster that was waiting to happen unfolded this week when the radical Islamist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) walked in and captured most of government-controlled Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, as well as Samarra, having successfully held Fallujah since January against feeble Iraqi government efforts to dislodge them from this flashpoint city close to Baghdad. About 500,000 have now fled Mosul.
To get this far, Isil has taken advantage of Sunni fury with Al Maliki and has formed effective links with large Sunni militias in the Anbar and Nineveh provinces of western and northern Iraq. It has also established control of large areas of eastern Syria, from which neither the Syrian government forces nor the opposition Free Syrian Army can dislodge them.
The disturbing prospect of Isil setting up an independent, radical Islamist region on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border means that Al Maliki’s record is no longer a matter for the Iraqis alone. Disparate neighbours, like Turkey, Iran and the Gulf states all share a deep concern that the nihilism of Isil does not gain any more traction than it has been allowed so far. Al Maliki has been allowed far too much benefit of the doubt and it is time Iraq’s friends tell the wavering government that they cannot continue to ignore its persistent failure to deliver genuine inclusion for all Iraqis, ensure security of the people and establish the rule of law over patronage and power.
