Terror has struck in Baghdad once more. At least 60 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a crowded army recruitment centre in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday.
The attack, the deadliest this year, wounded at least another 100 people and came a day after Iraq's two main political parties suspended talks over the formation of a new government, five months on from elections, and as the US withdraws thousands of its soldiers from the country.
Iraq has suffered a surge in terrorist attacks since the March 7 elections, in which there was no clear winner. The political deadlock has understandably led to uncertainty and friction amongst the various factions that have representatives in the outgoing Cabinet.
This has resulted in incoherence, a power struggle even within the government itself and a security vacuum. Armed groups are trying to fill that vacuum with a campaign of terror aimed at destabilising the country, embarrassing the government and its security forces and ultimately creating separate cantons.
Therefore, the ridiculous squabbling over who will lead a new government is not only allowing the terror networks to regroup and arm themselves — following a successful campaign by the government in recent years to dismantle some of these groups — but also threatens the territorial integrity of Iraq.
Affected communities, which see a political and security failure, might be tempted to create their own ‘states' in which they can fend for themselves. On the other hand, groups affiliated with Al Qaida have been trying also to establish their own ‘Islamic state'.
Meanwhile, innocent blood is being shed during Ramadan.
The Iraqi government was quick to blame Tuesday's carnage on Al Qaida. But the truth is that the government, and its leader Nouri Al Maliki, along with other political parties, bear the ultimate responsibility for the loss of innocent Iraqi lives.
