When the Obama administration took office in January, they inherited a stable Iraq, in which U.S. troops had for over four years been relegated to training Iraq’s Armed Forces and Police and rebuilding its infrastructure.
Iraq’s government had held two democratic elections and was taking a more proactive role in running the country as the U.S. military’s role subsided.
That’s why the AP report about Sunday’s pre-dawn raid in the southern Shiite city of Kut that ended with at least one woman dead, after being caught in gunfire, and six suspects arrested for alleged links to Shiite militia factions, is so puzzling.
Jawad al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister denounced a deadly U.S. raid on Sunday as a "crime" that violated the security pact with Washington and demanded American commanders hand over those responsible to face possible trial in Iraqi courts.
With Pakistan’s government being threatened by an expanding Taliban takeover of large swaths of that nation, it seems as though the Mideast has gotten a lot more volatile since the Obama administration came in seeking to end many of the Bush policies there.
Iraq’s government had held two democratic elections and was taking a more proactive role in running the country as the U.S. military’s role subsided.
That’s why the AP report about Sunday’s pre-dawn raid in the southern Shiite city of Kut that ended with at least one woman dead, after being caught in gunfire, and six suspects arrested for alleged links to Shiite militia factions, is so puzzling.
Jawad al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister denounced a deadly U.S. raid on Sunday as a "crime" that violated the security pact with Washington and demanded American commanders hand over those responsible to face possible trial in Iraqi courts.
With Pakistan’s government being threatened by an expanding Taliban takeover of large swaths of that nation, it seems as though the Mideast has gotten a lot more volatile since the Obama administration came in seeking to end many of the Bush policies there.
