The Next Iraq War

摘要

A convoy carrying Qassim Fahdawi sped down the desert highway toward Baghdad last month, but roughly 12 miles west of the capital, a roadside bomb blasted the vehicles. Fahdawi, the governor of Anbar province, escaped unharmed, but three of his bodyguards were injured. Fahdawi is no stranger to assassination plots. But this time was different. The bomb went off near an Army checkpoint manned by soldiers from the Muthanna Brigade, a notorious, largely Shiite unit that has been accused of human-rights violations against Sunnis. "I was previously targeted by Al Qaeda," Fahdawi said the next day in an interview with a local TV station. "But this time, unfortunately, I was targeted by ex-militia military elements … who do not want the best for Iraq." Roughly a month before the last American troops are set to leave the country, the attempt on Fahdawi's life appears to be yet another sign that the vicious, sectarian bloodletting that nearly tore Iraq apart almost five years ago may be set to resume. Only this time, there will be no American military presence to mitigate the carnage.