Friday, November 01, 2013

Blog 8: The Iraqi prime minister appeals to Obama.

Iraq has slowly slipped out of the news, as the focal point of American attention was fixated on the government shutdown and the aftermath as well as the struggles and triumphs of Obamacare. During the month of October Iraq has had it's deadliest month since 2008, with over 1000 of it's citizens attacked and killed. On Thursday October 31st, Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, spoke in Washington and was scheduled to meet with the president late Friday afternoon. 
Maliki spoke of the increasing death's and violence, all of which he tied back to the terrorist group Al-Qaeda whom were described as common enemies to both the US and Iraq.
Maliki stated,“Imagine how Americans would react if you had a terrorist organization operating on your own soil that killed dozens and maimed hundreds every week,” he wrote. “For Iraqis, that isn’t a hypothetical question.”

Maliki stated that he had officially put in a request for American assistance. 
Many US officials have stated that the attacks are not coming from Al-Qaeda sources, but from spillover of the current conflict in Syria. They also blame Maliki for his overly autocratic leadership and recent dealings with Iran. 

It will be interesting to see how congress, as well as President Obama, react to Maliki's formal request of United States intervention into Iraq's exponentially budding civil conflict. The idea of future involvement does not seem like it will be a favorable one, as the Nation only recently pulled all of it's troops from Iraq. Though it may seem like the US has a responsibility to uphold the safety of human lives, and to help Iraq after stirring up turmoil in the state early in the decade. 

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