Is Iraq Unraveling?

Iraq’s Sectarian Violence: Bombings Plunge Country Into Deadly Spiral -- Time

In early January 2006, less than a month after I arrived in Iraq as a young U.S. Army lieutenant, I witnessed my first act of violence committed against Iraqi civilians. While on a patrol on a highway 20 km south of Baghdad, a roadside bomb targeting my platoon exploded a second too late — or perhaps a second too early — in front of my vehicle and behind my wingman, tearing instead into a tiny pickup truck traveling in the right-hand lane. When I ran up to the truck, I found the driver dead, his head nearly decapitated.

It took me a few seconds to see his son slumped beside him, his tiny body torn to pieces from the bomb’s shrapnel. They must have just left a market, I thought. The boy held a crate of eggs on his lap. Despite the carnage inside the cab, the shattered glass and chunks of flesh, the two dozen eggs were untouched. Not a single one was broken.

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More News On The Growing Unrest In Iraq

Deadly Attacks Strike Iraq Again -- Radio Free Europe
Attacks in Iraq kill over 40, sectarian tensions high -- Reuters
Deadly bombings continue across Iraq -- Al Jazeera
Sectarian Violence Erupts Again Across Iraq -- Al Monitor
Deadly Iraq attacks amid security rethink -- Deutsche Welle
Canada warns of possible Iraq 'civil war' -- AFP
Iraqi spokesman: premier orders shake-up among military commanders in wake of deadly attacks -- Washington Post/AP
Iraq Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki orders security shake-up -- Gulf News/AFP
Iraqi PM Orders Security Shakeup as Violence Surges -- Voice of America
A look at the deadliest attacks in Iraq since the 2011 US troop pullout -- Washington Post/AP
Over 400 Killed in a Week of Iraqi Violence. Is Sectarian Civil War Up and Running Again? -- Jason Ditz, Antiwar
Maliki: Is Iraq PM's Repression Of Sunnis Driving Iraq's Violence? -- Alex Bennett, Policymic
Is Iraq unraveling? -- Samuel Burke, CNN
Are the dark days returning to Iraq? -- Shashank Joshi, CNN

Iraq's Sectarian Violence Continues To Escalate

Car Bomb Attacks Kill Dozens In Iraqi Cities -- BBC

At least 54 people have been killed and many others injured in a series of car bomb attacks in central and southern Iraq, officials say.

Baghdad was worst hit, with nine explosions at bus stations and markets in the mainly Shia Muslim districts.

Two bombs went off earlier in the day in the southern city of Basra, and a blast in Samarra killed three people.

The attacks are part of the recent rise in violence in Iraq linked to growing political and sectarian tension.

Police said nearly 200 people were injured in Monday's violence in Iraq.

The bloodiest attack in Baghdad happened in the northern Shia neighbourhood of Shaab, when a car bomb exploded near a crowded market place killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 20.

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More News On The Growing Violence In Iraq

Dozens dead in bombings, shootings, kidnappings across Iraq -- UPI
Violence in Iraq hits deadliest level in five years -- Euronews
Iraq violence 'kills 50 in two days' -- AFP
Iraq Hit By Wave Of Deadly Bombings -- Radio Free Europe
Wave of attacks kills at least 70 in Iraq -- AP
Bombs targeting Sunnis kill at least 76 in Iraq -- Bloomberg Businessweek/AP
Car bombs target Iraq Shi'ites, killing 43 -- Reuters
Forty killed in car bombings across Iraq as new wave of sectarian violence threatens to destabilise country -- Daily Mail
Iraq car bombings kill scores of civilians -- The Guardian

The Rise Of Sectarian Attacks And Bloodshed In Iraq

Dozens Killed in Bombing Outside Baghdad -- Voice of America

Dozens of people have been killed in twin bombings targeting Sunni worshippers in Iraq - bringing the death toll from several days of violence to nearly 100 and increasing fears of renewed sectarian conflict.

The first bomb exploded after the worshippers left a mosque in Baquba, just north of Baghdad. A second bomb went off as people gathered to help the wounded, killing at least 40 and injuring dozens more.

Friday's attacks followed a wave of bombings in Iraq this week.

On Thursday, 25 people were killed in separate car bombings in Shi'ite neighborhoods of Baghdad and Kirkuk. And at least 33 were killed on Wednesday in bombings in the capital and other cities.

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More News On The Sectarian Violence In Iraq

Deadliest day in months as bombs strike Sunni areas in Iraq, killing 76 -- FOX News/AP
At Least 66 Killed in Bomb Blasts in Iraq -- New York Times
Bombings kill dozens of Sunnis in Iraq - CNN
Two blasts at Iraqi Sunni mosque kill 43 -- Reuters
Dozens killed in series of Iraq bombs -- The Telegraph
Revenge attack on Sunni mosque in Iraq kills 40 -- The Guardian
Roadside bomb kills 19 in west Baghdad: police, medics -- Reuters
Sectarianism in Iraq stoked by Syrian war -- Washington Post
Iraq: UN envoy urges political leaders to help end bloodshed following latest bombings -- UN News Centre

Series Of Attacks Reported In Iraq

Bombs Kill More Than 35 People Across Iraq -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Bomb attacks in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad and in northern Iraq killed more than 35 people on Wednesday, following weeks of violence by Sunni Islamist insurgents determined to unleash sectarian confrontation.

Tensions between minority Sunni Muslims and the Shi'ites who now lead Iraq are at their highest since U.S. troops pulled out in 2011, with relations coming under more pressure by the day from the largely sectarian conflict in neighboring Syria.

A string of car bombings hit Shi'ite neighborhoods across the capital Baghdad on Wednesday evening, including one outside a cafe and another at a market, killing at least 22 people and wounding dozens more, police said.

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More News On The Continuing Violence In Iraq

Series of deadly bombings across Iraq -- AL Jazeera
Bombings Kill At Least 9 In Iraq -- NPR/AP
Iraq bombings kill 12: officials -- Daily Star
Iraqi police say gunmen open fire on a line of liquor stores in Baghdad, killing 11 people -- Washington Post/AP
Deadly attacks target Iraq liquor stores -- Al Jazeera
Iraq ratifies cluster bomb treaty -- UPI
First Kurdish rebels reach Iraq under Turkish peace plan -- Reuters
First Kurdish fighters from Turkey arrive in Iraq -- Al Arabiya
Attacks on Sunni mosques fuel fears in Iraq -- Daily Star
Iraq’s Political Crisis Spreads To Sports Stadiums -- AL-Monitor
How Baghdad Fuels Iraq's Sectarian Fire -- New York Times
Sword of division is poised over Iraq -- Ned Parker, Stars and Stripes/Los Angeles Times

Iraq Is On The Brink of Civil War Again

Iraq On The Brink, Again -- Ryan Crocker, Washington Post

Ryan Crocker was ambassador to Iraq from 2007 to 2009. He is the Kissinger Senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute.

The situation in Iraq has taken a very dangerous turn. Events there in recent days are reminiscent of those that led to virtual civil war in 2006 and resulted in the need for a surge in U.S. troop levels, a new strategy and very heavy fighting. Indeed, the places where the violence has erupted are eerily familiar, as many were strongholds of al-Qaeda in Iraq at the outset of the surge, before the spread of the Awakening movement that fostered reconciliation between disaffected Sunni Arabs and the Shiite-led government in Baghdad. The recent events come on top of increasing incidents of horrific attacks by al-Qaeda in Iraq, with last month seeing the largest losses in years — and they take place against a backdrop of increasingly serious political discord. These developments clearly require the attention and support of the international community, led by the United States.

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Update #1: Sunni unrest revives fears of sectarian war in Iraq -- Reuters
Update #2: Maliki's policies are pushing many into Al Qaeda's camp -- Hassan Hassan, The National

My Comment: The old sectarian differences and animosities .... long kept under check by Saddam Hussein and later by U.S. forces .... are now becoming unleashed. And with the sectarian civil war in Syria now escalating .... the chances of the same thing happening in Iraq are getting better with each new bombing and atrocity.

Growing Fears Of A Sectarian Civil War In Iraq

Iraq's Sunnis Form Tribal Army, As Sectarian Violence Builds -- NPR

Sectarian tensions are fueling violence and protests in Iraq, where more than 170 people have been killed since Tuesday, when government forces clashed with Sunni Muslim protesters at a demonstration camp in Hawija, near Kirkuk.

That incident left at least 23 dead, outraged Iraq's Sunni minority, and stoked fears among some Iraqis that their country is heading for a new civil war. Several deadly attacks have been staged on Iraqi soldiers and police this week.

"Everybody has the feeling that Iraq is becoming a new Syria," Mosul businessman Talal Younis, 55, Wednesday. "We are heading into the unknown. ... I think that civil war is making a comeback."

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More News On The Growing Sectarian Violence In Iraq

Gunmen kill 10 Iraqi security forces in 2 attacks -- Washington Post
Militants kill five Iraqi soldiers, Sunni protesters form "army" -- Reuters
Iraqis Rally as Maliki Seeks to Avoid Sectarian Clash -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Tensions high as Iraq edges closer to new sectarian war -- Middle East Online
Iraqi Premier Urges Talks but Vows to Battle Insurgents -- New York Times
Iraqi PM Warns of Syrian Sectarian Violence Spreading Across Region -- Voice of America
Iraq PM: Regional strife stoking sectarianism -- Al Jazeera
Iraq PM Maliki warns of 'plague of sectarianism' -- BBC
Iraq watchdog suspends 10 TV channels for inciting violence -- Reuters
Iraq Sunni unrest prompts TV channel licence suspension -- BBC
Iraq Issues New Bans of Broadcast Media -- Voice of America
Iraq suspends Al Jazeera, other networks for ‘promoting violence’ -- RT
Awakening threatens to turn on the Iraqi government -- Bill Ardolino and Bill Roggio, Threat Matrix

Sectarian Violence Continues To Escalate In Iraq

Deadly Anti-Government Violence Grips Iraq -- Al Jazeera

Thousands of Sunnis renew protests against prime minister's rule, as death toll passes 190 in four-day wave of violence.

Sectarian tensions have escalated in Iraq, where the death toll from a four-day wave of violence has passed 190, officials have said.

Thousands of protesters gathered in cities across the country this week to voice their anger at the government of Nouri al-Maliki, calling on the prime minister to step down and an end to the discrimination against Sunnis.

Martin Kobler, a UN envoy, warned on Friday that Iraq was at "crossroads" and called for restraint as violence continues.

The comments came as bombings at four Sunni mosques in and around Baghdad killed four people and wounded 50 on Friday, according to an interior ministry official and medics.

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More News On The Sectarian Unrest In Iraq

Iraqi forces retake control of Sunni town; death toll rising -- UPI
Wave of Iraq violence kills over 200 -- The Australian
UN calls for restraint in Iraq as over 200 killed -- Global Post/AFP
Iraqi Forces Retake Control of Sunni Town -- Voice of America
UN calls for restraint in Iraq as 195 killed -- Global Post/AFP
Iraqi soldiers retake control of Sunni town north of Baghdad, 3 attacks near Sunni mosques -- Washington Post/AP
Bombs kill at least 20 across Iraqi capital -- Reuters
At least 14 killed in bombings, shootings in and near Baghdad -- CNN
Clashes kill 41 in northern Iraq city of Mosul -- Washington Post
Iraqi Premier Urges Talks but Vows to Battle Insurgents -- New York Times
Iraqis Rally as Maliki Appeals for Calm to Avoid Sectarian Chaos -- Bloomberg Businessweek
U.N. calls for restraint in Iraq as 200 killed -- Al Arabiya
UN warns Iraq at crossroads after four days of violence -- Deutsche Welle
UN warns Iraq at 'crossroads,' calls for calm -- AFP
Civil war threat revisits Iraq -- The Australian/The Times

Fears Of Civil War Grow As Sectarian Violence Continues In Iraq

Rising Violence in Iraq Spurs Fears of New Sectarian War -- New York Times

BAGHDAD — In what appeared to be a new phase in an intensifying conflict that has raised fears of greater bloodshed and a wider sectarian war, Iraqi soldiers opened fire from helicopters on Sunni gunmen hiding in a northern village on Wednesday, officials said.

The air attack was among clashes throughout the country between forces of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government and Sunni gunmen that left at least 27 people dead and dozens wounded. The Sunni tribesmen were continuing a fight that began on Tuesday after the Iraqi Army stormed a Sunni protest encampment in the village of Hawija, leaving dozens dead and injured.

Several others were killed on Wednesday in explosions, including the detonation of a car bomb at a public market in the evening in a Shiite neighborhood north of Baghdad, and a roadside bomb attack on an army patrol in Tikrit, also in the north.

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More News On The Continuing Sectarian Violence In Iraq

Iraq PM warns of sectarian war as 169 killed -- AFP
Iraqi police say 41 killed in clashes between gunmen and police in northern city of Mosul -- FOX News/AP
Iraq PM warns of attempts to start sectarian war -- Daily Star
Nearly 50 Killed As Sectarian Violence Flares In Iraq -- Reuters
Sunni militants 'liberate' northern Iraqi town from government -- The Telegraph
Deadly Clashes Mount in Iraq, Killing Dozens -- Wall Street Journal
Iraqi leader sounds warning about sectarian strife -- CNN
Anti-government protests in Iraq devolve into sectarian fighting -- Christian Science Monitor
Iraq bloodshed stokes fears of civil war -- The Australian
Iraqi 'Gunmen' storm small Sunni town north of Baghdad -- BBC
Sunni fighters take over town in northern Iraq after clashes with government forces -- The Independent
Iraq’s bloody election: Polls and protests -- The Economist

Escalating Violence In Iraq Sparks Fears Of Sunni Revolt

Dozens Killed in Battles Across Iraq as Sunnis Escalate Protests Against Government -- New York Times

BAGHDAD — Gun battles erupted in cities with Sunni majorities across Iraq on Tuesday after security forces from the Shiite-led government stormed a Sunni protest encampment in a village near the northern city of Kirkuk. The clashes left dozens dead and wounded, and raised fears that the sectarian civil war that is roiling Syria might spill into Iraq.

The fiercest fighting was at the encampment in a town called Hawija, where Sunni gunmen fought government forces throughout the day. At least 42 people were killed, 39 of them civilians, and more than 100 wounded.

As evening fell, sporadic fighting continued there and in Ramadi in the Sunni homeland of Anbar Province, where protesters set fire to two military vehicles and tribal sheiks called on young men to take up arms against the government.

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More News On The Escalating Violence In Iraq

Iraqi Violence Continues After Deadly Clashes -- Radio Free Europe
Iraq violence sparks fears of Sunni revolt -- UPI
Iraq on edge after protest camp raid -- Japan Times/AP
110 killed in two days of Iraq violence. -- AFP
Two days of Iraq violence claims 118 lives -- The Australian
Protest Clashes and Random Attacks Leave 111 Killed, 233 Wounded Across Iraq -- Antiwar.com
At least 28 dead in outbreak of Iraq violence -- FOX News/AP
Iraq: 28 dead in clashes, bombing as tensions rise -- Bloomberg Businessweek
At least 15 killed in clashes in northern Iraq: mayor. -- Reuters
Iraqi troops fight attack on state buildings -- Gulf News
Sunnis Are Awakening Once Again in Iraq -- Mother Jones

My Comment: A prediction .... once the conflict in Syria has abated or ended .... the next Middle East sectarian war will be in Iraq.

Iraq Security Forces Kill Dozens Of Sunni Protesters

Dozens Dead In Iraqi Raid On Sunni Protest Camp -- Wall Street Journal

BAGHDAD—Iraq's security forces killed at least 38 mostly Sunni protesters and gunmen in the northern city of Hawija on Tuesday, escalating months of brewing sectarian tensions and protests into outright armed conflict.

Antiriot security forces, responding to the killing of an Iraqi soldier several days earlier, raided the Hawija protest camp during the early morning hours of Tuesday, according to security officials, killing 25 people, burning tents and arresting 75. Three Iraqi soldiers were killed in the raid.

The raid sparked an immediate reaction from Sunni militants in Iraq's western provinces, who have long complained of discrimination at the hands of the Shiite-dominated national government in Baghdad. Gunmen in the surrounding Sunni-dominated region attacked police checkpoints in Riyadh and Rashad, holding them for a several hours before military reinforcements were able to launch a counterattack.

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More News On Today's Violent Demonstrations In Iraq

Clashes in north Iraq leave 40 dead -- The Australian
Iraq: 36 dead after raid on Sunni protest site -- Bloomberg Businessweek/AP
Protest-related violence kills 49 in Iraq -- The International News
At least 27 killed as Iraqi forces raid Sunni camp -- RT
Iraqi Sunni protest clashes in Hawija leave many dead -- BBC
Clash at Sunni protest in Iraq leaves dead and wounded -- CNN
Tensions high after Iraq forces raid Sunni camp, 23 dead -- Reuters
Two Iraq ministers quit after deadly clash -- The Australian