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Some sign of action

Jun 21,2014 - Last updated at Jun 21,2014

US President Barack Obama seems to have finally decided to take some action in the face of the fast-moving developments in Iraq.

At a White House press conference Thursday, Obama revealed that he had ordered the deployment of 300 military advisers in Baghdad to support Iraqi security forces, create joint operation centres, share intelligence and coordinate all future military plans the US might be taking.

The US president ruled out direct US military intervention, saying that “American combat troops are not going to be fighting in Iraq again,” and hinted that part of the blame for the crisis in Iraq is the policy of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, who he accused of not moving towards forming a government that includes Sunnis and Kurds as well.

So while the US is prepared to take “targeted and precise” military action if necessary, Obama is reiterating the demand for an all-inclusive government that can enjoy the support of the entire population.

“Ultimately this is something that is going to have to be solved by the Iraqis,” reminded Obama, a statement Maliki should really heed.

The US has delineated the limits of its “intervention” in Iraq. Now it is up to the Baghdad government to take the measures necessary to restore the rule of law in the country.

The conflict of the last decade has inflicted deep wounds, particularly among Sunnis, who have been totally marginalised by the Shiite leadership.

Healing those wounds is going to take long, but the process has to start somewhere.

A good point could be a national conference where sectarian-religious reconciliation is reached and a new government is formed, headed by a personality that commands the respect and support of the great majority of Iraqis.

A lingering question is why the world community has stayed silent in the face of acts in Iraq whose outcome could only be what we see today: more radicalisation, more discontent and more violence.

The same attitude is replicated with sickening likeness in Syria, where killings, displacement and destruction have been raging for over three years while the world has been a silent witness.

The result: religious extremists of the worst kind are creeping in the country in a very disturbing manner, showing gruesome images incompatible with human behaviour and religious teachings, while the world is barely stirring in its slumber, unaware that this cancer is spreading fast and could reach it easily too.

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