“There’s still a tendency to see these things in Sunni-Shia terms. But the Middle East is going to have to overcome that.” – Condoleezza Rice, January 2007.
Six years later, Washington is even more clueless than it was then.
“Dozens killed by car and suicide bombs in Iraqi cities,” from the BBC, May 20 (thanks to BD):
More than 70 people have been killed and many others injured in a series of bomb attacks across Iraq.
Baghdad was worst hit, with several explosions at bus stations and markets in the mainly Shia Muslim districts.
Attacks also occurred in Samarra, north of the capital, and Basra and Hilla further south.
It is one of the worst days of violence in recent months as Iraq has seen a rise in attacks linked to growing political and sectarian tension.
The bloodshed has raised fears of a re-emergence of the levels of sectarian violence seen in 2006 and 2007.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed to make immediate changes to Iraq’s security strategy and told Iraqis that militants “will not be able to return us to the sectarian conflict”
Looks as if the perfume is already out of the bottle, Nouri.
In a separate incident, 10 policemen kidnapped on Saturday in western Anbar province were found dead….