Iraq: Who Is to Blame For the Hawija Violence?
Dozens of demonstrators were killed and more than a hundred were injured in the Iraqi town of Hawija, prompting questions about who is responsible, writes Mushreq Abbas.
Did a mere miscalculation result in the Iraqi army storming the demonstrations in the town of Hawija last Tuesday [April 23] at dawn, leaving 50 people dead and 110 injured, as well as igniting confrontations that lasted for three consecutive days that left dozens of victims belonging to the security forces and Sunni tribesmen?
Obviously, most people thought that such a move would lead to these results, and possibly even mutate into a growing avalanche that could destroy whatever remained of internal civil peace. Yet, the insistence to carry this action out, and then justify it by saying that the Iraqi army was fired upon, raises a lot of questions.
Why were the Sunni demonstrations allowed to continue and grow for nearly four months without any official effort aimed at appeasing the situation? Why was the army allowed to remain in proximity to the demonstrations, which were mostly held outside the cities and far from public institutions and interests, in a manner that would permit the type of friction that lead to massacres such as those that occurred in Hawija?
Ultimately, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki might be to blame for what occurred in his capacity as head of the government, commander in chief of the armed forces and the official directly in charge of running the interior and defense ministries, as well as the national security and intelligence services, which have lacked directors for the past three years.
