The Iraqi parliament last week elected Haider Al-Abadi as the country's new prime minister, approving his political programme and proposed cabinet, except for the ministers of the defence and the interior, which will be decided at a later session. Only a few hours after the Al-Abadi government was sworn in, international and regional powers began welcoming the newly formed Iraqi government. Iran and the United States both pledged their support to the new government and prime minister, as did Turkey, France and many Arab countries. Saudi Arabia organised a conference on terrorism and invited the new Iraqi foreign minister, Ibrahim Jaferi, to attend. US Secretary of State John Kerry, on an official visit to Iraq, described the new Iraqi cabinet as a “major milestone” for the country and “a cornerstone” in the fight against Islamic State (IS) militants. French President François Hollande, also on an official visit to Iraq last Friday, promised to build support at home and in Iraq for a broadening of Western military strikes against IS insurgents, promising also to support the Al-Abadi government in its fight against the extremists. However, as the international support began to pour in, many Iraqis were wondering whether this was really for Iraq, or whether it was a way of turning their country into the frontline against the war on terror. Even if the support was not conditional, media reports said that Kerry had said that US military support would not begin unless the Al-Abadi government acted against the militias. “The second version of the war on terror will not only target IS,” said Aziz Difaee, an Iraqi political analyst. “Instead, it will target control of the vast natural gas fields in the region that can provide the West with gas. “Natural gas is the strongest weapon that [Russian president Vladimir] Putin has against the West, so controlling the fields would leave him weakened in front of the US and the West.” Kamil Hadithi, a professor of political science, said, “The hostility towards the Al-Maliki government [the former Iraqi prime minister] cannot provide an excuse for US actions since the former government fought against IS. Instead, there is a new aim in the new war on terror, being that Obama is now going to re-occupy Iraq and present himself as a new American hero.” While Obama and Hollande have been doing their best to begin a new war on terror, Turkey has refused to allow US and Western planes to use its bases to attack Iraq, and Iran has rejected US requests for cooperation against IS. Meanwhile, the war continues in Iraq, and in the town of Dholouiya, 80 km northwest of Baghdad, the fighting continues to prevent IS from entering the town, as it does elsewhere in the country. In presenting his new government, Al-Abadi vowed to rebuild the Iraqi army and promised to work to improve Baghdad's thorny relationship with the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north of the country. There are also other challenges that will require regional and international support, among them the ongoing violence, the militias and the displacement of many families. Iraqis are now watching developments cautiously, hoping that the Al-Abadi government will be able to bring together politicians from the country's different blocs and encourage them to work together to solve its many problems. In other words, the hope is that the Al-Abadi government will turn out to be a government of hawks that will work effectively to bring life back to normal in Iraq.
