Iraqi Government Rejects US Strike on Syria, Fears Civil War

[David Krout]

Posted on 09/02/2013 by Juan Cole

In his speech on Saturday on the Syria crisis, President Obama instanced Iraq among the countries that might suffer if the Baath regime were allowed to get away with using chemical weapons.

The elected government of Iraq, however, says thanks but no thanks. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki categorically rejects a Western strike on Syria. Sectarian struggles lie behind this reaction.

The Iraqi government has announced that it won’t permit the US to fly over Iraqi territory in the course of any operation against Syria.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, of the Shiite ‘Islamic Call’ party, has forcefully rejected any outside attack on Syria. His government is said to fear that a US strike on Syria will produce social “chaos” that stretches from the Sunni areas in Syria into Anbar province (with its Sunni majority).

http://www.juancole.com/2013/09/government-rejects-strike.html