An opportunity for justice in Iraq

AP/CBS News:

Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders called on Sunday for an end to Iraq's sectarian conflict and vowed to track down those responsible for the war's deadliest attack.

But as they spoke on national television in an effort to keep Iraq from sliding into an all-out civil war, fierce fighting between Iraqi security forces and Sunni-Arab insurgents raged for a second day in Baqouba, the capital of Diyala province north of Baghdad.

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On Sunday government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh read a statement on national television promising that Iraq's leaders would track down those responsible for the war's deadliest attack by insurgents, and urged the country's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish politicians to stop fanning sectarian violence by arguing with one another. As he spoke, Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Sunni Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and Kurdish President Jalal Talabani stood around him.

"We promise the great martyrs that we will chase the killers and criminals, the terrorists, Saddamists and Takfiri (Sunni extremists) for viciously trying to divide you," the statement said, referring to the 215 people who died when Sunni insurgents attacked Sadr City, the capital's main Shiite district, on Thursday.

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This is the significant difference between what Iraqis have now and what they had under Saddam. They now have the hope of justice. That is something they will never have under a government controlled by the old regime or al Qaeda. One reason why the current government is struggling is that it has not been as effective as it needs to be in bringing the killers of non combatants to justice. It needs to do more to keep this hope alive or it will sink into war lordism. It is war lordism that is a bigger threat than civil war is at this time.