"We Sunnis cannot reach a reconciliation with Maliki anymore!"

"... Once a champion for strong central government, Hashimi is now singing a different tune: “If Maliki continues to be the prime minister, my people [the Sunnis] are worried about their future in Iraq and thinking seriously about establishing their own [autonomous] regions.” But what Iraqis—and regional powers like Turkey—worry about is a darker scenario: a possible return to the sectarian violence that domi-nated the country for much of the past decade.Did the Americans leave too soon? “It’s not that they left too early,” Hashimi said. “In fact, they left too late. The problem is what they have left behind. The mission is not accomplished. They toppled the Saddam regime, but the real challenge is the second phase, establishing a state of law and independent institutions, and that has not been fulfilled.” Sectarian interests, corruption, terrorism, and Iranian influence continue to be power-ful factors in Iraq...."