A best-selling author who served in the Defense Department during the Reagan era predicts that despite spats of violence in some areas, Iraq is going to emerge "fairly stable" -- at least by Iraqi standards.
Iraqi police reported that a suicide bomber opened fire on worshipers during Friday prayers at a mosque in northern Iraq, then set off his explosives after running out of ammunition. Police and hospital officials say at least 12 people were killed and 65 wounded. While violence in Iraq had dropped dramatically, the area is considered to be one of the last strongholds of the Sunni-backed insurgency. It is also been the scene of some horrific bombings recently. Bing West was assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs under President Ronald Reagan, and had previously served with the Marines in Vietnam. He says despite these bombings, Iraq is headed in the right direction. "[Nouri al] Maliki, the prime minister, is going to make mistakes. He's too cocky," says West. "But basically, Iraq is going to emerge as fairly stable -- not according to our standards, but according to their standards it will be fairly stable." But West says the Iraqi leader certainly has a problem with the Sunnis, who dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein. "Maliki wanted us out because he felt that we were going to be too generous toward the Sunnis -- and he's still very resentful toward the Sunnis," West observes. West is the author of the New York Times best-seller The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq.
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