Suicide bomb in Arbil

Fifteen months after the single most deadly attack on Iraqi soil since the war started on 22 March 2003 killing 117 in a twin attack on the two main kurdish parties headquarters in Arbil/Hewler , a new attack, causing a massive amount of casualties , at least 45 dead, and a 100 wounded hit the Kurdish city today. The attack, near the center of the city, outside a building for recruitement of the Kurdish provincial police wich seems to have doubled as an office of the leading party in Arbil , Masoud Barzanis Kurdish Democratic Party(KDP). This is the worst attack since the 28 ofFebruay in Hilla, were 111 people died. The last week has seen a rise in numbers killed, now about 200. The death toll are likely to rise, while it´s still very sketchy reports, and the amount of wounded are high.

In a seperate development the swearing in of the first democraticly elected government since the 1958 revolution was overshadowed by the fact that seven posts where left undecided, among them, key posts like defence, oil, and industry. The problem of getting the Sunni muslims onboard and the leading shíite parties insisting on not having any former baáthists in the government still makes the question of a full government hard to solve for new PM Ibrahim Jaáfari. The swearing in seasion was boycotted by the Sunni vice President al Ghawar. The Sunni are expected to get the defence portfolio, the oil ministry is still vacant, alltough the Iraqi "comeback kid" , the former Iraqi National Council leader, and the onetime prefered US choice for PM , is acting Oil Minister, while internal shiite differences is solved. The prefered candidate seems to be the US educated oil engineer, Dr Ibrahim Bahr al Uloum, who had the job for nine months until the Iyad Allawi government took office. Bahr al Uloum is the son of one of the most prominent shiíte scholars in Iraq, Mohamad Bahr al Uloum, the family has played a leading role in Iraqi religious and political affairs for generations. Al Jafaári is likely to choose Bahr al Uloum, but it seems he had promised the Fadila Party that position, altough the candidates that they put forward was rejected.

Thomas Friedman wrote from Camp Fallujah on the 18 November in NYT last year that Iraq was at the tipping point, i´m sorry to say that Iraq is nowhere near the tipping point today, than it was a week or months or a year ago. The successfull elections three months ago is actually the only good news so far,since the fall of Saddam(priceless of course) but apart from the security situation, the elerctricity, infrastructure, oilproduction, jobbopportunities, the economy, the day to day, bread and butter issues havent become the beacon of light that was prmised, most Iraqis can´t even see the tunnel that in the end will provide the light.