Authoritarianism On The March

Nir Rosen evaluates the political impasse in Iraq:

In a sad sense, none of thismaneuvering actually matters all that much. Regardless of who becomes prime ministeror president, Iraq is about to become increasingly authoritarian. Oil revenueswill not kick in for several years, so services are not going to improve. Evenwhen revenues reach Iraqi coffers, infrastructure costs will eat them up forthe near future. The lack of services means the government will facestreet-level dissatisfaction...