Patrick Cockburn, Middle East correspondent for The Independent, discusses his article “Iraq cleric says his forces could attack US troops” on the dangers Muqtada al-Sadr poses for an extended US occupation; Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s ability to play all sides against each other while his grip on power tightens; how the abundant foreign influences in Iraq create divisions along religious and sectarian lines and make a political settlement impossible; and why we’ll have to wait and see if the Libyan rebels are better of worse than the deposed Gaddafi regime.
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