Iraq: 'Unity government' no magic formula

seattlepi: U.S. leaders are pushing Iraqis hard to resolve the deadlock over a new prime minister and form a unity government. But getting that done will offer no guarantee of a quick end to the country's violence.

It's a fact often obscured in the appeals by American officials for the Iraqis to settle their bickering and install a government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds as the best hope for getting the country on track and moving away from sectarian violence.

At best, however, it will take the new government months to win public confidence. At worst, new leaders will be no more successful than the old in reining in Shiite militias and persuading Sunni Arab insurgents to lay down their arms.

The reality is that having Sunni Arabs and Kurds in the new government is not enough to calm Iraq's political storm. Members of those minorities have held key posts in every Iraqi administration since the first one set up by U.S. officials after Saddam Hussein fell in 2003. Read more

db: It's easy for the US to talk about the need for a 'unity government' every time a bomb goes off. Not so easy to talk about ending the occupation. When did you last hear the concept of removing all US forces from Iraq discussed?