Iraqi lawmaker kidnapping causing political upheaval

The fallout from the kidnapping of Ms. Tayseer Najah al-Mashhadani, a Sunni member of parliament, continues to rage. The Iraqi Accord Front (IAF), the primary Sunni party (in which Mashadani is a member), is continuing its boycott of parliament for the second straight week and is also apparently contemplating withdrawing its several Cabinet members and Ministry heads.

Realistically, the government will continue to function unless the parliament passes a vote of no confidence by an absolute majority (138 of 275), which the Sunnis don't have, even if joined by the secularists and independents. The Kurds aren't going to overthrow their Shia allies, and Sunnis have repeatedly used boycotts and threats of a pullout to elicit political compromise. The government will almost certainly survive. However, the so-called "national unity government" is on the verge of collapse, if it ever really existed (that moniker was more theory than reality since the government formed). And the disruption demonstrates both the fragility of the extant compromises and the continued tendency of Iraqi politicians to bicker while the country descends into open warfare.

It's also creating a pretty ironic situation wherein Sunnis are appealing to the U.S. to help them against the Shia. "'The Iraqi people ask the Americans for an iron fist to crush the Sadr militia in Baghdad,' Mr. Jubouri [an IAF official] said in an interview, referring to the volatile militia commanded by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr." For those keeping score at home, that's the venomously anti-U.S. (Sunni) IAF asking the U.S. to crush the venomously anti-U.S. (Shia) Mahdi Militia. The danger of Coalition troops getting in the middle of this sectarian conflict -- whether intentionally or accidentally -- continues to grow.