Can Iraq be saved?

 
With October being the deadliest month in recent years, Iraq seems no closer to being a functioning democracy.

14 Nov 2013 | http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/11/can-iraq-be-saved-2013111381635417757.html

Salah Nasrawi

Salah Nasrawi is a veteran Iraqi journalist who worked for international media, including the Associated Press and the BBC in the Middle East. He wrote for leading Arab newspapers and periodicals.

By passing a new law on the allocation of seats in parliament, on November 4, the Iraqi parliament ended a lingering dispute among the country's feuding ethno-sectarian factions, and cleared the way for polls to be held next year. The breakthrough, however, could be just another half-step that creates only hot air in the rivals' endless bargaining for consensus, instead of real problem-solving progress.