Editorial: The Paralysed Government

The Tarmiya massacre, carried out by cold-blooded assailants, killed dozens of members of the police force. The victims (found in a mass grave north of Baghdad in January) were not properly protected even though the multinational forces were nearby when the incident took place. If this happened in any other country in the world, the cabinet would resign. But, here in Iraq, the government bears no responsibility simply because it has no system of government and no authority to perform its tasks. Who is going to question the government? Is it the people? Is it the parliament? Or is it the press? These daily killings are occurring at a time when we read United Nations' reports about the situation in Iraq, about the random killings and the ethnic and sectarian cleansing. We read in the news about the security and political vacuum that has (broken national) unity. If the United Nations' human rights reports in Iraq had been about any other country, that country's government would hold an emergency session to solve the issue and the political parties would gather and unite to find ways to solve the problems. But nothing like that happens here, and our country gradually slips into dark corridors. The journalists are about to give up because there are no new plans to support and protect them; to ensure that their families and children will not be targeted if they write something that opposes the ideology of this party or that. We are afraid of journalism without colour, without smell, without taste.