A Big Challenge Ahead for Iraq

Indeed what was to have been that “defining issue” of last year's U.S. presidential election and a still potent political flashpoint, has largely faded from the headlines.

To be sure the perilous economic situation and a spate of foreign policy crises from Iran to nuclear North Korea have grabbed attention.

Yet as American forces in Iraq prepare to pull out of the cities, the besieged Mid-East state will increasingly have to stand on its own — without the American security training wheels.