THE news from Iraq is chilling — nearly 1,000 dead in one month. That the casualty toll — 979 — is less than July’s 1,057 fatalities is hardly a matter of consolation. Iraq is now in the grip of anarchy, with sectarian killings nearing the 2008 peak. That all this should have happened when an elected government is in its second term shows that mere elections do not guarantee rule of law. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has failed to give peace, much less a better life, to the people of his oil-rich country. There is, of course, one major reason why sectarianism has re-emerged as Iraq’s scourge — the civil war in Syria. Even though there is now a stalemate between the rebel and government forces, and the accord on chemical weapons has served to slightly lower tensions, the 30 months of fratricide in Syria has generated forces which are going to stay in the region for quite some time. As in Syria itself, so in Iraq, elements loyal to Al Qaeda have created space for themselves and are on the offensive.

Clearly, the Shia-dominated Maliki government has failed to win the confidence of all sections of Iraqi society. Sunnis complain that security agencies abuse the already vague terms of various anti-terrorism laws and target them. The government denies this, but it has little credibility. The prolongation of the present anarchy would constitute a threat to the unity of the Iraqi state and further strengthen secessionist forces in the autonomous oil-bearing Kurdistan. The solution lies basically with the Iraqi people’s elected representatives. It is they alone who can serve as an example to their people by rising above parochial loyalties, countering the extremist elements and focusing the people’s attention on the task of healing Iraq’s war wounds.