News Analysis: Massive bombings challenge Iraq's reform plan

The recent massive bombings in Iraq are seriously threatening an ambitious plan the country's parliament has just passed on public-service reform.

In the deadliest attack of late, as many as 53 people died and over 100 others were injured on Thursday as a refrigerator truck packed with explosives and carefully camouflaged with vegetables and fruits detonated at a wholesale market in eastern Baghdad.

Iraqi officials and political experts widely believe that the incident was a direct response to the package of reform measures, including cutting spending and eliminating senior government posts, rolled out in the wake of nationwide protests against poor public services, power shortage and corruption.

The reform plan, championed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, was backed by Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who asked Abadi to be "more daring and courageous in his reforms."

Najib al-Jubouri, a political analyst, told Xinhua that corruption and incompetence are also challenging Abadi besides the grave threat of the Islamic State (IS), which has seized large parts of the country.

Abadi's package of reforms and subsequent measures could give him a strong push to close the ranks of Iraqi factions, in particular the Sunni community.

"If Abadi succeeds in his reforms, the sectarian struggle will certainly be reduced as long as the reforms can produce social justice and curb corruption," Jubouri said.

"An accepted degree of social justice would give hope to the Iraqi conflicting factions that coexistence is still possible in the war-shattered Iraq," he said.

"Such hope would push the national reconciliation efforts and would encourage the Sunni community in the IS-held cities to fight the IS extremist militants," he added.

Iraqi protesters and their leaders have realized the need for national unity, as activists, intellectuals and journalists were keen to urge protesters to show their demonstrations were beyond any sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and any rivalry between political factions.

They have been asking protesters to hold only the Iraqi flag and to chant for the Iraqi nation.

Abadi is in dire need of the Sunni community to help fight back the IS militants in the Sunni heartlands of Anbar, Salahudin, Mosul, Diyala and parts of Baghdad.

"The IS group realizes the fact that Abadi's reform could well give a push to the national reconciliation, which would eventually win the hearts and minds of the Sunni community in the IS-held Sunni bastions," Jubouri said.

Jubouri said he sees Thursday's truck bombing as an attempt to fuel sectarian conflict, which is a key weapon of the extremist Shiite and Sunni groups, including the IS.

Hours after the deadly blast, the IS claimed responsibility for the attack, which tore through shops, stalls and buildings and burned vehicles. Many of the victims were poor vegetable vendors, who are mostly Shiites.

Iraqi President Fuad Masoum condemned the "barbaric" massive attack, saying the act "reaffirms the criminal nature of the perpetrators and their lack of the most basic human and moral values."

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a statement that the devastating truck bomb attack was "an indiscriminate act of terrorism, which aimed at weakening the resolve of the Iraqi people."

On the battle grounds with the IS group, Iraqi security forces and allied militia known as Hashd Shaabi, or popular mobilization, continued their daily skirmishes with the extremist militants in the provinces of Anbar and Salahudin.

Covered by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft, the troops are making slow advance to surround the main IS-held cities of Ramadi and Fallujah and other towns in Anbar province.

However, part of the difficulty that the troops are suffering is instability, corruption and incompetence of their political and even military leaderships.

Abadi's reforms, if successive, could change Iraq's future and would promote stability and economic development, which would certainly heighten the morale of the troops who are facing the IS terrorist group in Anbar and Salahudin and would help liberate Mosul in the north later.

Moreover, Jubouri warned that setbacks like failure in stopping deadly massive bombings and lack of significant progress on the battle fields with the IS would encourage foreign forces, particularly American troops, to come back to Iraq under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

Jubouri's warning came two days after U.S. Gen. Raymond Odierno said that if Iraqi forces are not making desired progress against IS militants, the United States should consider sending more troops to reinforce its existing 3,500 military trainers and advisers in the country. Endi