Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki came under fire from US lawmakers Wednesday for the slow pace of political reconciliation and links to Iran, said to fuel a wave of suicide bombings.
The Iraqi Prime Minister also came under fire during the hearing for recent attacks on camp housing Iranian dissidents in which dozens have been killed.
“This is a crime against humanity. These are unarmed refugees, and which Maliki’s own troops are murdering,” said Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher.
Militants are now carrying out an average of 40 mass attacks a month, in Iraq’s bloodiest eruption of violence in six years and the worst since US troops withdrew in 2011, said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce.
Iraq’s Sunni population has been “alienated” from its Shiite-dominated government, which also has strong ties to Iran’s Shiite leaders in Iran, he added.
But in a passionate outburst, Rohrabacher questioned why the United States, which is supplying Iraq with helicopters and drones to help fight the militants, was still involved in the country.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq Brett McGurk urged Maliki to “take extra measures to reach out to Sunni leaders and draw a critical mass of local population into the fight.”