"We are all for Iraq. Glory and honor to people. I congratulate you and our proud Iraqi people for this historical day. With my love and respect to you and your family. Your brother Nouri al-Maliki"

    This is the full transcript of the SMS I received from Zen Mobile Company which sent it to all its subscribers. The SMS is a congratulation SMS sent by the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamil al-Maliki to the Iraqi people for what is called (the Day of Iraq) referring to the 31 of December which represents the official end of the US forces withdrawal from Iraq according to the agreement signed by the Iraqi government and American administration in 2008.

    I don't know why Mr. Maliki sent this SMS and whether he really believes that this day deserves to be named (the Day of Iraq). For the first moment, the SMS gives the impression that the withdrawal of the American forces is the key to solve all the problems that appeared after the U.S invasion in 2003. But is that impression right? Is the American presence is the only problem of Iraq????? Do the Iraqi political blocs really care about Iraqis?

    During the eight years of the American military existence in Iraq, the American administration and military committed many mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes was the idea of partnership government. This kind of ruling system brought nothing to Iraq but sectarian parties that look only for the interests of their members. It also created a very weak parliament with lawmakers who vote for the interests of their parties regardless the interests of Iraqis.

   But, if the system is not suitable for a country like Iraq that embraces many races and sects, why the parties don't work to create or adopta different ruling system that guarantees the rights of Iraqis and improve their life? The only reasonable answer for this question is unfortunately is because the Iraqi political parties never tried to find a substitute. The best evidence is the complete negligence of approving a law of the political parties. The other clear evidence is the failure of the parties that form the current government to agree about the ministers of the security minister.

    As a result for this simple conclusion, I believe that the Day of Iraq is not the day of the American forces departure. It's the day when the Iraqi parties think about Iraq and Iraqis regardless their sects and races.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE