After Port Bombing, Basra Gov'r Sees Price to Pay

Nasrawi said: "The central government did not give special attention to security in Basra, and did not take into account its special geographic location. It borders three countries (Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia), and is the only waterway in Iraq. This strategic importance has not been given adequate attention."

He continued, "The protection of Basra requires the allocation of funds and major institutional efforts, because Basra contains the main resources of Iraq and seeks to become an international investment hub for Iraq and the region. Also, the city aspires to host regional events, such as the Arabian Gulf Football Cup in 2015, thus we need to make the world feel that Basra, the economic capital of Iraq, is a safe province."

Apart from the complaints by Basra of repeated breaches of its security, the truck bomb at the port of Umm Qasr, which left four wounded and caused damage to a ship anchored near the scene of the blast, raises new questions about the nature of the battle whose rules al-Qaeda seeks to change in Iraq.

The operation may have been an attempt to "test" the security readiness in strategic areas of Iraq, such as airports, oil installations, and electric power plants and others, whose targeting could have catastrophic results.

The targeting of Basra is a clear attempt to the strike a key element that protects the Iraqi state, despite the ongoing chaos and conflicts, which is the ability of the economic sector to maintain the state structures and weaken the elements of confrontation.

Although al-Qaeda and other armed groups have attempted to target the economic capabilities of Iraq, and have repeatedly succeeded in stopping the export of Iraqi oil through the Kirkuk–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline via continuous attacks over the past 10 years, it is more effectively moving towards targeting the points of strength for the Iraqi authorities.

The most dangerous scenario would be if al-Qaeda succeeds in carrying out qualitative operations, similar to the one in Umm Qasr, in a number of cities. This would require security stepping up security measures around the major vital sites.

Mushreq Abbas is a contributing writer for Al-Monitor’s Iraq Pulse. He has been managing editor of Al-Hayat’s Iraq bureau since 2005 and has written studies and articles on Iraqi crises for domestic and international publication.