Hope for a quick resolution to the crisis gripping Iraq’s elected parliament were dashed on Tuesday as a session meant to lay the groundwork for a unity government broke down into shouting matches between lawmakers, with several walking out of the chamber and others nearly coming to the point of physical violence against each other. The ongoing crisis comes at the worst possible time for Iraq as soldiers loyal to the Baghdad regime continue to battle an offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terror militia, which has already taken control of large swaths of Iraqi territory.
