To watch part two click here.

The election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United Sates represents an historic American event and a landmark milestone in the story of Iraq.

President Obama's plan to bring US combat troops home in 16 months, however, raises important security questions.

Will militias, death squads and al-Qaeda resume their attacks against the Iraqi government? Will Iran re-activate its agents in an attempt to dominate Iraqi politics?

But perhaps the two most important questions to be asked are: Will the US departure afford Iraqi politicians a chance to rectify the political process, especially the sectarian quota system and the controversial constitution? Will Iraq's politicians put the interests of the nation above personal and partisan interests?

Our guests this week are former US ambassador to Iraq David Newton, who is also a scholar at the Middle East Institute; Peter Harling, the director of the Iraq-Syria-Lebanon Project at the International Crisis Group; and Iraqi elder statesman and member of the Iraqi Parliament Adnan Pachachi.

This episode of Inside Iraq airs from Friday, January 23, 2009 at the following times GMT:

Friday: 1730 and 2330; Saturday: 0530 and 2030; Sunday: 0300 and 0830; Monday: 0330

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