In the space of a year since the departure of US forces, Iraq has faced political turmoil including calls to remove the premier, a top official being sentenced to death and rising Arab-Kurd tensions.

Disputes among Iraqi politicians escalated as US troops departed on Dec. 18, ending a nearly nine-year war that cost the lives of tens of thousands of Iraqis, thousands of Americans and hundreds of billions of dollars.

The continual conflicts among top politicians show Iraq has still not achieved the political reconciliation that American officials hoped would accompany the 2007-2008 surge of US troops, which helped to bring rampant bloodshed in Iraq under a semblance of control. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned Iraq political leaders about the negative impact of their strained relations on both governance and security during a December visit to Baghdad. And while Iraqi security forces have held their own in their first full year without US troops to support them, they still face shortcomings and insurgent attacks remain common.

In the past year, members of the secular, Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc boycotted parliament and the cabinet, the president of the autonomous Kurdistan region, Massud Barzani, repeatedly sparred with Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, and powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr also criticized the premier.

Opposition to Al-Maliki among members of his less-than-unified national unity government ultimately escalated into calls for him to be removed from power, but his opponents lacked the parliamentary votes to do so.

Authorities also issued an arrest warrant for Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi, a Sunni member of Iraqiya, who fled the country and insists the charges are politically motivated.

He has since been given multiple death sentences in absentia for crimes including murder. The Kurdistan region meanwhile drew Baghdad’s ire by making oil deals with foreign firms without federal approval, and halted its oil exports via the federal government for more than four months over a payments dispute.

And capping a year of turmoil, a deadly shootout during an attempt by Iraqi forces to arrest a Kurdish man and the establishment of a new federal military command covering disputed territory have led to high Arab-Kurd tensions in north Iraq, with both Baghdad and Kurdistan deploying military reinforcements.