Whenever it seems that Iraq is escaping the unyielding grip of war, clashes
begin and the blood of innocent people continue to paint the Euphrates red.
اضافة اعلان
Iraq’s wars with
Iran and Kuwait were followed by sanctions that starved much of the population,
but the real death blow came from America’s illegal invasion in 2003, when
hundreds of thousands of civilians were raped, tortured, or murdered. America’s
occupation destroyed Iraqi lives and destroyed the state. The occupiers
irresponsibly dissolved all Iraq’s institutions, most importantly the army. All
of a sudden, half a million well-trained and well-armed men found themselves
unemployed, easy prey to sectarian extremist groups. Because of the
disbandment, radicals filled the ranks of the Coalition’s new security forces.
The US was
completely unfamiliar with Iraq’s culture and politics. Under the influence of
lobbies and false intelligence, the occupiers allowed some of the most corrupt,
reprehensible, and treasonous politicians to run the shattered state. These two
factors combined to create Sunni-Shiite conflicts: one on the US watch in 2006,
another, more notorious, that began with Daesh in 2013.
It is a well
established fact that American policies gave way to sectarian war in Iraq. It
is also likely that this was intentional. In 2015, former CIA officer Michael
Scheuer had this to say in an interview with Channel 4: “Our best hope right
now is to get the Sunnis and Shiites fighting each other and let them bleed
each other white.”
While Scheur is
no CIA spokesperson, it is clear that dividing Iraqis along sectarian lines, a
relatively unimportant distinction before 2003, would benefit the occupation
and weaken the resistance.
The murderous Al
Qaeda, Mahdi Army, and Badr Brigade spent more time fighting each other and
Iraqis caught in the crossfire than those who truly made their lives miserable.
Daesh has now
been defeated, or almost so, but other problems left by the invasion still
plague Iraq. A corrupt political class managed to climb to power, and so did
foreign countries, principally Iran. Now, thousands of militiamen known as the
Popular Mobilization Front indirectly answer to Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei.
When the Iraqi
people protested in 2018 for a new system, more rights, and the departure of
these armed mercenaries, they were gunned down in the streets. Today, it is not
Iraqis fighting foreign armies, nor Sunnis and Shiites in conflict, but Shiites
fighting other Shiites.
After an
electoral dispute between popular cleric Muqtada Sadr and pro-Iran parties,
Sadr “resigned from politics” (he has done this before), leading his supporters
to fight Iran-backed militias in the middle of Baghdad.
The US claimed
it invaded Iraq to bring about democracy, but how could there be democracy when
an entire country is armed to the teeth and the courts are as good as defunct.
Even if violence
is taken out of the equation, Iraq is still in a sad state. The economy is
import dependent in spite of the country’s wealth and resources. Electricity is
not a guarantee, water is becoming scarce, and corruption is rampant.
To fix this, to
truly rebuild the country, the root of the problem needs to be tackled; the
foundations on which post-invasion Iraq has been built.
The US was completely unfamiliar with Iraq’s culture and politics. Under the influence of lobbies and false intelligence, the occupiers allowed some of the most corrupt, reprehensible, and treasonous politicians to run the shattered state.
The design of
the 2005 constitution gave way to governments led by coalitions, which became
the standard in Iraq. In order for coalitions to attract more members,
political parties and certain sects/ethnic groups are bribed with the control
of ministries. This means there is no unified plan or platform, and this leads
to stagnation in many regards, and a severe lack of state services.
Lack of
education and poverty, other ripple effects of 2003, have contributed to this
situation before. In Iraq’s ever growing number of slums, becoming a militiaman
is the only viable career prospect. These projects on the outskirts of cities
are breeding grounds for indoctrination, as a rapidly increasing young
population that did not have the opportunity to get educated and informed is
courted by different militias to do their bidding.
Sadr, for
example, has millions of Iraqis who would die for him, in spite of the fact
that his militias have committed war crimes and he flip flops about twice a
year. Politicians such as Sadr deliver services that the state consistently
fails to provide, and use their ill-obtained funds to penetrate the
institutions in the poor areas to cultivate a massive power base.
If the way
ministries are run is reformed, there will be a decline in militias over time.
Should ministers be chosen based on merit, the lives of ordinary Iraqis will
improve, as will their trust in the state, making them less likely to run to
external actors. To do so, there is need of a law stipulating the neutrality
and competence of ministers. If that is not possible, having ministers that are
members of one party would make more sense, because the ministries will be able
to coordinate better.
However, there
are rarely majorities in Iraq’s parliament because of the plethora of parties.
In order to
resolve that issue, parties centered around figures and sects must be dissolved
and a reform drive should create parties based on ideology. This move, unlike
everything Bush and co did, can create a more democratic Iraq.
Militias, the
biggest obstacle to Iraq’s development and democracy, are illegal by the
country’s constitution, yet still run rampant in the country. The reason was
the American reliance on these actors after the dissolution of the original
army.
In conjunction
with the socio-political reforms mentioned above, the Iraqi Armed Forces need
to be rebuilt. More funding must go to regular units and recruitment, for the
military to overwhelm the militias or, even before getting to that point, win
over the militia’s target audience: poor, young Iraqis.
Reshaping the
ministries will result in improved Iraqi economic performance, but
international assistance is required for the military. The international
community must undo what it has done, and contribute financially to build the
Iraqi security forces to counter catastrophes like Daesh and Iranian militias
in the future.
Over the last 20
years we came to realize that the stability of Iraq is imperative for the
stability of the region; Mesopotamia, the birthplace of civilization and a
wellspring of resources, can become a new hope for the Middle East if serious
changes are made.
Mohammad Rasoul Kailani is a first year student at the University of
Toronto. Amongst various other topics, his interests are in Middle Eastern
affairs.
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