As Iraq Unravels, US Repeats Mistakes

[marmar]

As Iraq Unravels, US Repeats Mistakes

Tuesday, 12 August 2014 13:02
By Matthew Schweitzer, Truthout | Op-Ed


On August 11, Iraqi President Fuad Masum named Haider al-Abadi the prime minister. Special forces loyal to incumbent Nouri al-Maliki have deployed in Baghdad, and the stage has been set for yet another episode in the country's unfolding tragedy of violence. Against this backdrop, US President Barack Obama praised Abadi's appointment as "a promising step forward."

This is premature and misguided praise for a man that many Iraqis see as another iteration of Maliki, albeit with fresh potential. Yet in a country where continuity is often masked by false promises of change, the nomination of a new prime minister should be met with a critical eye. The corruption at the top of Baghdad's political hierarchies, and the histories behind its origins, highlight a deeper reality. Politicians like Abadi, who represent - as Maliki did in 2006 - a community of Iraqi elites forced to flee persecution under Saddam Hussein, reinforce the sectarian narrative that has torn Iraq apart.

Surely, Maliki has to go. His divisive policies were largely responsible for sparking the current crisis, alienating Sunni communities, the autonomous Kurdistan region (KRG), and his Shiite allies. Yet he is not the problem, but rather a manifestation of a larger reliance on sectarian narratives used to establish legitimacy for a group of returned exiles without the local knowledge or support necessary to represent the Iraqi citizenry. Since 2003, politics have been sectarianized with visibly disastrous results. This sectarianization of political realities has displaced secular, pluralistic, and local dialogues needed to confront current threats.

To understand the facts of Iraq's tragedy, it is important to know a bit of history. In 2003, a political system was established based on the idea that Iraqis were divided into categories - Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd. Any Iraqi democratic process had to revolve around these three factions. Shiite opposition groups, who did not hide their sect's identity, came to power propounding a narrative of victimhood under Saddam. This claim provoked a strong reaction from the Sunni community, which did not know any political organization outside the Baath Party. But these Shiite groups were organized and knew how to play politics. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/25522-as-iraq-unravels-us-repeats-mistakes

[pscot]

1. We're out of our league

these people have been doing this for a thousand years; hell, 4000 years. The whole concept of Arab Democracy doesn't pass the laugh test.

[Mika]

8. Didn't the USA/CIA overthrow both the Iranian and Iraqi democracies?

The whole concept of "these people have been doing this for a thousand years; hell, 4000 years" doesn't pass the laugh test.

[pscot]

14. To what Iraqi democracy

are you referring? We certainly deposed Mossadegh, and we shouldn't have. My point was simply that if 4000 years of history contradicts ones view of reality, that should at least put up a flag.

[Scootaloo]

9. Wow. So many trite, meaningless nothings, capped with dismissive racism

Did you remember to put your pith helmet and monocle on before typing this, colonel?

these people have been doing this for a thousand years; hell, 4000 years.

"These people"? not a one of them has been alive more than a century at best. They are not living one thousand years ago, much less four thousand years ago, they are living right now and they are dealing with a situation that is the culmination of roundabout thirty-odd years of policy, both Iraqi and American.

The article explains how this triad of divisions - Shia / Sunni / Kurd - are artificial. Of course these groups DO exist, but US policy has been to treat the three as separate and mutually antagonistic, rather than trying to encourage the notion of "Iraq." it's a subtle but intentional sabotague. , fostering these divisions on the ground, while tongue-clucking about how "it's awful, but what can you do?" to the home viewers.

The whole concept of Arab Democracy doesn't pass the laugh test.

it seems to do alright until western powers interfere, like in Egypt. Dictators are simply so much more willing to give us "our" oil or cheap, so long as we arm them. Ask the Saudis. or the Emirs around the gulf. Or Saddam. The US - and other powers, of course - eager;y interfere to prevent Democracy, because democracy is inconveniant. Shit, we're watching our own leders try to hack it apart here i nthe "western world" and you think they're going to encourage it somewhere else?

But of course, it's the fact that they're Arabs that draws your focus and scorn. Not actual history, not the realities of international politics, but the fact that they're a different ethnicity from yourself.

[pscot]

13. We didn't install the Saudis in Arabia

Qadaffi was not our creature, nor was Saddam. You can ignore history if you like, but beyond the tribal level, Democracy is an unnatural recent construct, invented, quite accidentally, by the British. The elites, religious and political, of most of the Middle Eastern peoples have never bought into it. Egypt survived 5000 years of autocratic rule before we came along. Morsi was deposed not by us, but by street rioters. The choice was not Democracy or the military, but rather the Mullahs or the military. Our interference in the region has generally been feckless and ill advised, motivated mainly by oil, and before that by British colonial interests. I think the people of the ME should be let alone to determine their own fate. It's not within our writ to tell them how to govern themselves or to rescue them from the consequences of their actions. If that's racism I guess I'll wear it.

[bigwillq]

2. The USA just needs to mind its business

and stay out of that region. We have wasted too many lives and so much money.

[tblue37]

6. But, but, but--the *oil*! It is under Iraq, and under other Mideastern countries,

so US policy makers are absolutely determined that they can and will control what goes on in the region.

[KG]

3. we'll get it right this time!

because.....obama!

[GeorgeGist]

4. We don't need to make Iraq our problem.

We have plenty of problems of our own that need fixing.

[Rex]

5. It was stupid (PNAC) thinking we could build military bases wherever we please.

Need to get completely out of the ME. Have huge problems at home that need immediate attention imo.

[bullwinkle428]

7. Meet the new (Iraqi) boss, same as the old (Iraqi) boss.

[malaise]

10. We never learn

but some folks will get rich

[Sunlei]

11. To appoint the prime minister is the job of Iraqi President Fuad Masum. Congratulations Iraqis.

[xchrom]

12. du rec.