Reply #29: Inevitable in an artificial country [View All]

[bhikkhu]

That is, Iraq as an entity was artificially created by the British from portions of the remains of the Ottoman Empire in the twenties. There is even solid evidence that they drew the lines in full knowledge that it could never be internally cohesive or governable without a powerful foreign ally - the classic colonial puppet-master. Natural divisions exist, and civil war is only occurring at the moment because Iraq is wholly occupied by a power which regards its division as "the worst posible outcome". In other cases, division has occurred by general consent, and without undue bloodshed.