The completion of a rare reconciliation agreement between Shias and Sunnis for the cessation of violence in the south-western part of Baghdad may have rekindled faint hopes of a broader act of restraint, but the ultimate road to peace in Iraq is a long one with immense blockades. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Having said that, this one particular act might spur other Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish groups to follow suit but at this particular moment, it will be interesting to see, how other insurgent groups react to the recent deal. In many previous occasions, prominent Iraqi insurgent leaders had to pay with their lives for striking any sort of deal with the American forces in order to reduce violence. Iraqis are termed as ‘traitors’ by their fellow people for doing negotiations with the Americans.
The main concern for the coalition forces is the daily rise in sectarian violence in and around Baghdad and of course, Iraq as a whole. Sheer number of troops and force would not solve the problem alone. There should be a direct interaction between the Iraqi government, US troops, and the civilians including insurgent leaders from various ethnic societies. It is the duty of the Iraqi government to unite Shias, Sunnis, and Kurds while making a sincere effort to reach out to every single Iraqi citizen and make them believe that inter-ethnic killings will not solve their problems rather increase their political, social, and financial misery.
Many analysts believe that the current situation can be blamed to Iraq’s past under Saddam Hussein, when the minority Sunni clan had undue advantage over the majority Shias and in some cases the latter remained an oppressed society under Sunni Saddam’s iron fist. With the fall of Saddam Hussein and Shias making political gains, the act of revenge is at work against the Sunnis.
The hopeless situation is hijacked by Al-Qaeda, a Sunni extremist organization, which, in order to hurt American interests in the country is arming young Sunni men and boys to go on a killing rampage against the Shias while increasing the violence and in turn taking Iraq towards a full fledged civil war.
Another important factor that is contributing to the increased lawlessness in the country is the apparent alleged involvement of Iran and Syria to fuel an anti-American rhetoric among ordinary Iraqi people. The Americans have always blamed Iran and Syria of harboring and supplying radical insurgents to fuel the situation in order put a foothold into Iraq’s internal matters.
As days pass by, it remains to be seen how the insurgency is tackled and more importantly what the future has in store for Iraq. Will we see a divided Iraq on ethnic lines or will the conflicting parties be able to forge some sort of united front in the face of hopelessness.
Link:washington post
