Its official now, Iraq is on the threshold of disintegration once the US forces withdrew. The report - tabled before the Congress - on the need to bolster the American garrison in the insurgency-hit nation, prepared by the top US commander in Iraq General David Petraeus, sees an inevitability of the situation converting Iraq in to another Somalia. What is the US up to?
The billion dollars question of the future Iraq stands unanswered. The US occupation of the country ever since the start of the war on terror, first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq, questions its credibility of occupying the region to restore peace, still missing even after four years of continuous war now. Bombings, sectarian strife, civil war, ethnic conflict, the Shia-Sunni clash says it all. The relentless war doesn’t show any signs to budge, fading all the chances of peace in the volatile nation. The situation in Iraq very much reminds of Somalia that suffered (rather suffering) the same bruises of conflict and war, its American occupation, the Black Hawks tragedy and consequent US pull out and the life of Somalia thereafter. Isn’t the story synchronizing with Iraq of today?
The military solution conceived by George WMD Bush and his hawkish advisers are only compounding problems of Iraqis who boast their lingering heritage of world’s oldest civilization. Kurdistan exists as de facto and Kurdish rebels are looking eager to spit venom against the Sunnis, who once commanded their life in northern Iraq. The Shias led by eccentric and bigot leaders like Al-Sadr are always inching for the blood of the Sunnis of al-Anbar. The Sunnis failed miserably both politically and economically in the post-occupation era are readying to carry fight to the Shia camp. The sectarian strife is bound to pit Saudi Arabia against Iran and the Middle-East is heading towards a division patronized by the White house.
Iraq is a tale of tyrannical rule of Saddam Hussein, who according to the US was brought to justice two years ago, but isn’t the tyranny in the country continuing? Saddam has gone, but the legacy he left behind continues to throttle the country, aided by the NATO forces, occupying Iraq for heralding a new era of peace in the insurgency-hit nation. Peace, where is it? Does it come with fighting or war or bombings or civil war or ethnic conflict?
When no solution seems possible, debates start flowing to divide the country into five divisions, each represented at the UN as an independent political entity, linked with each other economically and socially. But, is the breakup any solution? Will it not herald a new era of political uncertainty with more strife and smaller parts asking for autonomy? Smaller states would call for greater conflict with the neighboring Turkey and eveready Iran pouncing on it to intervene in its internal affairs. Any such move will be hazardous for Iraq and only add to the violence and bloodshed of the common Iraqi.
Different warring factions calling for autonomy have already occupied their distinctive areas, many a times stepping the tide by conflict for possession of more areas. The disintegration of Iraq is and will never be a sane idea, as was the US occupation of the country that today stands at 168,000 soldiers fighting it day and night. With thousands of US casualties in Iraq, pressure from Democrats and American public, the Bush administration seems to be now saying that it will start withdrawing from the country from 2008, leaving it in the hands of Iraqi soldiers who themselves do not seem to take the control. By leaving Iraq all of a sudden, does the US want to show the world that it succeeded in its mission for which it entered the Iraqi territory?
As Al Qaeda gets ready to pounce on the violence-marred nation, the situation in and around Iraq seems to be getting horrendous. Such a sudden absconding from the country will mean Iraq is ready to be another Somalia, which even after years of conflict is battling for life. Is Iraq ready to follow Somalia?
Via: Al Zajeera
