Why We Fight?

When America invaded Iraq in 2003, we deposed a tyrant, a member of the Sunni minority, and “imposed” a Democracy. Since the majority of Iraqis are Shiites and since Iraqis vote their tribes and their faith before anything else, by definition, we handed control to the Sunnis’ mortal enemy – the Shiites, and in essence, decided the longstanding Iran-Iraq conflict in Tehran’s favor.

It’s a long feud that goes back to the period after the death of the Muslim Prophet, Muhammad, in 632 AD. Many think the feud is just about succession – whether the heirs of cousin Ali (who actually transcribed The Qur'an - the Muslim holy book - and was very close to the Prophet) or political appointees, like Abu Bakr who was nominated by those close to Muhammad at death, should be the keepers of the faith.

However, the two factions, Shiite and Sunnis, were separated by much more than politics. Putting it very simply, let’s just say that Sunnis believe in a literal reading (by all followers) of the Qu’ran, preferably in the original Arabic, as the essential part of the faith, while Shiites believe that the Qu’ran is a mystical book, whose interpretation must be left to only to the highest of spiritual leaders. While Shiites are a minority in most of the Muslim world (representing about 15% of that faith), their presence in Iraq and Iran is overwhelming.

Did I mention the animosity between the sects? That’s what set off the civil war in Iraq… the one we are supposed to “win,” even though we aren’t backing either side? We hoping that they just “get along” and back the elected government, which just happens to be controlled by Shiites.

So our invasion pretty much handed the Sunni-controlled nation over to Shiites, many of whom draw their spiritual guidance from religious leaders in Iran. Iraqi cleric (and militant), Moktadr al Sadr, is an example of a Shiite leader with strong ties to Iran. The Sunnis have come to realize that, unless they draw support from other Sunni nations (like Saudi Arabia), when the U.S. leaves they’re pretty much toast. As a result, the Sunnis (who we overthrew in the first place) actually want us to stay.

The nation of Iraq, literally an amalgamation of regional tribes with little in common, was based on an allied agreement (the Sykes-Picot Agreement) outlining “spheres” of influence (see the above map) in the Ottoman Empire, and was literally created under a series League of Nations mandates after World War I. The very notion of an Iraqi nation is strange given its rather arbitrary roots.

Of course, today, even with Shiites firmly in control and Sunnis being very much on the outs (along with their northern Kurdish citizens), factionalism still reigns supreme. It seems that there’s apparently an awful lot of oil there (who knew?), so that means money. Money does in fact breed massive corruption, notwithstanding U.S. government’s assurances to the contrary. So you have Shiite factions that look forward to solidarity with Iran… and more secular factions, like the “elected” government of Shiite Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who look forward to solidarity with graft-secured cash.

The November 18, 2008 New York Times reminds us that sometimes this lust for money can truly be less than subtle: “The government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is systematically dismissing Iraqi oversight officials, who were installed to fight corruption in Iraqi ministries by order of the American occupation administration, which had hoped to bring Western standards of accountability to the notoriously opaque and graft-ridden bureaucracy here… The dismissals, which were confirmed by senior Iraqi and American government officials on Sunday and Monday, have come as estimates of official Iraqi corruption have soared. One Iraqi former chief investigator recently testified before Congress that $13 billion in reconstruction funds from the United States had been lost to fraud, embezzlement, theft and waste by Iraqi government officials.”

Yeah, in times of dire domestic economic needs, I want to spend more money supporting that freely-elected government. And you were wondering how I was going to tie all of this into our current financial crisis, weren’t you?

I’m Peter Dekom, and I approve this message.