The Raging Fires Within

Iraq defines failed American foreign policy. We toppled a dictator under the misdirected notion of confiscating non-existent weapons of mass destruction, and imposed a “majority rules” democracy on a nation with bitterly divided factions based on religious passion. Sunnis – the largest sect of Muslims worldwide but a 20% minority in Iraq – are the Quranic literalists (each Muslim must read and absorb the exact words of this holy book). Shiites are the a global Muslim minority but represent 60% of the Iraqi population and control the central government under that notion of “majority rules.” They defy the Sunni literalists and tell their followers that only a most senior Shiite cleric can discern the mystical meaning of the Quran. Like the explosive battle between Protestants and Catholics, the disagreements between Sunnis and Shiites can be vicious.

But when that dictator, Sunni-minority Saddam Hussein, was deposed, the new Shiite-controlled government was angry at those who were thrown from power. And despite decades of peaceful coexistence with their Sunni neighbors, given the chance at retribution, the new government in Baghdad began crushing Sunni power, purging senior Sunni officers from the military, and rendering anyone Sunni a second class citizen. It was Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki’s signature policy as he drew closer and closer to the mega-Shiite power, Iran, and embraced the local Shiite militia to the exclusion of Sunni balance. Sunni bombs began blasting Shiite targets across Iraq, but heavily focused on Baghdad itself. Retribution mounted.

Intensified by a poverty-inflicting drought, Sunni hatred was exploding at this hostile majority Shiite power in their country. Al Qaeda lost credibility as not doing enough to battle this Shiite malevolence… and ISIS, ISIL or simply the Islamic State was born of this devolving hatred. As IS grew, it was clear that Maliki’s failed anti-Sunni-policies were ripping the country apart, that Sunnis needed a voice that might accept them back into the fold. Bowing to pressure from within and from outside (particularly the United States), al-Maliki stepped aside in favor of a more moderate Shiite prime minister, Haider al-Abadi.

Shoved into the political background with a nominal/ceremonial “vice-presidential” title (there are several), al-Maliki seethed as al-Abadi began to bring these opposing factions together. A rift within the Shiite majority began to grow, and al-Maliki was working overtime to hinder his successor’s efforts. Meanwhile ISIL advanced to the outskirts of Baghdad.

“During a closed-door meeting of State of Law [a faction of the Islamic Dawa Party] last month, Mr. Maliki, its leader, seemed intent on humiliating Mr. Abadi, several participants said, granting him only several minutes to address the assembled politicians and frequently interrupting him.

“During one interruption, Mr. Maliki suggested that Mr. Abadi did not have a firm grasp on which foreign forces were operating in Iraq and questioned his protection of the country’s sovereignty, participants recalled. Mr. Abadi said that the country’s sovereignty was ceded in June, under Mr. Maliki’s watch, when Mosul fell to Islamic State fighters.

“Mr. Maliki has also refused to give up his prime ministerial offices, in one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces in the Green Zone, several politicians said… Neither Mr. Abadi nor Mr. Maliki responded to requests for interviews… Supporters of Mr. Maliki have enjoyed drawing a contrast between the personalities of the two men, asserting that Mr. Abadi lacks Mr. Maliki’s decisiveness, resolve and charisma — necessary qualities, they say, to lead a country as tumultuous as Iraq.” New York Times, October 16, 2014. But Abadi’s efforts at conciliation with Sunnis seem to be gaining credibility even as al-Maliki seeks to undo his progress.

With the devil knocking at Baghdad’s front door, can Iraq afford such internecine struggles? And did we learning any lessons from our effective regional equivalent of “Messin’ with Sasquatch”?

I’m Peter Dekom, and one cannot overstate the levels of instability all across this region in flames.