Crisis in Iraq

The Iraqi society is in a very chaotic situation politically, socially, and economically. This havoc is the result of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Furthermore, the type of democracy, which emerged with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011, led to the rise of sectarianism under the leadership of Prime Minister Al-Maliki, who is a tool in the hands of Iranian politicians.

         Prime minister Al-Maliki turned out to be an authoritarian dictator targeting senior Sunni politicians by jailing some and killing others. Furthermore, he directed his Shia militia groups to terrorize and kill some of his opponents. Also he failed to respond to some Shia and Sunni sector leaders demands for democratic reform. The Maliki opposition, which consists of secular Shia and Sunni groups, view his government as sectarian oppression. Such prevailing political situation made it easy for the Islamic terrorist group, “Daish”, to move into Iraq from the Syrian borders and occupy areas in the anbar province especially the city of Fallujah. The Iraqi army has been fighting them for more than a year. Furthermore, the recent conquest and occupation of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, and of the city of Takrit without much opposition from the Iraqi army and the public against “Daish” shows a strong indication of opposition to Al-Maliki’s government. The Daish group threatens to move south to capture Baghdad. Daish is emerging as an extreme Islamic terrorist group that is replacing Al-Qaeda especially in both Iraq and Syria. It has been reported that Daish forces spread fear and terror between both populations in Iraq and Syria namely in areas that they have occupied.

         It has been reported that Al-Maliki’s government have requested military assistance from the United States and stated that Iraqi air space is open to target Daish forces in Iraq. Furthermore, Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani called on his followers to join and support Al Maliki government against the Sunni Islamic terrorist “Daish.”

         The BBC news reported that more than 500 members of the Iranian revolutionary guards joined the Iraqi government in order to fight “Daish.”

         It is interesting to realize that what has been happening since the removal of Saddam Hussein’s government as a result of the U.S. conquest of Iraq led to the present situation. For more information, see my  monograph: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq: Conspiracy and its Tragic Aftermath¹.

¹Publisher amazon.com 2014