Iraq in the shadow of saddam hussein
The government of Saddam Hussein was overthrown in 2003; he was tried, found guilty and hanged in prison by the new Iraqi administration but his ghost never stops haunting the nation he ruled for 24 years.
Advertisement
On suspicion that Iraq had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction, the United States and its allies attacked and overthrew the regime of President Saddam Hussein 11 years ago.
The population of Iraq is made up of between 75 and 80 per cent Arabs and 15 to 20 per cent Kurds.
Islam is the official religion of Iraq and two Muslim denominations – the Shiite and Sunni – are predominant.
Between 60 and 65 per cent of Iraqi Muslims are Shiites and 32 to 37 per cent Sunnis.
Saddam Hussein was a Sunni and belonged to the Baath Arab Socialist Party which successively ruled Iraq after the overthrow of King Faisal II in 1958.
Saddam Hussein became President in 1979. He was toppled in 2003.
After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the coalition forces set up a Coalition Provisional Authority and ruled Iraq until 2004 when it handed over to a transitional government.
In 2005, the Iraqis went to the polls and elected a 275-member House of Representatives. The House elected a President and appointed a Prime Minister – under a new Constitution the Shiites and the Kurds favoured but which the Sunnis rejected.
The Muslim denominational rivalry in Iraq has since been the source of insurgency and unrest in Iraq. Thousands of Iraqi civilians, soldiers and policemen have been killed through suicide, car and truck bombing and other forms of terrorist attacks.
Remnants of Baath Arab Socialist Party members and Sunnis have been behind series of terrorist attacks in Iraq.
Last week, a group who calls itself Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) or Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) captured a number of towns, villages and cities including Mosul, the second largest city, and Tikrit, the birth place of Saddam Hussein.
Other Trending Stories
Made up mainly of remnants of Baath party supporters and Sunnis opposed to the new regime in Iraq, the ISIS or ISIL came from north of Iraq and in lightning attacks, took control of Mosul and Tikrit and other areas in three days and started a push towards Bagdad, the national capital.
Iraqi government soldiers reportedly deserted their posts and ran away.
Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, described the new level of insurgency as a “mortal threat” from the ISIS.
And the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Osama Nujaifi, called the ISIS takeovers “a catastrophe by any measure”.
The goal of the ISIS or ISIL is to conquer, control and set up an Islamic state that spreads from Sunni-controlled Anbar province in Iraq towards the east to Raqqa province in Syria.
ISIS has militia bases in Syria and has been involved in the insurgency there as well. It has already reportedly established control over the eastern part of Syria.
In Iraq, Mosul and Tikrit are provincial capitals of two provinces where Sunni Muslims are predominant. In all, Iraqi Sunnis are in the majority in three provinces.
Muslims inhabiting north-east of Syria are also Sunnis who are opposed to the regime of President Bashar al Assad.
How has the US government responded to the latest developments in Iraq?
According to a senior US official, President Barack Obama was examining a number of options and a decision would be made.
“We are working with Iraqi leaders across country to support a co-ordinated response,” the official continued, and added: “and you can expect we will provide additional assistance to the Iraqi government to combat the threat from ISIL”.
A National Security Council spokesperson, Bernadette Meehan, has said that the goal of the US “is to build capacity of the Iraqis to successfully confront and deal with the threat posed by the ISIS”.
Iran, a nation dominated by Shiites, has promised to work with the US to fight off the ISIS insurgents in Iraq. Iran had pledged military support for Iraq.
Already, Iran has funded and trained Shiite militiamen and 30 Iranian military advisers have been training Iraqi soldiers.
It had been reported that Iranian soldiers had massed on the border with Iraq ready for action.
At the time of writing, it was reported that the Iraqi soldiers had regrouped, staged counter-attacks and retaken many towns and villages from the ISIS insurgents.
The ISIS advance towards Baghdad have been halted and the Iraqi troops were advancing towards Mosul and Tikrit.
Involved in the Iraqi government response to the ISIS onslaughts were Iraqi soldiers and Kurd and Shiite militias.
Probably, the Iranian soldiers have also moved in to help the Iraqis.
The Iraqi government had asked the US to hasten supply of military equipment including aircraft – Apache helicopters and F16 fighters – and surveillance hardware.
Is the ISIS plan to set up an Iraqi Islamic state that runs across Iraq and Syria a pipe dream?
How will the Muslim religious denominational divisiveness affect regional nation-states such as Iraq (Shiites), Iran (Shiites), Syria (Sunnis), Saudi Arabia (Sunnis) and Turkey (Sunnis)?
It depends on how long the ISIS can hold on to gains made in Iraq and Syria. A prolonged grip on conquered territories can make it possible for the ISIS to stay and rule.
The main problem is that the insurgency can destabilise the region and pit countries where Shiites are dominant against nations that have Sunnis in the majority.
For example, Iran had moved in to help the Shiites-dominated government in Iraq.
E-mail: therson.cofie@yahoo.com
Advertisement