Iraqis
In Despair
By Adil E. Shamoo
& Bonnie Bricker
14 March, 2007
Fpif.org
While politicians in Washington
argue over the future of Iraq, half a world away a bloody battle for
the soul of Iraq is being fought by Iraqis who are paying a high price
for the U.S. occupation.
When asked about Iraq and
its future, many Iraqis have the same refrain: there is no more Iraq,
Iraq is lost. Others say: make us safe or leave us alone.
These desperate voices are
heard from inside Iraq and from Iraqis abroad. Just as Americans saw
in the aftermath of Katrina the stark contrast of those who had and
had not the means to leave the devastation, in Iraq those who have the
means hope to escape death and suffering by leaving their homes. Those
who have the means, nearly two million of them according to U. N. sources,
have fled Iraq to countries in which they try to protect their families
in strange lands and often to inhospitable environments. Within Iraq
an additional 1.8 million refugees are unable to leave their country
but also are unable to live safely in their homes. Those Iraqis who
have no means to leave Iraq are struggling to survive under a situation
described in the latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) as “more
complex” than a civil war.
This war has lasted four
years--an equivalent to the length of the American Civil War or World
War II. Iraqis have had enough and their desire is to be left alone
regardless of the consequences. In a September 2006 World Public Opinion
poll (conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at
the University of Maryland), 70 percent of Iraqis wanted the U.S. to
commit to withdrawal within the year. Support for attacks on U.S. forces
had grown to 60 percent of the Iraqi population. The majority of Iraqis
reported that the presence of the United States created more conflict.
The sentiment is clear, if left alone, Iraqis themselves will determine
the consequences of this conflict instead of the actions of foreign
troops.
President Bush and his supporters
hide behind the possibility that if U.S. troops leave, there will be
a blood bath. According to the latest NIE four simultaneous wars are
being fought in Iraq by various groups: "Shia on Shia," "al-Qaeda,"
"Sunni insurgents," and "criminals." For Iraqis,
they are better defined as thugs, foreign fighters, and former neighbors
turned into insurgents.
Before the U. S. invasion
of Iraq, Kurds, Sunnis and Shi’ites lived together in Iraq for
hundreds of years without much violence. Yes, there were some ethnic,
religious and sectarian differences; but intermarriage among groups
was common and neighbors looked out for one another regardless of sectarian
differences. Following the U. S. invasion, the formulation of Iraq’s
Coalition Provisional Authority based on ethnic demographics contributed
a great deal to unearthing old fissures and deepening ethnic hostilities.
The fighting against U.S.
troops and between these groups creates as many as 100 or more deaths
per day. Thirty-four thousand Iraqis were killed in the conflict in
the last year according to the Brookings Institute's Iraq Index, confirming
that Iraq is already in the midst of a civil war. According to the Iraq
Coalition Casualty Count, deaths of Iraqi security forces and civilians
numbered over 1,800 in January 2007, following months of attacks in
which death rates by the month for Iraqis ranged from 1,500 to more
than 3,500 (in September 2006). While the February 2007 count has been
less, the change in attacks, including targeting chlorine trucks, is
an ominous change that could lead to even greater challenges.
Some fear that the Iranians
may gain influence if the U.S. leaves and that the U.S. will not be
able to secure the flow of Iraqi oil to fill our growing energy needs.
These fears should not be dismissed. If the U.S. leaves, the Iranians
may temporarily have more influence than the U.S. But if the Iranians
exercise any colonial tendencies in Iraq, they will suffer the same
consequences the U.S. has had in Iraq. Iraq may become their burial
ground and the undoing of the Ahmadinejad government. There is a great
deal of discontent among Iranians towards their current regime. If the
U.S. could not conquer Iraq, the Iranians will not be able to either.
The war and occupation has
been fanning the flames of violence for too long in Iraq. It is time
to let the Iraqi people extinguish the flames and begin their long process
of rebuilding their nation.
Adil E. Shamoo born and raised in Baghdad is a professor
at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He writes on ethics
and public policy and can be reached at: [email protected].
Bonnie Bricker is a freelance writer. Both are contributors to Foreign
Policy In Focus.
Published by Foreign Policy
In Focus (FPIF), a joint project of the International Relations Center
(IRC, online at www.irc-online.org) and the Institute for Policy Studies
(IPS, online at www.ips-dc.org). ©Creative Commons - some rights
reserved.