IRAQ IS A POLITICAL MESS
Imran Khan
December 05, 2006
The bloodshed in Iraq is not looking to decline. A study group claims over 650,000 Iraqis have been killed after US occupation of Iraq since 2003. Iraqi government figures say around 150,000 killed, US has own estimates. Whichever figure is true, one thing is sure that Iraq is dealing with death and carnage what we have never heard in the recent history of the world. It becomes a part of life there and everyone living with fear and horror. Why things are so bad for such a long time?
The world's strongest military force has around 145,000 soldiers in Iraq, equipped with the state-of-the-Art technologies. There are tens of thousands Iraqi soldiers also present to enforce law and order situation. Police is also available in large numbers. Still 2800 US soldiers have been killed. Thousands of Iraqi military personals have also lost their lives in ongoing violence. And violence is getting even worst, achieving new dreadful milestones. On 23rd November 2006 more than 200 people lost their lives in a suicide bombing which is considered as the worst ever single incident. In Iraq's largest mass abduction, over 150 people from an educational institute were kidnapped in day lights in Baghdad on 18th November 2006. Over 3,700 Iraqis were killed only in October 2006, the highest monthly death tolls since invasion. November death toll is not far behind also. These incidents clearly indicate that only military might can't stop violence.
So what is wrong and why Iraq is not getting to any better situation? My answer to this question would be "the inexperienced Iraqi leadership" is more responsible than any other factors. The government has no clues what to do and how to manage things in proper way. The main reason behind is that they have no prior experience, no clear ideas of any kind to run a county and that is why everyone in Iraq is paying a huge price. If we look in the past, Saddam Hussein ruled the country for many decades (1979 – 2003) and he was the only power in the country. Saddam dictatorship never allowed any other political force to challenge his rule. So there was no political process and when suddenly his rule was over, Iraq found itself without any leadership. Democratic elections were held in 2005 and were called historical and considered as begging of a new era. But since then things are even worst. The only reason behind the failure is not the commitment but inexperience. Proper assessments of situations is lacking so decisions are also wrong. Biographies of current Iraqi leaders clearly shows that they were involved in political struggle against Saddam Hussein but top leaders remained out of the country for long time and had no real political life in Iraq. So they never were in a position to understand ground realities or to work in a proper democratic setup. Where they could have learned the techniques to become more effective leaders to understand and solve the problems.
Democracy is a long learning process and it requires time to take its effects. There is no argument about its worthiness for any country. But it needs time to take its grip. Leadership is not an easy job. To run a country proper planning required and that comes with the experience. This fact is quite visible from history. If west is developed and their leaders can manage to overcome problems than it has taken a huge time and that's only happened because of continued democratic process.
If Iraqi soldiers got training from American troops than it's very simple that newly elected Iraqi leaders also needs to learn to do the job properly. It's not easy to run a peaceful country how can someone assume that a war torn country would stand on its feet with democratic elections only? Previous Iraqi Prime Minister Mr. Ibrahim al-Jaafary was not considered best for the job and was removed. Now Mr. Nouri al-Maliki, the current Prime Minister is also facing the same situation. A classified White House memo expressed doubts about him. The document, written by National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley, said "the reality on the streets suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what's going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient." It's easy to judge someone's performance and call him with any name like ignorant. But has anyone ever thought that they might have tried their best but because situation is too complicated for them to handle? Even the seasoned leadership in USA had no clues that what will happen after occupation of Iraq . So putting all the blame on new Iraqi government is not fair.
This situation is not limited to Iraq only and we can see that in Afghanistan where elections were held in 2004, they were also called historical and ground braking. Evan as in Afghanistan there is no such bloodshed as it is in Iraq but Karzai government facing huge problems to run the country smoothly. Experts believe that his authority is only limited to the capital Kabul and many warlords in Afghanistan show their own powers in different parts. Afghanistan history is similar to Iraq as there was no political process before these elections for many decades.
The solution would be to learn from others and if there is no experience inside. USA has to do more than anyone else as the situation is all because of its invasion. So it's very important that USA lead the Iraqi leaders in their way to get knowledge about running the country. Only putting doubts on Iraqi leadership would not help. Democracy is all about respecting everyone's rights. Listening, compromising, trusting and cooperating with everyone. Shias and Sunnis in Iraqi government need to trust each others. Calling each other traitors will never lead towards a solution. In Islamic world there are differences between Sunnis and Shias but there is no such big enmity as it looks in Iraq . Neighboring countries can help them to understand and rectify the mistakes they have made in the past. The good thing is that now Iraqi government is trying to work with the neighbors and it will be fruitful. Unlike other countries Iraqi situation demands quick actions and leaders have to learn quickly. The more quickly they learn the better it would be for the future of Iraq.
The world's strongest military force has around 145,000 soldiers in Iraq, equipped with the state-of-the-Art technologies. There are tens of thousands Iraqi soldiers also present to enforce law and order situation. Police is also available in large numbers. Still 2800 US soldiers have been killed. Thousands of Iraqi military personals have also lost their lives in ongoing violence. And violence is getting even worst, achieving new dreadful milestones. On 23rd November 2006 more than 200 people lost their lives in a suicide bombing which is considered as the worst ever single incident. In Iraq's largest mass abduction, over 150 people from an educational institute were kidnapped in day lights in Baghdad on 18th November 2006. Over 3,700 Iraqis were killed only in October 2006, the highest monthly death tolls since invasion. November death toll is not far behind also. These incidents clearly indicate that only military might can't stop violence.
So what is wrong and why Iraq is not getting to any better situation? My answer to this question would be "the inexperienced Iraqi leadership" is more responsible than any other factors. The government has no clues what to do and how to manage things in proper way. The main reason behind is that they have no prior experience, no clear ideas of any kind to run a county and that is why everyone in Iraq is paying a huge price. If we look in the past, Saddam Hussein ruled the country for many decades (1979 – 2003) and he was the only power in the country. Saddam dictatorship never allowed any other political force to challenge his rule. So there was no political process and when suddenly his rule was over, Iraq found itself without any leadership. Democratic elections were held in 2005 and were called historical and considered as begging of a new era. But since then things are even worst. The only reason behind the failure is not the commitment but inexperience. Proper assessments of situations is lacking so decisions are also wrong. Biographies of current Iraqi leaders clearly shows that they were involved in political struggle against Saddam Hussein but top leaders remained out of the country for long time and had no real political life in Iraq. So they never were in a position to understand ground realities or to work in a proper democratic setup. Where they could have learned the techniques to become more effective leaders to understand and solve the problems.
Democracy is a long learning process and it requires time to take its effects. There is no argument about its worthiness for any country. But it needs time to take its grip. Leadership is not an easy job. To run a country proper planning required and that comes with the experience. This fact is quite visible from history. If west is developed and their leaders can manage to overcome problems than it has taken a huge time and that's only happened because of continued democratic process.
If Iraqi soldiers got training from American troops than it's very simple that newly elected Iraqi leaders also needs to learn to do the job properly. It's not easy to run a peaceful country how can someone assume that a war torn country would stand on its feet with democratic elections only? Previous Iraqi Prime Minister Mr. Ibrahim al-Jaafary was not considered best for the job and was removed. Now Mr. Nouri al-Maliki, the current Prime Minister is also facing the same situation. A classified White House memo expressed doubts about him. The document, written by National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley, said "the reality on the streets suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what's going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient." It's easy to judge someone's performance and call him with any name like ignorant. But has anyone ever thought that they might have tried their best but because situation is too complicated for them to handle? Even the seasoned leadership in USA had no clues that what will happen after occupation of Iraq . So putting all the blame on new Iraqi government is not fair.
This situation is not limited to Iraq only and we can see that in Afghanistan where elections were held in 2004, they were also called historical and ground braking. Evan as in Afghanistan there is no such bloodshed as it is in Iraq but Karzai government facing huge problems to run the country smoothly. Experts believe that his authority is only limited to the capital Kabul and many warlords in Afghanistan show their own powers in different parts. Afghanistan history is similar to Iraq as there was no political process before these elections for many decades.
The solution would be to learn from others and if there is no experience inside. USA has to do more than anyone else as the situation is all because of its invasion. So it's very important that USA lead the Iraqi leaders in their way to get knowledge about running the country. Only putting doubts on Iraqi leadership would not help. Democracy is all about respecting everyone's rights. Listening, compromising, trusting and cooperating with everyone. Shias and Sunnis in Iraqi government need to trust each others. Calling each other traitors will never lead towards a solution. In Islamic world there are differences between Sunnis and Shias but there is no such big enmity as it looks in Iraq . Neighboring countries can help them to understand and rectify the mistakes they have made in the past. The good thing is that now Iraqi government is trying to work with the neighbors and it will be fruitful. Unlike other countries Iraqi situation demands quick actions and leaders have to learn quickly. The more quickly they learn the better it would be for the future of Iraq.
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