[WCUSP] Problem in Iraq is Occupation - and is political, not secarian

[KATHARLOW at aol.com]

Here is a good, concise analysis from Iraqi Ra'ed Jarrar from his blog  
"Ra'ed in the Middle."  It was also published on Yahoo.com. Ra'ed is the  son of a 
Shi`a mother and a Sunni father, which is really quite a common family  
structure in Iraq. In fact, although children generally take their religion from  
the father, the children in this family are themselves mixed among Shi`a, Sunni, 
 and secular. 
Ra'ed's mother, Fa'iza, is a blogger herself, as well as an engineer,  
businesswoman, and activist extraordinaire. Her blog, A Family in Baghdad, is  one 
of the best Iraqi blogs ever, and I strongly recommend it. Although her  
English is really very good, she generally posts in Arabic, and a few days later  
someone comes along and posts an English translation, so if you see Arabic at  
the top of the blog, don't be discouraged, just scroll down a bit, and you will 
 find previous entries in English that are well worth a read. Fa'iza shares 
in a  very eloquent way the thoughts, experiences, feelings, and internal 
conflicts of  a typical urban Iraqi woman. http://afamilyinbaghdad.blogspot.com/  
Alas, the family is no longer in Baghdad, but in `Amman, Jordan, since one of 
 their sons was arrested and detained incommunicado for several days for the  
"crime" of reading the "wrong" sites on the internet one day in his college  
library. Many Iraqis have reached their breaking point and left the country, 
and  that was their breaking point.  
Ra'ed is also not in Baghdad at this time. He is in the United States where  
he works for the organization Global Exchange. He recently had quite an  
experience at New York's JFK airport where he was not permitted to board his  
flight because he had a T-shirt with Arabic writing on it as well as English.  The 
shirt said "We will not be silent" in English, and the Arabic equivalent  
written in Arabic. He was told he would have to remove the T-shirt or he  would 
not be allowed to board. When he questioned this he was told that  displaying 
Arabic writing at an airport was like carrying a sign into a bank  that said "I 
am a bank robber". 
**************
Iraq's About Politics, Not Sectarianism

December 21, 2006
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
 
A few weeks ago, the Washington Post reported that the administration was  
considering what some call an "80% solution" to solve the problems in Iraq. In  
essence, the solution would be designed to work with the Shia Iraqis who make 
up  60% of the population and the Kurds who make up 20%. It would exclude the 
Iraqi  Sunni Arabs that make up the remaining 20% of the population.

However,  this won't work. There are new, mixed Iraqi coalitions emerging, 
which makes the  Iraqi political map more complicated and mixed than this 
solution provides  for.

Background of the issue
The approach of the United States in  dealing with Iraqis is, and has been, 
based on such sectarian and ethnic  divisions. The Governing Council, created 
by Paul Bremer in July 2003, whose 25  members were chosen by the U.S.-led 
coalition to represent their sects. This  was the first time in Iraq's 
contemporary history where leaders of the country  were selected based on them having 
been identified as members of a particular  sectarian group. The Governing 
Council was a failure - at least in part  because of the sectarian makeup and, as 
one member said of it, the Council's  propensity to "sit in the council while 
the country is burning and argue over  procedure.’

Furthermore, the U.S administration -- followed by the  mainstream media -- 
did their best to portray the growing Iraqi-Iraqi conflict  as a sectarian or 
religious one with roots that pre-dated the occupation even  though many Iraqi 
analysts and politicians disagreed with that perception and  believe the 
current conflict is based on political, not religious,  motives.

The real problem

As new coalitions emerge inside the  Iraqi government, it seems that the 
background of "sectarian conflict" put forth  by the U.S. is collapsing 
completely. A number of Shia groups such as the  Al-Sadr movement and the Al-Fadila 
party are working with Sunni, Kurdish and  secular parties both within and outside 
the Iraqi government and are attempting  to establish a nat! ional fr ont 
that is against the occupation and is for unity  in Iraq.

While these pro-unity groups coalesce, the Bush  administration is lending 
its support to another pro-occupation coalition that  may include Al-Hakim of 
the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution In Iraq  (SCIRI), the two main Kurdish 
parties, and the Islamic party which is a Sunni  party led by the Iraqi vice 
president, Tariq  Al-Hashimi.

Conclusion

The newly formed coalitions prove  sectarianism is not at the root of the 
conflict in Iraq. Sectarian and religious  differences are not splitting the 
country. Thus, it's clear that the "80%  solution" will have no impact and will 
not work, nor will any other  sectarian-based response.

The main issue that is splitting Iraqis is the  presence of the occupation, 
and that's why more than 87% of the Iraqi people,  and a majority of the 
country's politicians, believe that the first step in  dealing with the Iraqi-Iraqi 
conflict is pulling out the U.S. and coalition  troops and ending the 
occupation. 
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/ 
********************** 
Place Your Bets: Pro-Occupation or Pro-Iraq? 
December 22, 2006 
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/ 
The Bush administration wants to support "moderate Iraqis" now.
The  administration is trying to support a new front led by Al-Hakim of SCIRI 
(the  Iranian-backed Shia fundamentalist), Al-Hashimi of the Islamic Party, 
and the  Kurdish ruling coalition.

This is not the first time that the Sunni  Islamic Party, SCIRI, and the 
Kurdish coalition are working together. In Dec  2002, the same names and faces 
participated in the Iraqi Opposition Conference  in London and came away with a 
long list of promises to turn Iraq into heaven on  earth when they reached 
power.

After the fall of Baghdad in 2003, members  of these three fronts along with 
other foreign-backed groups like Allawi and  Chalabi tried to return to Iraq 
and create coalitions with other Iraqis still  inside the country. In fact, the 
last elections in December 2003 demonstrated  just how such political groups 
from outside Iraq who carried with them some kind  of foreign agenda were able 
to successfully infiltrate Iraqi  politics.

They blended in with other Iraqis. They created bonds based on  sectarian 
backgrounds. Thus, groups like SCIRI ended up working with Al-Sadr and  Al-Fadila 
and formed one coalition based on the fact that they were all Shia  groups. 
Their strategy was similar to that of the Islamic Party who formed a  Sunni 
Coalition with other Iraqis.

But, in October 2006, 10 months after  the elections, reality hit home and 
realignment occurred.

The Iraqi  Parliament passed a new regional law that had been pushed for by 
SCIRI, the  Kurdish coalition and others. The law lay the foundation for 
splitting Iraq into  three regions --- something all Iraqi nationals inside the 
country before the  fall of Baghdad were dead set against.

Passage of the law was  unconstitutional for many reasons and technicalities. 
Yet, its passage served  something good. It was a good wake up call for the 
pro-Iraq politicians: Iraqi  politicians who are for keeping Iraq's unity and 
for ending the occupation of  their country.

The newest! push by the Bush administration that supports  the creation of a 
"new alliance of moderate Iraqis" is doomed. This "new  alliance" is made up 
of the same old people who failed over and over during the  last four years.

They are not a real alliance. They are not new. And each  of them is working 
on a different foreign agenda.

They are not moderate  enough either. Notice that their militias are 
slaughtering Iraqis right and  left.

And they are not even Iraqi enough! The only quality they share in  common is 
their desire to keep the coalition troops in Iraq longer.

The  Bush administration is not just beating a dead horse, it is betting all 
our tax  money on it.

---
Written in collaboration with Jennifer Hicks 


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