Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

The Herald of Fragility in Iraq

Iraq could overcome the deadly insurgency only when the country's Sunnite awakening groups stood against Al-Qaeda and pro-Saddam fighters. The oil rich Middle Eastern country is divided by ethnicity, sect, political tendency and supports getting from foreign sources. The neighbouring and regional countries have been pushing forward rivalries in Iraq through proxy wars. Since country's former dictator was toppled down in 2003, the country has experienced a great deal of misfortunes due to the severe resentment among sectarian and ethnic groups.

Discords over cabinet posts, political authorities, oil resources and top military positions represented Iraq's fragile stability following defeat of Al-Qaeda. Shiite groups have typically formed pro-government front and the insurgency was mainly held up by Sunnite extremists.

Since enjoying the relatively peaceful situation, there have been complaints over government attitudes toward minority groups. Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's government has been trying to appease all Iraqi groups to ensure stability and peace as US forces have recently withdrawn from the country, leading into increasing regional intrusions there.

This week, the country was hit by a new wave of religious friction over the warrant issued for the Sunni vice president on anti-terror charges. Iraqi officials on Monday accused Tariq al-Hashemi of running a hit squad that killed government officials.

The announcement of the warrant has hiked tensions between Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites. Iraq's president has expressed surprise at the issuing of an arrest warrant against his Sunni deputy in an implicit criticism of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

President Jalal Talabani's office says the president was "surprised" at the announcement of the warrant and that the issue needed to be dealt with quietly. Talabani, a Kurd, has often tried to play a mediating role between Iraq's sectarian political factions.

To prevent any potential conflicts, Iraqi leaders on Tuesday called for urgent talks to head off the worsening political crisis. Iraqiya, the main Sunni-backed bloc, is boycotting the cabinet while Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called for the sacking of one of his deputies, a Sunni who branded the government a "dictatorship." The White House voiced concern over the developments, and multiple Iraqi leaders called for a national conference of the country's political blocs to break the deadlock.

In view of the current delicate political and security status in Iraq, any impractical and short-sighted action will lead to further instability and will pave the way for more external meddling. The current rivalries carried out in Iraq are mainly led by regional and international powers to claim victory in fight against their arch-foes.

But the Iraqis, as seen in Afghanistan, will not have enough time to compensate any political blunders. Rise of a sectarian violence in Iraq would immediately make the country slip-back to the days seen in 2005 and 2006.

The dilemma needs to be managed based on the long term and overall national security interests and national political demands. However, sources linked to terrorism needs to be cut off to save the nation. To draw together the two contradicting facts will demonstrate Maliki's political dexterity.