(Click on the map to enlarge.)
My post Iran, Iraq and the USA : A Big Question Mark? has received interesting comments that need to be tackled in a separate post for the simple reason that many people who read the posts do not bother to read the comments.
These comments discuss the possibility of splitting up Iraq on ethnic basis, and so deserve serious notice.
Let me give you a few samples:
First Comment:
“I think the breakup of the country (Iraq) is inevitable at this point. The questions is: how to bring this about without genocide. Kurdistan should be a separate country. Southern Iraq will be separate. And Sunni central and western Iraq should develop an economy unrelated to oil.”
Second Comment:
“I have to say that Biden’s proposal is growing on me. I admit I first had a kneejerk reaction that it was a partition plan, but he has definitely thought it out in ways to avoid an outright partition and proposes a true confederation (not unlike the American confederation that preceded the formation of the US when our constitution was ratified. He claims that this can be done without throwing out the Iraqi constitution, but using it as a basis for a central govt with limited power and function, while the three factions get to control their own regions. And, he also proposes a system which would fairly divide the oil revenues (since contrary to what Elrod suggests, I don’t see any other way for the Sunnis to survive…maybe glass factories using the vast resource of sand that they would control 😉 ?)”
Third Comment:
“Since even Sunni/Shia marriages are breaking up, and the Kurds are already a separate sect, it just seems the logical way to go. The main problem is getting all the interested parties to accept it-as I thought I heard that a similar plan had been rejected by the Iraqi parliament, but can’t remember what the reasoning was. I think the regional powers that want a stable ME may have to pressure the Sunnis and Shia to accept a federation.
Fourth Comment:
“I’ve read in several sources that thousands of ordinary middle-class Iraqis are leaving the country for Syria, because of fears for their safety. Isn’t it better to split the country if it will stop this exodus? Iraq’s borders are artificial, anyway, having been drawn up by the British in the 1920’s. I just don’t feel that they have the ability to put national pride over sectarian/religious loyalties.”
Fifth Comment:
“I don’t disagree that the exodus is already happening and that we may have no choice but to support federalism as a way to use sectarianism as an advantage instead of an obstacle. I am just saying that I really don’t know where the Iraqi people stand on this (certainly signs that many are giving up on unified Iraq but I don’t know if that is a mandate yet), and I do think that if the critical point of no return hasn’t been reached yet, then we might not want to push it in that direction.”
Now here is my humble opinion after reading these comments.
While in a democracy you are free to discuss anything under the sun, it is quite another thing to take decisions about another country’s future/destiny after occupying it for three years without international mandate.
America’s decision to take over Iraq was almost a unilateral one…As a consequence of that questionable decision a havoc has been created in that country, and now some hurried patch up solutions are being aired loudly.
This attitude is similar to that of a child first breaking the toy and then collecting his close friends to discuss how to repair it. Children are known to get seriously wounded when messing around with broken complicated toys.
Iraq is not a toy to be messed around with.
I am astounded at the suggestions being made to first break Iraq into pieces and then have a superimposed federal structure there.
After having forcibly entered the country (on a fake ground) does not get the ‘outsiders’ an automatic divine right to decide the destiny of Iraq. To some this may appear as the height of arrogance and short-sightedness.
God Save The World!!!
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.