Recently there have been reports that thanks to the support of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr – and the tacit consent of Iran and even the U.S. – Nouri Al-Maliki is close to being named for a second term as Iraq’s prime minister. According to this article by columnist Tariq Hamid of the Iraqi News Agency, this electoral outcome, which insults Iraqi voters who elected Ayad Alawi, calls into question whether Muqtada al-Sadr and Nouri al-Maliki consider Iraq more important than their Shiite brothers in Iran.
For the Iraqi News Agency, columnist Tariq Hamid writes in part:
Is Muqtada al-Sadr Shiite or an Iraqi? What is more important to him: Iraq or following Iran? If al-Sadr is suffering pressure from Iran, why not leave it, return to Iraq and confront al-Maliki himself, even if al-Maliki’s followers will curse him for this a thousand times? Another question is this: why didn’t the Sadrists follow the principle of submission to pressure during the days of Saddam? The Sadrists, with their well-known historic position, didn’t collude with the former regime against Iraqis, and never conceded to its terror and blackmail, even though Saddam’s regime was ruthless, and its cruelty was no less severe that that of the Iranian regime!
The issue here is huge – and dangerous. If loyalty to one’s country doesn’t come first, it means that all of our nations are at the mercy of the wind, which leads to another question: Are Arab countries failing to establish a stable citizenship, which is the only true guarantor of a nation’s security, stability, growth, and prosperity? The Indians, whether Muslim or Hindu, and the Asiatics, whatever their nationality and religion, when they live in the West whether it be in America or Europe, respect the constitutions of those countries, serve in their armies, contribute to their growth and well-being, all without diminishing their roots or relations to their creator. While this is the proper way to deal with their beliefs, in Arab countries the situation is puzzling and frightening.
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