Iraq is at a crossroads, and the upcoming nationwide elections will greatly decide whether the country casts itself primarily as pro-Western, pro-Iranian or the least likely option – independent.
According to this article from Iraqi newspaper Kitabat, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced that Iraq has joined an alliance consisting of Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. If true, Iraq would be one of the countries pitting themselves against the U.S.-led alliance consisting of, among others, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
Kitabat columnist Madah Al-Qadah warns Iraqi voters to keep their eyes open when they enter voting booths on March 7, as the results of the election will determine which of the two regional alliances Iraq joins.
For Kitabat, columnist Madah Al-Qadah writes in part:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with extreme arrogance, has included Iraq in an alliance of confrontation against Israel, with partners that include Iran, Syria, Lebanon – of course, he referred specifically the south of Lebanon [Hezbullah territory]. Despite the fact that Iraq has historically and publicly stood against Israel, she doesn’t need to be mixed up in an alliance with Iran, Syria and Southern Lebanon – which was insisted upon by Ahmadinejad during a meeting in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
I would like to ask the Iraqi government: Is it in favor of this alliance Ahmadinejad spoke of? Or doesn’t Ahmadinejad need to ask the Iraqi government before including us in such an alliance? The matter clearly exposes the weakness of Iraq’s government and its humiliating subordination to Tehran. This is what compels us to stand up against this enfeebled government.
Iraqis have already paid an enormous price. If they go in Iran’s direction, it means that America will curse them; but this curse will be laid more at the doorstep of the Iraqi government than the Iraqi people, as General Odierno stated clearly and explicitly.
However, if Iraqis go in America’s direction, Iran will curse them, and this curse will be more sharply directed at the Iraqi people. That is why we are now caught between two curses, that of America and that of Iran.
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