The Postwar Of Iraq

The Postwar Of Iraq

Iraq, a member of the Arab League, lies in the Middle East, between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The size of the country is twice the size of Idaho State. The national spoken language is Arabic (80%) and Kurdish (20%). The population is 27.1 million, 95% Muslims. The rest 5% includes Orthodox Christians, Catholic Christians, Mandaeans, and Yazidis. Modern Iraq occupies much of the same territory as the ancient region of Mesopotamia . Iraq had always been in civil unrest since almost five thousand years ago. Recently, Iraq had been through many conflicts with different countries, Iran, Kuwait, and the most recent United States war.

The United States occupation of Iraq ended the rule of the dictator Saddam Hussein, but it created many unexpected problems that may negatively affect the future of the country and region. No noticeable strategic solutions that may help improve the government and secure the country are visible yet. Some of the problems created include the appearance of religious parties and leaders that are in a continuous fight over controlling the country and its resources, the existence of foreign forces for an undetermined time, and problems with Iraq’s economy and its effect on the world regarding the large amounts of oil it has.

A faith-based government, like the one Iraq is having now, is not what Iraq or any other country would like to have because such a government will not be able to function properly in a country as diverse as Iraq is which eventually may end up with underdevelopment of the country. Iraq used to be a secular nation. Although dictatorships were ruling the country since its independence from the British administration in 1932, religious factions were never in power until the United States’ occupation in 2003. The Shiite religious parties that won big in the January, 2005 elections have called for strict Islamic laws to govern marriage, divorce and inheritance, and many other daily life issues. Secular Sunnis, Shiites, Arabs, and Kurds oppose those efforts (David Rohde 1). Iraq became an Islamic state, this is obvious by the laws that the leaders want to enforce on the country. The current map of political parties in Iraq is not showing any promising secular group that may be supported by the Iraqis in the coming elections.

The current situation in Iraq is very awful, where there are limited civil wars and sectarian ethnic strife, therefore some politicians and many Iraqis are urging a quick withdrawal of the United States troops, but an objective assessment of the situation would show that if this action is taken prematurely, it will lead to more civil unrest and probably a full blown civil war. Proponents of speedy withdrawal argue that there is already a civil war in Iraq and that ending the U.S. occupation would at least remove a key recruitment tool for the insurgents, since insurgents rally Iraqis against the foreign enemy (World Conflicts Today 4). Bring the troops home and the insurgents will lose their principal target for hatred and be forced to sort out Iraqi’s problems for themselves. Opponents of a speedy withdrawal worry