Current Events in Iraq

Current Events in Iraq
By Tommy Franks

You be the judge. Is Iraq in a civil war? Jordan's King Abdullah is warning that Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories, may be in a series of civil wars. He has been talking to Harith al-Dhari (powerful head of the Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars), a man wanted in Baghdad and accused of encouraging sectarian violence. Harith al-Dhari has stated that Iraq's Shi'ite-led Government is headed for disaster.The world is looking to the Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to step up to the plate…rein in the Shi'ite death squads….quell the sectarian violence…and quash the Sunni-based insurgency. This a tall order.The First Problem: Many of the Iraqis have already lost faith and hope. Many have fled to neighboring Jordan. Downtown Amman has now been dubbed little Baghdad. They do not believe that Iraq's Prime Minster is in a position to promise President Bush anything. Any decisions that Maliki makes must go through the Iranian backed parties and their militias. Does it seem that Maliki is completely helpless?
The Second Problem: The death squads and the militias belong to the political parties that are in the coalition government. This is like having foxes in the chicken coop.When will we be out of Iraq? Do Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria have any significant influence in this matter, especially since King Abdullah (Jordan) is now warning the world of potential civil wars in Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestinian territories?
Has the insurgency in Iraq escalated to a "civil war"? A growing number of Americans are very concerned about the rapid spiraling of war activities that appear to be civil war related. The activities appear to be armed factions fighting for their own political agendas.

What is the definition of civil war? Let’s take a look. Civil War: “A war between political factions or regions within the same country.” It can be further described as: “A fight between factions or regions within the same culture, society, or nationality for political power or control of an area.”

Whether we describe these activities as "low grade” or “high grade”, does it really matter? Bottomline Question: Do we have a civil war in Iraq or just merely sectarian conflict?For centuries, these factions (Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds) have been feuding, fighting, and killing each other. This is not a new thing. Is Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda causing these people to act this way? Personally, I think not. Do they contribute? Yes. However, do not forget…that Islamic factions have been fighting since the seventh century (642 AD).
It is only a matter of time until Americans will demand that we (Democrats and Republicans) make a rapid departure from Iraq. Each Islamic faction is seizing control of any chunk of Iraqi real estate that they can take control over. Our departure is inevitable. American soldiers have no intention of staying any longer than necessary. They have even less intention of getting in the way of Islamic disputes that only Iraqis and their neighbors can ultimately resolve.

Question? How long will our soldiers continue to die in an internal conflict in a foreign land?

Whether we call this a civil war or not, if it walks like a duck…talks like a duck…waddles like a duck…it might be a duck. Of course, other elements are present…war on terror, infrastructure rebuilding, foreign and local politics, health issues, oil resources, and self government. In addition, organized criminals are running wild in Iraq because there is little Iraqi police presence.

Iraq is out-of-control and the problem is NOT American. The problem is the Iraqis themselves. They are not fighting for their freedom in an aggressive, assertive, and determined way. It appears that America wants their freedom (Iraq’s freedom) more than they do! There is only so much Americans can do. If the Iraqi people are unwilling to challenge the bad guys, then the bad guys will win. Period!

Americans have voted. Americans want out of Iraq. For this reason, the Republicans have lost both the House and the Senate. The majority already believe that we are in a civil conflict. Americans are now looking for someone (anyone) who has a plan to get us out of this mess. No one has come up with a good idea yet. The Democrats want to cut and run. Some Republicans want to stay. Everyone is eagerly awaiting the report of the Iraq Study Group.

Will talking to Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan yield very much? What is their incentive to help the United States? What’s in it for them, especially since they have been exporting terrorism for decades? Iran continues to train and arm Shiite killers everyday to cause chaos in Iraq. Iran wants to dominate the world's oil to include Iraq’s oil resources.

Al Qaeda hates the USA. They continue to use the Shiites to instill fear upon the Sunnis and provoke conflict. Al Qaeda does a lot of the bombing of Shiite sites. This leads to murderous revenge. The Sunnis have aligned themselves with Al Qaeda because they feel they need Al Quaeda’s protection.

Question? How do we protect our U.S. troops from the bad guys in Iraq? It seems to be clear that the Iraqi people in leadership roles are not aggressively pursuing and embracing freedom.

These are my thoughts.