In choosing the format for this article,
I decided to do something different. I chose to feature another article. I am
not going to question the contents of this article. The very opposite is true. I
strongly endorse the article and consider it a must read for
everyone.
In my various articles for OEN it is
rather commonplace for me to quote prominent writers. It is a writing technique
that lends credence to the points of view upon which I am expounding, but never
before have I featured any one article. That alone should give testimony to the
valuable nature of this article. With some difficulty I am going to refrain from
the use of italicizing sentences within a quote to add emphasis. There is a very
good reason for this. I would end up italicizing the entire quote and the effect
would be lost. Put a different way, the reader should pay very close
attention to each and every sentence of the article. Analysis and
background material will be provided for the
reader.
The article is entitled Iraq Endgame,
and it was written by George Friedman, CEO of Stratfor, an intelligence
website.
Friedman's very first sentence caught my
attention. "Though the Iraq war is certainly not over, it has reached a
crossroads." There are many who think the war in Iraq is over. Our soldiers have
left the urban areas of Iraq, are secure in their bases, and enjoying hot food
from mess halls. In other words, it is all over but the countdown to our
withdrawal. And yet, on August 19th, a series of blasts in Baghdad killed 77
people and wounded 420 on one of Iraq's bloodiest days this year, renewing doubt
over Iraqi forces' ability to maintain security after U.S. troops pulled out of
urban areas. Baghdad's security spokesman made a rare admission of culpability
after the attacks, in which at least six blasts struck near government
ministries and other targets at the heart of Iraq's Shiite-led administration.
The attacks throughout Iraq since Americans left the cities are unprecedented in
comparison to the year prior to the withdrawal. There is every possibility that
once again American troops will be needed in the cites since Iraqi security
forces seem incapable of stemming the violence. I only wish it were that simple.
The illusion that Iraq is over is being created by the mainstream news (MSN). To
the MSN, Iraq has become a ghost war.
Friedman removes the simplicity, ambiguity,
and the illusion of endgame in Iraq, and reveals the Machiavellian nature of
Arab/Kurd/Turkish/Persian politics in the Middle East. Put a different way, it's
real complicated, so pay attention.
The Kurdish
Question
"Fighting continues in
the Kirkuk region, where the Arabs and Kurds have a major issue to
battle over: oil. The Kirkuk region is one
of two major oil-producing regions in Iraq (the other is in the Shiite-dominated
south). Whoever controls Kirkuk is in a position to extract a substantial amount
of wealth from the surrounding region's oil development. There are historical
ethnic issues in play here, but the real issue is money. To Arabs, particularly Sunni Arabs, retention of control over
Kirkuk opens the door for an expansion of Sunni Arab power into Iraqi Kurdistan.
By contrast, Kurdish control of Kirkuk shuts down the Sunni threat to Iraqi
Kurdish autonomy and cuts Sunni access to oil revenues from any route other than
the Shiite-controlled central government. If the Sunnis get shut out of Kirkuk,
they are on the road to marginalization by their bitter enemies â the Kurds and
the Shia. Thus, from the Sunni point of view, the battle for Kirkuk is the
battle for the Sunni place at the Iraqi
table. Turkey further complicates the situation
in Iraq. Currently embedded in
constitutional and political thinking in Iraq is the idea that the Kurds would
not be independent, but could enjoy a high degree of autonomy. Couple autonomy
with the financial benefits of heavy oil development and the Kurdish autonomous
region of Iraq becomes a powerful entity. Add to that the peshmerga, the Kurdish
independent military forces that have had U.S. patronage since the 1990s, and an
autonomous Kurdistan becomes a substantial regional force. And this is not
something Turkey wants to see."
Friedman then adds, "This places the United
States in a difficult position. Washington has supported the Kurds in Iraq ever
since Operation Desert Storm. Through the last decade of the Saddam regime, U.S.
special operations forces helped create a de facto autonomous region in
Kurdistan. Washington and the Kurds have a long and bumpy history, now
complicated by substantial private U.S. investment in Iraqi Kurdistan for the
development of oil resources. Iraqi Kurdish and U.S. interests are
strongly intertwined, and Washington would
rather not see Iraqi Kurdistan swallowed up by arrangements in Baghdad that
undermine current U.S. interests and past U.S. promises. On the other hand,
the U.S. relationship with Turkey is one
of Washington's most important. Whether the
question at hand is Iran, the Caucasus, the Balkans, Central Asia, the
Arab-Israeli conflict, Afghanistan, Russia or Iraq, the Turks have a role. Given
the status of U.S. power in the region, alienating Turkey is not an option. And
the United States must remember that for Turkey, Kurdish power in Iraq and
Turkey's desired role in developing Iraqi oil are issues of fundamental national
importance."
He then states, "All Turkey needs to do is
make sure that the United States doesn't intervene decisively against the Iraqi
Sunnis in the battle over Kirkuk in honor of Washington's commitment to the
Kurds."
Friedman apparently concurs. "In any case, the
United States doesn't want to intervene against Iraq's Sunnis again. In
protecting Sunni Arab interests, the Americans have already been sidestepping
any measures to organize a census and follow through with a constitutional
mandate to hold a referendum in Kirkuk. For the United States, a strong Sunni
community is the necessary counterweight to the Iraqi Shiites since, over the long
haul, it is not clear how a Shiite-dominated government will relate to Iran."
To ardent followers of the war in Iraq with
its inauspicious beginning in March 2003, an invasion based upon outright lies
and false pretensions, the statement, "In any case, the United States doesn't
want to intervene against Iraq's Sunnis again," taken at face value, appears to
mean outrage and inspires confusion.
For decades the Saddam regime provided a check
on the ambitions of Iran. Indeed, during the Iran/Iraq War, 1980 to 1988, the
U.S. supported Saddam's Iraq. The animosity between the U.S. and Iran goes back
to the Iranian Hostage Crisis, which lasted for 444 days from Nov. 4, 1979, to
Jan. 20, 1981, and America has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since. The
Saddam regime was Sunni Arab, but basically a secular entity. Iranians are, for
the most part, Persians, not Arabs, and Iran is a Shiite theocratic state. The
bitterness between Sunnis and Shiites in the region goes back almost to the
beginnings of Islam.
Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq changed the
dynamic. With the fall of Saddam the Sunni Arab check on Shiite Iran ceased to
exist. However, what does exist in Baghdad as a result of our intervention in
Iraq is a Shiite government sympathetic to our sworn enemy, Iran.
Although there have been brief interludes with
the Mahdi Army and other Shiite militia units, the enemy the U.S. has fought -
and continues to fight - in Iraq, has been Sunni insurgents left over from the
Saddam era. The Sunnis were soon joined by Al-Qa'ida, the perpetrators of 9/11.
Friedman refers to Al-Qa'ida in Iraq as foreign jihadists. Readers may recall
the ferocious fighting between these combatants in Fallujah, Ramadi, as well as
the entire Anbar Province west of Baghdad, along with numerous engagements in
Baghdad and the Triangle of Death south of the Iraqi capital. After 6 1/2 years
of fighting, the toll for the American armed forces is over 4,300 dead and
35,000 wounded.
It should be noted that the violent attacks
recently in Baghdad and northern Iraq, meaning the Kurdish autonomous provinces,
have been instigated by the Sunni insurgents and their ally, Al-Qa'ida. It
should be further noted, Al-Qa'ida, or "foreign jihadists" if one prefers, do
not want American troops to leave Iraq. Positioned there by the genius of our
political and military leaders, American troops are easy targets.
Despite all this, Friedman's statement rings
true. However, the reader may well question, "What have we gotten ourselves into?" The U.S. is in a tough spot. We
are damned if we do, and damned if we don't. This is true in a lot of respects
when it comes to Iraq.The issues get all the more complicated as Friedman deals
with ...
The Shiite
Question
In the statements below
Friedman affirms our outrage and confusion and adds more. It is the nature of
Iraq these days.
Friedman writes, "The Shiite-dominated government led by Iraqi
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is no puppet of Iran, but at the same time, it is not Iran's enemy. As matters develop in
Iraq, Iran remains the ultimate guarantor of Shiite interests. And Iranian
support might not flow directly to the current Iraqi government, but to
al-Maliki's opponents within the Shiite community who have closer ties to
Tehran. It is not clear whether Iranian militant networks in Iraq have been
broken, or are simply lying low. But it is clear that Iran still has levers in
place with which it could destabilize the
Shiite community or rivals of the Iraqi Shia if it so desired.
He continues, "With the tempo of attacks
picking up as U.S. forces draw down, Iraq's Sunni community is evidently not
satisfied with the current security and political arrangements in Iraq. Attacks
are on the upswing in the northern areas â where remnants of al Qaeda in Iraq
continue to operate in Mosul â as well as in central Iraq in and around Baghdad.
The foreign jihadists in Iraq hope such attacks will trigger a massive response
from the Shiite community, thus plunging Iraq back into civil war. But the
foreign jihadists would not be able to operate without some level of support
from the local Sunni community. This broader community wants to make sure that
the Shia and Americans don't forget what the Sunnis are capable
of should their political, economic and
security interests fall by the wayside as the Americans withdraw."
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