In 1919, when Gertrude Bell and other British politicians were creating the modern state of Iraq, an American missionary warned her: “You are flying in the face of four millenniums of history if you try to draw a line around Iraq and call it a ‘political entity!’ What would that American missionary do if he sees his own folks, the Americans, repeating the same mistake 85 years later?
If putting Iraq together as a unified country is not working, why not trying something else? Many young men and women from BABYLONIA, want to taste peace for the first time in our country since the creation of the British-made Iraq. In this online society, we post the thoughts and writings of those who discuss, support or just write about federalism and decentralization in Iraq. Some might call it partition, others might call it division, but it could be a realistic approach to end the conflict in Iraq and give our next generations a chance of better future.
The Iraqi people has been sriving for a political system that secure “john loke” principles of natural rights (the right to live, the right to property, and the right to liberty). JOHN’s philosophy had inspired the American and French revolutionaries so they resorted to the armed struggle and sacrificed their lives for our freedom and liberty. Let not the sacrifices of our men and women go in vain. Strong central government in Iraq soundly failed to secure such rights. Therefore the time is up for trying federalism and divide Iraq into 3 federal regions. Federal system is not new to the region, It has been the political system by which UAE, the most prosperous and progressive country in the middle east, is governed. Our foreign policies should not be influenced by regional players such as the Arab league led by Egypt, Saudi Arabia or Turkey.
What I dont understand is this. 15 out of the 19 terrorists who attacked us on the morning of 9/11 were citizens of Saudi Arabia. So Why we still consult with the corrupt Saudi king (the head of Wahabi establishment) when making our foreign policies (for the Middle East)? Is it because of our addiction to his oil? If thats the case then why not replacing it with Iraqi oil? If the reason, However, is to get Saudis on our side against Iran as the least evil. I dont think this will work because two wrongs can not make right. Plus we are risking to lose the support of the Iraqi people.
I guess Neiman Marwany is referring to John Locke. We need to make a decision about whether the Arab League should be involved in the restucturing of Iraq. Up to a point, the more diversity of input and support the better.I think that we should try to identify the conditions under which Turkey would be comfortable with the presence of aqn independant Kurdish state on her border.
reply to Mr.gosdocpol.First I want to thank you for correcting me on John Locke last name.2d is an answer to you concern: if we are realy concerned about democracy, human rights and lasting peace. then we should listen to the iraqi people( apart from the influnce of any regional states)see what they want and shape our policies accordingly,in the long run such cencere effort will eradicate the American-phobia that the Iraqi people harboured due to our unjust policies during the cold war era(we had been taking the oppressers side against the oppressed).we should not listen to turky because of their apparent violation of human rights.almost all turky governments have been greatly persecuting more than 17 million kurdish citizens in turky. of course they will oppose any independence or even autonomy to the 5 milion Iraqi kurds fearing that such move may inspire the kurdish movement for self-rule in turky. as for the Arab league.The league represents The autocratic Arab States.Almost all Arab states are Snni.I,therefore,can say that the Arab political order is anti-shiite and in this case they can not provide an objective advice regarding the Sunni-Shiite conflict. the Arab states oppose any type of self-rule for any shiite gruop in the region for they want to keep Iraq united under the autoctatic rule of sunni minority. these reasons should be convincing enough to keep us from involving any of the regional players in finding solution to the Iraqi problem.
I have only just now learned of this site which shares my point of view that the answer to the probem that now exists in Iraq lies in separating the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis..
Having read some of the content here , I now realize that some of my “insights” have been naive and simplistic. However there may be some of my thoughts that have some validity and are worthy of consideration.
I have been attempting to communicate my thoughts in my blog for the past several months. It may well be more productive for me to dialogue within this site.
Don Warner, MD, MBA
Hi Don
You look for a solution to end the tragedies in Iraq just like all of us here which makes you part of the team!
Don your insights are not naive and simplistic. We value them. your comments are welcomed regardless of whether we aprove or disaprove them. the blog is newly established so please help us pass the word to those concerned about our future,national security, and the safety of our troops in the middle east. we are here to learn from everyone.
I have noticed that my blogs with “CONGENITALLY CONJOINED TRIPLETS” in the title have consistantly drawn the most views.
Is it because the metaphore resonates with people or is it attacting people expecting to find something completely unrelated?
3 days ago I posted that Bill Richardson was supporting soft partition of Iraq, most of which I copied and pasted from this site.
So far there have been 134 views and counting.
That is by far the biggest response I have ever received. There have been no comments however.
Regarding today’s post
The comparison of Belgium and Iraq is interesting to me. I spent 6 years in Louvain (Leuven) Belgium. Off the top of my head , Walonia cannot survive on its own. It will need to recognise that times have changed and the country is dominated by the Flemmings who speak a language that is not nearly as pretty as French.
There are things the counties have in common and there are things that are different. The perspective gained by comparing the two situations may offer insight into the resolution of both problems.
This does not have the scientific rigor of a prospective double blind controlled study but a lot of information can be teased out of the clinical contexts.
There’s no such a thing called “beautiful language”! All languages are beautiful and unique. Terms like beautiful or superior language are linked to colonialism.
People tend to embrace partition and seek their own little space when they feel that there is injustice within their so-called united communities. Some Flemmings have this feeling and they have all the right to act upon it.
Additionally the more economically prosperous
Dutch-speaking part of Belgium is subsidizing their depressed French speaking countrymen. Flanders would survive very nicely on its own. Wallonia would founder and sink. Even France would probably not want them.
I think that the components of Iraq could all survive separately if arrangement could be made for the sunnis to share in the oil riches of Iraq. Otherwise they would be like the Wallons in Belgium.
gosdocpol the oil revevue share for the sunni is garanteed because the only source of water the 2 rivers-euphrates and tigris-run through the prospective sunni region before they get into the shiite region this works for the sunni favor( I heard an Iraqi sunni politician once saying that they will exchange water for oil)
Water is yet another variable in the Iraq equation. We need to come to grips with all of the variables.
The US invasion of Iraq has resulted in a complicated problem.
Greetings from Southern California, with a climate similar to yours, where water is a real problem. How is it addressed here? Our federal government controls all navigable waterways in the United States, ensuring proper division of water rights.
If you Iraqi’s can manage to convert to federalism, it would make sense to give control of the Tigris and Euphrates to your federal government.
For your information: Senator Biden is running for election in the 2008 election (November, 2008). He has sponsored an amendment to the current legislation before the Senate dealing with funding issues for the efforts in Iraq. His amendment is enjoying broad support from both Republicans (the party of Bush and Cheney) and his own party, the Democrats. The amendment is now called the “Biden-Brownback-Boxer” amendment and it is expected to come up for a vote in the senate within a few days. The amendment calls for a change in U.S. policy concerning Iraq to one of promoting peace through encouraging federalism, respect for the Iraqi Constitution, and withdrawal of U.S. forces in coordination with progess toward federalism.
Senator Biden has shown great courage and determination in advancing his ideas. And he is facing stiff opposition from the White House. Senator Biden has been in the senate for 34 years and is now the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is the most respected member of our Congress in the area of foreign affairs. First elected at age 29, now at 64 years’ of age, he was the youngest person ever elected to the United States Senate.
Show him you support by logging on to the web-site for his campaign: http://www.joebiden.com
There you can leave messages and provide valuable insights from the Iraqi point of view.
I wish you peace and God’s blessings in all you do.
Hello again, my friends. I want to update you on a remarkable development that happened earlier today. Senator Biden’s amendment was approved by the Senate by a vote of 75 to 23, 2 senators not voting (there are 100 senators, two for every state). This means the United States Senate stands behind your efforts to bring peace to your country through federalism.
Now, we need to see what the President does.
Thank you so much Steve. This is a great day in the history of Iraq. It’s the last hope and the Senate did its part. Now, it’s up to the administration.
The US people and politicians need to be aware that some Iraqis will at first reject such policy but they’ll change their mind after they see peace and prosperity. Culturally Arab are not logical and not realistic ,that explains why almost all of their policies based on wishful-thinking instead of reality so don’t be surprised when you learn that some Iraqi people still talk about the unity and integrity of Iraq and how all races and ethnicities coexisted and lived in peace which never actually happened but it only exists in their dreams. you may not know that there is a considerable slice of Iraqi people have been struggling for 3 federal regions in Iraq we have to work with them and aggressively persue the policy because it is the only solution we have left to stabilize Iraq, deny al-Qaeda operatives refuge, and get our men and women out of that mess.
I have been away for a while, mostly talking up Obama. Biden has proposed a good solution to a problem that he helped create by voting for the Iraq invasion.
Biden could be a good choice for Secretary of State because he has already had a good deal of thought about partition.
I got a tremedous number of hits on a blog that mentioed Richardson and partition For some reason that resonated very well. he might be even better than Biden because Richardson was no champion of the Iraq invasion.