What are the Impediments to Restoring Peace in Post-Saddam Iraq - Term Paper Example

TOPIC What are the impediments to restoring peace in post-Saddam Iraq, it's effect on the middle east, and how, if at all, can these impediments beovercome Before coming on to the main obstacles behind restoring peace in post-Saddam Iraq and the ways and methods to overcome them, we should first try to understand Iraq as an nation, its entity, its history, its people, its religion, ethnicity and everything related to that country to understand things in the right perspective. To start with Iraq, was recognized as part of the Ottoman Empire, It was under the imperial administration of Britain during the tenure of World War I. In the year 1920 Iraq was declared as a member of League of Nations under the United Kingdom administration. (Tripp) (Hourani) In and after several stages over the next 12 years or so, Iraq attained its independence in the year 1932. Iraq was proclaimed as a republic in the year 1958, but in actual a series of military strongmen ruled the country until 2003. The last one known of them was Saddam Hussain. Iraq also had territorial disputes with Iran that led to an inconclusive and costly war for almost an entire decade from the year 1980 to 1988). In the year August 1990, Iraq captured Kuwait with the sole reason of capturing the major chunk of oil trade in the Middle East but was later on expelled by the US-led, UN coalition forces during the Gulf War that happened during January-February 1991. It followed in the liberation of Kuwait, the UN Security Council (UNSC) put stringent conditions on Iraq to scrap all it's weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles. (Tripp) The UNSC also pressurized Iraq to allow UN verification inspectors to inspect it's suspected nuclear facilities and centers for making of weapons of mass-destruction like biological weapons. Iraq didn't cede to and complied with the UNSC resolutions over a period of 12 years that in turn led to the US-led invasion of Iraq in the year March 2003 and the permanent ouster of the Saddam Hussain regime from Iraq. Under a UNSC mandate the coalition forces are keeping a vigil in Iraq trying to keep the democracy alive and helping to provide security to the common people and to support the freely elected democratic government. (Frontline) Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. Although looting, insurgent attacks, and sabotage have undermined economy-rebuilding efforts, economic activity is beginning to pick up in areas recently secured by the US military surge. Oil exports are around levels seen before Operation Iraqi Freedom, and total government revenues have benefited from high oil prices. (CIA The World Fact Book,Iraq) It is true that there has been a lot of rebuilding effort in Iraq with the intervention and aid of quite a few International Institutions and Countries and Iraq has made some progress to rebuild the institutions that it needs to implement and reap the rewards of the new economic policy. In this direction Iraq has also negotiated an agreement for the reduction of debt with the Paris Club and also a new Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF. Iraq has also received pledges for $13.5 billion in foreign aid for the period spanning 2004-07 from outside of the US, and also more than $33 billion in total pledges from all the aid givers. An understanding was reached with the current regime in Iraq in May 2007 to integrate Iraq into the regional and global economy without any apparent prejudices. The current Iraqi government is also trying to pass laws in this regard to strengthen the Iraqi economy. Among others the major legislations that the Iraqi government wants passed includes a hydrocarbon Law and to establish a modern legal framework that can allow Iraq to develop its inherent and most potent resources to its advantage and a revenue sharing law to divide the oil revenue in a equitable manner for the balanced development of all the regions. However, both these measures have been marred by the internal controversies and strife within the government and are still under discussions. (CIA The World Fact Book,Iraq) But other than these few bright prospects there are quite a few dampeners that lead to the major bottlenecks in the progress of Iraq Post-Saddam and that has a certain trickle down effect on the entire middle east. Though it can be said that Saddam rose through the ranks of the Bath party and became it's biggest leader over the years, and with it became the sole ruler or the dictator of Iraq. But with it came over the years some voices of dissidence although they were in minority and were quite subdued due to the powerful position of Saddam and the ruthlessness against any sane voice by the establishment that these voices were never paid any heed to, even on the international arena, till it hindered the interests of the other powerful nations. It happened till the interests of the USA and other rich European nations were hampered by the conquest and capture of Kuwait by the Iraqi forces in 1990. (Frontline) (Tripp) It was all politics and armed aggression for the control of the vibrant oil economy. Saddam Hussain readily understood that if he can control the oil trade of Kuwait he will rule the oil trade in the world with the combined might of Kuwait and Iraqi oil fields but he never imagined in his wildest dreams that the European and specially the Americans will take this armed aggression of Iraqi forces so seriously. The reputation of Iraqi elite Republican Guards was in tatters after the Gulf war of the 1990. Eventually Iraq had to withdraw from Kuwait and sanctions were imposed on Iraq for its act of aggression. From here began the downfall of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi people. The heavy sanctions took its toll with oil trade for a toss and foreign aid hard to come by. Even the basic amenities of life were very hard to come by. The popularity of Iraq that surged in the eyes of the local Iraqi populace during the Gulf war nose-dived in a shot in the later years after the Gulf war. The United Nation Security Council had serious doubts that Saddam regime was engaging in the manufacture and enhancement of its nuclear capabilities and actively indulged in the development of weapons of mass-destruction or the biological weapons. The Iraqi regime was asked time and again to stop its nefarious activities and to allow the UN inspectors to inspect the Iraqi suspected premises. But the Iraqi government under the Saddam regime didn't relent and took a hard stance to these inspections, vehemently denying any involvement in the making of weapons of mass-destruction. This non-cooperative stance of the Saddam regime led to the invasion of Iraq by the allied forces in 2003 under the leadership of United States. There was a lot of destruction on the ground that comes with a war. Saddam escaped with his confidantes but sadly no proof of weapons of mass destruction has been found till date. About a couple of years later Saddam was caught alive, tried and later executed for his crimes by a court. Though Saddam had become highly unpopular in the later years with the local Iraqi people but after his execution it raised fresh challenges for the restoration of peace in the region. There were a lot of instigators who knew that by prompting the local populace, they stand to gain in terms of reaping the political dividends out of a broken state. Iraq had its peculiar set of problems and was in fact the most vociferous state in the middle east till the regime of Saddam Hussein, so no doubt its destiny has had a effect on the other nations in the middle east. (Bernhardsson) (Frontline) There are a lot of problems to the road to peace and stability confronting Iraq after the war was over and after the capture and execution of Saddam Hussein. Iraq's total population constitutes of Arab 75%-80%, Kurdish 15%-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian, or other 5% and on religion basis muslims are about 97% (among the total Muslim population of Iraq Shia constitute about 60%-65% and Sunni 32%-37%), Christian or other religions are collectively 3%.(CIA The World Fact Book,Iraq) Saddam belonged to the minority sunni community. It is a fact that Iraq is badly divided along sectarian lines. The shia sunni divide among the muslim population is a great impediment in restoring peace in the war torn region of Iraq. Even among shia sunni there are sub-sects that culminate in further tensions in a time of poverty for Iraqi people. Due the extended war years, more than 40% of the Iraqi middle class has fled the country and is living as refugee in the UN camps or the neighbouring countries of Turkey etc. Middle class of any country is the most productive class but when it is dismembered then it takes time to build upon the confidence of the people. The total economy is in shambles and there is no local entrepreneur worth the name to bring the people out of the rot. There is a huge discontentment among the local unemployed youth against the western intervention in the affairs of Iraq and this fact has been thoroughly manipulated by the politicians. (Frontline) After the execution of Saddam though for the time being Baath party and it's cadre had been relegated to the fringes but they also are trying to cash on the current hopeless situation of Iraq. Instigating people against the current political dispensation and the intervention of the western armed forces. Religious zealots are acting in full swing cohorting there followers to up the ante against the western influence, so that even if UN comes up with some good idea for the people of Iraq it faces resistance from within on religious and ethnic grounds. Unemployment and illiteracy among the local population is equally a problem of very big proportion among the young of Iraq. Unemployment is giving rise to frustration and loots and robberies are a regular feature. With lack of education and proper employment avenues and the strict sanctions during the Saddam regime has led to an overall effect of discontentment among the local population of Iraq and this in turn has given rise to the various barriers in the route to restore peace in Iraq. In the new world order that is based on the vibrant economies it will be a fool's paradise to imagine that Iraq can be rebuilt by following the old policies of the Saddam regime. There is no doubt about this fact that the local Iraqi population sans their ethnic conflicts were tired of the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, but they are no fools to be conned by the US led forces to a state of being comfortably numb, meaning thereby that they will and are certainly not just satisfied by the going of the Baath party regime and they equally consider the current political dispensation in Iraq as the puppet regime set up by the United States of America to meet its narrow ends and to control the oil economy of the World. (Lund) (Bernhardsson) Iraqis and the whole Middle East wants to usher in a new change. In these politically turbulent times especially in the background of 9/11 and Afghanistan bombings and the decimation of the Al-qaida and Taliban from Afghanistan, though it's a proven fact that Al-qaida is a pan arab organization, not meaning thereby that it is getting shelter from all the arab countries but it has followers and sympathizers in the arab world and the middle east. In the light of these facts and the current scenario in Iraq it is very much apparent that the situation in Iraq is a potential breeding ground for terrorists by organizations such as Al-qaida, exploiting the insecurities of the local population and the injustice they have gone through in the American led war against terror and nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, though it came to naught as no facilities for making weapons of mass destruction were discovered in Iraq. Even it is a well-documented fact that the American President George Bush's policies concerning Iraq and the Middle East were widely criticized in USA. In this so called war against terror and weapons of mass destruction and the much publicized fact by the Republican administration of trying to make the world a safe place to live came a cropper. The number of casualties USA suffered made President George Bush a highly unpopular figure in USA. The only way to tackle all these problems at the world stage is to take a pragmatic approach without any kind of biases and prejudice. The postwar policy hiccups and miscalculations created many problems in Iraq. (Frontline) The result is an oil-based economy in Iraq that accounts for around 75 percent of the GDP. Iraq's economy is totally dependent on the oil trade meeting over 90 percent of its revenue and consumption expenditure and even the bulk of its foreign earnings come through the oil trade.(CIA The World Fact Book,Iraq) Public sector is over represented in Iraq that leads to lot of corruption and resultant weakness of the private sector. There is visible lack of imagination, accountability and transparency of the resources of the state by the current government. There is the question of poor governance and the question of social inequalities in various fields across the geographic areas. There is the problem of unemployment that is very wide spread across the whole spectrum. The traditional Iraqi family system has disintegrated as the after effect of the war that has given rise to a lot of discontentment and hooligan atmosphere in the Iraqi society. In nut shell it can be said that there are a lot of problems that needs immediate attention for restoring peace in post Saddam Iraq. Of all those the ethnic conflicts and the conflicts based on religion can also be controlled by offering a viable solution to the people of Iraq. A genuine effort should be made to restore real democratic process inside Iraq. Once the true and responsible representatives of Iraqi people hold mantle than even the war against terrorism can be legitimized. In current scenario the Iraqi people think that they are being victimized in the name of war against terror. Efforts should be made to kick start the local economy of Iraq. Iraq should not be seen as a milch cow for yielding just oil and employment and education opportunities should be expanded in all sectors. It is a known fact that as of now there are a lot of problems ranging from unemployment to poverty to ethnic and religious conflicts and lack of genuine democracy to even terrorism in Iraq. All these factors are big obstacles in the road to peace in Iraq. Today these problems will be confined to Iraq but over a couple of years these things are certainly going to percolate to the entire middle east, and in the process making it the most dangerous place on Earth. Removal of Saddam regime was paramount but the manner in which, it was done led to a lot of heartburns and scars. It will be always debatable that whether the taking over of Iraq first by the US led forces and then the installation of a widely perceived puppet regime could have been done in a subtler manner. (Lund)(Frontline) Iraq has its fair share of International problems also, the coalition forces led by the US assist Iraqis in monitoring and maintaining the internal and cross-border security; Due to the prolonged conflict more than two million Iraqis have fled the nation to neighboring countries, The majority of them have taken refuge in Syria and Jordan, and a considerable number has gone to Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, and Turkey; Iraq's lack of a maritime boundary with Iran prompts jurisdiction disputes beyond the mouth of the Shatt al Arab in the Persian Gulf; Turkey has also expressed concerns over the autonomous status of Kurds in Iraq (CIA The World Fact Book,Iraq) Some scholars who had a first hand experience of the war and conflict in Iraq have suggested ways to control the situation. According to Dr. Cornard Crane and Dr. Andrew Terrill of the Strategic Studies Institute,US Army War College the Arab World was always apprehensive of the intervention of the USA and the coalition forces to control the situation in Iraq. The Arab World always took it as a means of western domination in the Middle East. With no active and sincere support coming from the other Muslim nations in the region. It was a tough call for the coalition forces specially in the background of Iraq's long checkered history of political violence and ethnic conflicts. Violence was instutionalized during the Saddam Regime. After Saddam was gone there was no one to stop the violent people that are of many ethnicities and various tribal lord ruling the rural landscape. Political aspirations have also risen and with no meeting point disputes are often settled through violence. Some of the power hungry people regularly instigate the local populace against the western forces. Due to that reason the genuine effort of Western forces to integrate the Iraqi people in to the mainstream goes in vain. Mission Matrix was devised for the restructuring of Iraq on many levels. According to this plan the major missions were of training the Iraqi army, securing borders, securing and destruction of the WMD's , securing oil facilities from terrorist attacks, maintaining freedom of movement and re-building of institutions among others. (Terrill) (Cornard) The need of the hour is to find suitable ways to restore and maintain peace in Iraq by addressing the basic issues and the points of contention and confrontation and in turn even making the whole Middle East region a much safer place. There is a problem to tackle and change the whole thought process that it is basically a war of civilizations, it needs to be changed and all the issues concerning the local population should be addressed in a humanitarian and soft manner so that they can participate equally in the much dreamed road to peace in Iraq and help in creating a much amiable atmosphere all round. All these problems can be overcome by first taking the local population in to confidence and that can only be done by giving a boost to genuine democracy in the country instead of installing a puppet regime that has been the order of the day. The security aspect should be taken care of properly by giving more important and responsible role to the local police, intelligence agencies and the army as the kind of demography and conditions Iraq has an outsider, especially a western bureaucrat or soldier can never get to know that. All the educated middle class and the entrepreneurs that have left Iraq and were averse to living under the shadow of the gun should be encouraged to make a comeback and an atmosphere of peace and trust should be created. Last but not the least a broad time table should be drawn by the United Nations and the allied forces to withdraw from Iraq and that should be properly published so that people get to know about that and should never remain under this impression that it is an attempt by the western nations to colonize Iraq. Works Cited 1. CIA The World Fact Book,Iraq < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/iz.html > 2. Bernhardsson T, Magnus. Reclaiming a Plundered Past: Archaeology and Nation Building in Modern Iraq. University of Texas Press,2005. 3. Hourani,Albert;Ruthven,Malise. A History of the Arab Peoples, Harvard University Press,2003. 4. The Frontline Magazine, January 2007 edition. 5. Tripp,Charles. A History of Iraq. Cambridge University Press 6. Lund, Michael. Preventing Violent Conflicts: A Strategy for Preventive Diplomacy. United States Institute of Peace Press, 1996. 7. Terrill, Andrew; Crane Cornard. Reconstructing Iraq: Challenges and Missions For Military Forces In a Post-Conflict Scenario. US Army War College Read More