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| Iraq |
| Is the Partition of Iraq Inevitable? |
| 2014-07-13 |
| [VOA News] As Sunni jihadists continue to make gains in Iraq, Kurds have taken control of two oil fields in northern Iraq and have pulled out of the Shi'ite government of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. Experts say that that the country's future may have already unfolded. "We are seeing the disintegration of the state of Iraq into three nations; the Shi'ites in the south and east, the Kurds in the north and a Sunni Caliphate under the control of ISIL from western Iraq to Syria," RAND Corporation political scientist and former U.S. military adviser Rick Brennan said. He warns that the Shi'ite-led government would be acquiescent to Iran and argues that any amount of U.S. involvement now is not likely to make much of a difference. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 Iraq was created in the old colonial model. Set up some rivals to help keep the dominant power from every rising against the colonial power. Such a system was never designed with independence in mind. It will not last. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2014-07-13 13:20 |
| #6 Mr. Bill, I hope you're correct for a number of philosophical reasons. But, I'm not so sure. I think that what we may witness is the success of soft socialism/fascism. The power comes not from the governed but from the bribed. Use the police and laws to allow the picking off of individuals one at a time and the mass will go along to get along and as long as the bread and circuses continue the masses will never arise. The wealthier class will have been bought lock stock & barrel. Any rabble from above, the few un-bought, will be crushed by the weight of regulations and the "war" against the rich (see Koch brothers for template). Obama is trying all these same things but didn't properly lay the foundation. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2014-07-13 11:06 |
| #5 In this modern era there is less and less need in the first world for super-states to provide security, distribute wealth and ensure trade. The various parts of Europe that wish to secede from their nation-states might as well do so -- Scotland, Catalonia, northern Italy, and so on. What's the difference in the end? Each will set up a government that will be conniving as the ones they're replacing. Life will go on little different than before. However, the less developed world, such as Iraq, will have a problem with this -- there security IS a major concern, and the United States is again demonstrating that it is not to be trusted long term (ask the Vietnamese). Independent Kurdistan, Shi'a-land, and Sunni-ville will be unstable and easily victimized: the Kurds by the Turks, the Shi'a by Iran, and the Sunnis by the Saudis. Likewise India, if it were to fall apart into its constituent states, would quickly descend into strife. Balochistan as an independent state would become a tribal pesthole within weeks. Vladimir Putin is trying very hard to present the Russian Federation as an unalienable nation-state knowing that anything else would render its parts into serfdom and anarchy. In this light, the one major anomaly is the United States, in which there is little (as yet) separatist movement. We josh about the rise of the new South or an independent Vermont but we all see each other as Americans. That's part of our exceptionalism. You wonder why Obama and the hard Left attack that: they wouldn't mind at all seeing America fall apart. It would be to their advantage. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2014-07-13 10:58 |
| #4 Alan, The EU will cease to exist in the next five years. Take it to the bank. No one is happy with the EU. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2014-07-13 10:34 |
| #3 Bill, the same problem of a "nation" without a demos is taking place in Europe. Demographically the EU makes no more sense than Iraq or Yugo. We can just hope that they don't turn violent. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2014-07-13 09:28 |
| #2 Iraq as a country never made sense. Much as Yugoslavia (remember Yugoslavia?) fell apart after Tito died because of the cobbling together of several mutually hostile ethnic and religious groups, Iraq will do the same. Drawing lines on a map does not create a country. The only thing that held Iraq in one piece was fear of a monster and his minions and their ruthless imposition of power. The entire ME needs to be redrawn rationally. Unfortunately, the redrawing will be in blood not ink. The horror is just beginning. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2014-07-13 02:11 |
| #1 Does bear etc...? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-07-13 01:08 |