SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Bilal Fawzi/Associated Press Sunnis protesting against the government in Falluja in 2013. At the core of grievances are United States-imposed laws. (Photo: AP)
The revival of civil war in Iraq is not about ancient sectarian hatreds - that is what the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - Isis - wants you to think. It is a hardcore ideological group exploiting the political disaffection of one community to stoke sectarian war. Iraq's broken political system and the failure of its political elite to prioritise reconciliation over personal gain has led to a collapse of faith in the political system, leaving Iraq vulnerable to this sectarian propaganda. But if the Iraqi government buys the Isis narrative and treats Sunnis as implacable opponents of Shias, Isis will have succeeded in stoking the civil war it has so desired.
Ever since the formation of Iraq as a nation-state by European powers, it has been easy to dismiss it as an artificial country that was bound to fail. A Sunni elite was installed to govern over a majority Shia population and a restive Kurdish community that had fought and lost the battle for independence. But throughout Iraqi history, the importance of identity has waxed and waned according to changing political realities.
At times, when Iraq's political battle lines divided communists from nationalists, and nationalists from Ba'athists, identity seemed incidental and even passe. Many Iraqis grew up in households where it was rude to refer to people's sectarian identity, and where intermarriage created large families of mixed religious practice.
However, at other times, when the presence of distinct ethnic and religious groups was seen as posing a threat to the political establishment, identity became more important. During the Iran-Iraq war, the Ba'athist government feared that Iraqi Shias would sympathise with their co-religionists in Iran and unleashed waves of repression against them.
When coalition forces stormed Iraq in 2003 they found a society devastated by decades of war, deprivation and brutal Ba'athist rule. The war itself deeply divided Iraqi society, pitting those who saw it as Iraq's salvation against others who decried it as a neocolonial invasion.
Read the full article at The Guardian
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
The revival of civil war in Iraq is not about ancient sectarian hatreds - that is what the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - Isis - wants you to think. It is a hardcore ideological group exploiting the political disaffection of one community to stoke sectarian war. Iraq's broken political system and the failure of its political elite to prioritise reconciliation over personal gain has led to a collapse of faith in the political system, leaving Iraq vulnerable to this sectarian propaganda. But if the Iraqi government buys the Isis narrative and treats Sunnis as implacable opponents of Shias, Isis will have succeeded in stoking the civil war it has so desired.
Ever since the formation of Iraq as a nation-state by European powers, it has been easy to dismiss it as an artificial country that was bound to fail. A Sunni elite was installed to govern over a majority Shia population and a restive Kurdish community that had fought and lost the battle for independence. But throughout Iraqi history, the importance of identity has waxed and waned according to changing political realities.
At times, when Iraq's political battle lines divided communists from nationalists, and nationalists from Ba'athists, identity seemed incidental and even passe. Many Iraqis grew up in households where it was rude to refer to people's sectarian identity, and where intermarriage created large families of mixed religious practice.
However, at other times, when the presence of distinct ethnic and religious groups was seen as posing a threat to the political establishment, identity became more important. During the Iran-Iraq war, the Ba'athist government feared that Iraqi Shias would sympathise with their co-religionists in Iran and unleashed waves of repression against them.
When coalition forces stormed Iraq in 2003 they found a society devastated by decades of war, deprivation and brutal Ba'athist rule. The war itself deeply divided Iraqi society, pitting those who saw it as Iraq's salvation against others who decried it as a neocolonial invasion.
Read the full article at The Guardian
The revival of civil war in Iraq is not about ancient sectarian hatreds - that is what the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - Isis - wants you to think. It is a hardcore ideological group exploiting the political disaffection of one community to stoke sectarian war. Iraq's broken political system and the failure of its political elite to prioritise reconciliation over personal gain has led to a collapse of faith in the political system, leaving Iraq vulnerable to this sectarian propaganda. But if the Iraqi government buys the Isis narrative and treats Sunnis as implacable opponents of Shias, Isis will have succeeded in stoking the civil war it has so desired.
Ever since the formation of Iraq as a nation-state by European powers, it has been easy to dismiss it as an artificial country that was bound to fail. A Sunni elite was installed to govern over a majority Shia population and a restive Kurdish community that had fought and lost the battle for independence. But throughout Iraqi history, the importance of identity has waxed and waned according to changing political realities.
At times, when Iraq's political battle lines divided communists from nationalists, and nationalists from Ba'athists, identity seemed incidental and even passe. Many Iraqis grew up in households where it was rude to refer to people's sectarian identity, and where intermarriage created large families of mixed religious practice.
However, at other times, when the presence of distinct ethnic and religious groups was seen as posing a threat to the political establishment, identity became more important. During the Iran-Iraq war, the Ba'athist government feared that Iraqi Shias would sympathise with their co-religionists in Iran and unleashed waves of repression against them.
When coalition forces stormed Iraq in 2003 they found a society devastated by decades of war, deprivation and brutal Ba'athist rule. The war itself deeply divided Iraqi society, pitting those who saw it as Iraq's salvation against others who decried it as a neocolonial invasion.
Read the full article at The Guardian