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Let's
try partitioning the US
By Linda S. Heard
Special to Gulf News
10/02/07 "Gulf
News" -- -- As if they haven't done enough damage
bombing and invading a country on false pretences, destroying
its culture and leaving it a charred shell of its former self,
they - American lawmakers who gave President George W. Bush
authority to go to war - now want to divide Iraq up into easily
manageable bite size entities.
Isn't Iraq supposed to be a sovereign nation with an elected
government? If so, then why is the US Senate attempting to
meddle in its affairs by overwhelmingly passing a resolution
calling for the country's partition into three, which is
tantamount to ethnic cleansing? Not to put too fine a point the
shape of Iraq to come isn't their business.
Moreover, even if they had a stake in the country they are
responsible for destroying, which they certainly do not,
American senators who may or may not have enjoyed a two-day
jaunt to Baghdad's Green Zone are not qualified to be the
deciders.
The Iraqi government was quick to put a damper on the proposal.
Its spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said "It's the Iraqis who decide
these sorts of issues, no-one else".
According to a recent ABC/BBC poll a mere nine per cent of
Iraqis favour the break-up of their country.
The Arab League was equally condemnatory. Its Iraq
representative Ali Al Garush called upon Arab nations to stand
by the Iraqi people in their opposition to the proposal.
Secretary-General of the GCC Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah said
partition would make the situation in Iraq more difficult and
complicated. Official statements from Syria and Iran were even
more scathing.
With so much Iraqi and regional hostility against the plan what
are those 75 senators that voted in favour of it thinking? It
was Democratic Senator Joseph Biden a presidential hopeful who
initiated the vote.
Biden explained his rationale during a news conference. He
maintains his proposal offers a way to bring home American
troops while leaving behind a stable Iraq. It's evident that his
thinking is based on a series of false premises.
First of all the future of Iraq should not be designed around a
convenient exit for US troops. Biden and his fellows should
understand a simple principle. American troops are the
interlopers not the Iraqi people, who have suffered enough
already.
Secondly, the partitioning of Iraq into a loose federation of
Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish states will not bring stability as he
suggests. There would have to be a massive displacement of
people, many of whom would end up impoverished or homeless.
Such a division would also lead to friction over natural
resources. For instance, Biden's plan calls for just 20 per cent
of oil revenues going to Sunnis, who already feel hard done by
after losing the political influence they once enjoyed. There is
also the question of which mini-state would control oil-rich
Kirkuk, an ethnically-mixed city strongly coveted by the Kurds.
Moreover, there is no guarantee that such insular states would
not be mutually hostile, further exacerbating existing ethnic
tensions.
Thirdly, although many Kurds are amenable to complete autonomy,
their neighbours are most definitely not. If a Kurdish state
became a reality it's probable that Turkey would invade.
Turkey fears that such an entity would unduly influence its own
Kurdish population, which has its own separatist ambitions. Iran
also has strong objections.
Fourth, such a break-up would stand as a worrying precedent for
vulnerable countries in the region with multi-ethnic
populations.
Either Biden is completely clueless and is unaware of the havoc
such a breakup of Iraq would wreak, or he harbours a more
sinister agenda.
Rendered toothless
If Iraq were to be broken into three, the nation would be
rendered toothless for all time in the same way the former
Yugoslavia is today.
The US would then have an excuse to stay around in some force
"to protect" such tiny fledgling states from each other and from
their neighbours. In fact, it would consolidate complete
domination of their oil because such small entities would no
longer have a voice.
The biggest winner from the partitioning of Iraq would be
Israel, whose officials and journalists have long advocated such
division.
On the Shalom TV website there is an interview with Joe Biden
who refers to Israel as the "single greatest strength America
has in the Middle East" and proclaims with pride "I am a
Zionist". We should believe him.
Here's a suggestion for the Arab world. How about a vote on the
break-up of America?
How about giving California back to Mexico, returning Hawaii to
its indigenous islanders and Alaska to the Eskimos and Indians?
Let's restrict Caucasians to the East and West coasts, and
package-up a few states in between for African Americans and
Latinos. And while we're about it, let's invite foreign
conglomerates to buy up the country's oil, gas and timber.
Outrageous ethnic cleansing that might be but that's exactly
what Biden and friends think they have the right to do in Iraq.
Surely if such uninformed nose-poking is good enough for
Washington, it's equally appropriate for the rest of us.
Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs.
She can be contacted at lheard@gulfnews.com. Response to this
article may be considered for publication
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