Iraq internal situation & politics

mutantsushi wrote:Since this seems to be the most active thread on Iraq,
I had a question for Sheytan who seems most well informed there...

Could you give a summary of the political situation there, apart from the armed conflict with jihadis?
I recall 1-2 years ago Muqtada al Sadr announced he was withdrawing from politics,
having up to that point provided some political resistance to Maliki from the Shia side,
sympathisizing with Sunni and Kurds to some extent, what has happened to him?,
and what does the political situation there look like otherwise?
I was aware of the reorganization of the northern provinces to have "Assyrian" regions, etc,
but I'm sure you could fill in the details alot more...
General economic developments would also be interesting, is there much cooperative development with Iran for instance?

sheytanelkebir wrote:At the UN Obama was filmed after the meetings having a "private chat" with Iraqi PM Haider Abadi...





So now Obama wants to talk to the Iraqis... how droll.

Walther von Oldenburg wrote:Q:

Why are there so many ex-Saddam officers in IS? Does the world offer too few ideologies that out of all possibilities they choose Jihadi Islamism? Couldn't they choose liberal democracy or even communism instead?

sheytanelkebir wrote:

Walther von Oldenburg wrote:Q:

Why are there so many ex-Saddam officers in IS? Does the world offer too few ideologies that out of all possibilities they choose Jihadi Islamism? Couldn't they choose liberal democracy or even communism instead?

This question is interesting.

It all started in 1991 just after the Gulf War Saddam recoiled from the double whammy of the "arab world" fighting against Iraq in the Gulf War as well as the Southern Iraqi Shia uprising against his regime...

His solution?

Abandon "Pan Arabism" - since the arabs betrayed him
Abandon "Iraqi Nationalism" - Since the Shias betrayed him

The only thing left was "Sunni Islam".

Hence the birth of the "Faith Campaign" which raged throughout the 1990s until 2003.

Initially people thought it was a "superficial" campaign by Saddam... build mosques, add "allah akbar" to the flag, ban Bars (but not alcohol!) and impose death sentence on prostitution...

But it seems that whether it was planned, or by accident... a great number of Saddam's officers were drawn into this islamism... and after the fall of the regime in 2003 it was an easy "leap of faith" for them to get into wahhabism... Something that would have been "unthinkable" in the 1970s or 1980s.

George1 wrote:

do u think that the country is going to be partitioned?

sheytanelkebir wrote:

His solution?

Abandon "Pan Arabism" - since the arabs betrayed him
Abandon "Iraqi Nationalism" - Since the Shias betrayed him

The only thing left was "Sunni Islam".

George1 wrote:

sheytanelkebir wrote:

His solution?

Abandon "Pan Arabism" - since the arabs betrayed him
Abandon "Iraqi Nationalism" - Since the Shias betrayed him

The only thing left was "Sunni Islam".

but this was also against his party ideology "Ba'athism" which advocates secularism and is against fundamentalism

KoTeMoRe wrote:Sheytan you crack me up man. Thank you for the insight.

sheytanelkebir wrote:

Walther von Oldenburg wrote:Q:

Why are there so many ex-Saddam officers in IS? Does the world offer too few ideologies that out of all possibilities they choose Jihadi Islamism? Couldn't they choose liberal democracy or even communism instead?

This question is interesting.

It all started in 1991 just after the Gulf War Saddam recoiled from the double whammy of the "arab world" fighting against Iraq in the Gulf War as well as the Southern Iraqi Shia uprising against his regime...

His solution?

Abandon "Pan Arabism" - since the arabs betrayed him
Abandon "Iraqi Nationalism" - Since the Shias betrayed him

The only thing left was "Sunni Islam".

Hence the birth of the "Faith Campaign" which raged throughout the 1990s until 2003.

Initially people thought it was a "superficial" campaign by Saddam... build mosques, add "allah akbar" to the flag, ban Bars (but not alcohol!) and impose death sentence on prostitution...

But it seems that whether it was planned, or by accident... a great number of Saddam's officers were drawn into this islamism... and after the fall of the regime in 2003 it was an easy "leap of faith" for them to get into wahhabism... Something that would have been "unthinkable" in the 1970s or 1980s.

sheytanelkebir wrote:

George1 wrote:

sheytanelkebir wrote:

His solution?

Abandon "Pan Arabism" - since the arabs betrayed him
Abandon "Iraqi Nationalism" - Since the Shias betrayed him

The only thing left was "Sunni Islam".

but this was also against his party ideology "Ba'athism" which advocates secularism and is against fundamentalism

baathism was essentially "dead" after 1991... it was still there "officially" (like PRC is "communist" officially!), but essentially Iraq after 1991 was completely detached from the "origins" of Pan Arabism... and in fact there was a new party after 1991 called "friends of saddam" or "friends of the leader" which was the essential "replacement" for the old baath party. Sad to say that most of the "western media" simply never ever pick up on all these changes that happened in Iraq!!

But then again this same media talks about "thousands of humvees and hundreds of abrams" that ISIS captured (utter nonsense) whilst never mentioning the "Mishraq sulfhur plant" in Mosul which was renovated and expanded by a US contractor in 2013-2014... just in time for ISIS to take over and use it as their main supply of raw materials for their war effort.

http://www.devcousa.com/news/major-project-award-mishraq-sulfur-purification-facility

http://www.devcousa.com/experience/mishraq




in fact the "final deliveries" were on the 29th May 2014...
http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2014/05/29/devco-ships-53m-kit-to-sulfur-mine/

and lo and behold... 10 days later the sunni arab and kurdish soldiers in mosul all abandon positions and switch sides as ISIS takes over.

I'm sure they are making good use out of the 1M tonnes of Sulfur and ALum production per year... as can be seen by the level of explosions happening all over the region.

But lets not mention any of this in the media.

mack8 wrote:

sheytanelkebir wrote:

George1 wrote:

sheytanelkebir wrote:

His solution?

Abandon "Pan Arabism" - since the arabs betrayed him
Abandon "Iraqi Nationalism" - Since the Shias betrayed him

The only thing left was "Sunni Islam".

but this was also against his party ideology "Ba'athism" which advocates secularism and is against fundamentalism

baathism was essentially "dead" after 1991... it was still there "officially" (like PRC is "communist" officially!), but essentially Iraq after 1991 was completely detached from the "origins" of Pan Arabism... and in fact there was a new party after 1991 called "friends of saddam" or "friends of the leader" which was the essential "replacement" for the old baath party. Sad to say that most of the "western media" simply never ever pick up on all these changes that happened in Iraq!!

But then again this same media talks about "thousands of humvees and hundreds of abrams" that ISIS captured (utter nonsense) whilst never mentioning the "Mishraq sulfhur plant" in Mosul which was renovated and expanded by a US contractor in 2013-2014... just in time for ISIS to take over and use it as their main supply of raw materials for their war effort.

http://www.devcousa.com/news/major-project-award-mishraq-sulfur-purification-facility

http://www.devcousa.com/experience/mishraq




in fact the "final deliveries" were on the 29th May 2014...
http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2014/05/29/devco-ships-53m-kit-to-sulfur-mine/

and lo and behold... 10 days later the sunni arab and kurdish soldiers in mosul all abandon positions and switch sides as ISIS takes over.

I'm sure they are making good use out of the 1M tonnes of Sulfur and ALum production per year... as can be seen by the level of explosions happening all over the region.

But lets not mention any of this in the media.

The iraqi airforce or army aviation didn't managed to destroy it yet Sheytan? I would have thought it would be a prime target.

Hundreds Recruited to Shiite Militia Set to Fight Against Kurds in Iraq

Iraqi anti-ISIL Shiite militia and Kurdish forces have been in constant confrontation. This month, the stand-off turned violent. Local media reports that Shiite Kurds are taking part in the Shiite militia in this sharp conflict among anti-Jihadi ranks.

The Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi Shiite militia has recruited some 5,000 fighters in its ranks in recent months, including approximately 1,800 Shiite Kurds, who may take part in clashes with mainly Sunni Kurdish forces of Peshmerga, an anonymous local military official told the Kurdish Rudaw news outlet.

“They have an entire brigade for the Kurdish recruits in Khanaqeen, fully armed and funded,” he was quoted as saying by Rudaw. “Even the commander of the brigade is a Shiite Kurd.”

Intermittent clashes between the Popular Mobilization Units, as Hashd al-Shaabi’s name is translated, and the Peshmerga flared up on November 12 at a Kurdish checkpoint in Tuz Khurmatu, a multi-ethnic town lying on the main highway between Baghdad and Kirkuk. The clashes lasted for at least three days and reportedly claimed lives of 21 persons on both sides, including civilians, and multiple arrests. The stand-off is complicated by active engagement of civilians.

“Violence in Khurmatu has resulted in the death and wounding of 21 people, including seven Kurds and others from Arabs and Turkmens of the city,” Jabar Yawar, chief of staff of the Peshmerga ministry, told Rudaw last week.

Analysts point to the rivalry over control of territories across Iraq and historical Sunni-Shiite contradictions as possible reasons for violent confrontation. While Peshmerga represents mostly Sunni Kurds, Hashd al-Shaabi recruits Arabs, Turkmens and Shiite Kurds to its ranks.

The town of Tuz Khurmatu’s disputed status was to be decided after a referendum, being continuously postponed since 2007. Earlier this fall, the Peshmerga forces and Shiite militias entered the city to take it under joint control during an ISIL offensive west of Kirkuk.

Local Islamic clergy has raised its voices to urge Peshmerga and Hashd al-Shaabi to stop the clashes and ease tensions and concentrate on fighting the common enemy, ISIL, instead.

“All hands should join and unite their energy to fight the real terrorists and the war should not be diverted from its course,” a major Shiite cleric Abdul-Mahdi said in a sermon in Karbala, as cited by Rudaw.