As the Iraq conflict continues to deteriorate into a chaotic form of anarchy that many are coming to recognize as some form of civil war, concerns over the situation have grown to the point where it is looming larger than any other global issue. Debates continue over whether the conflict is related to the war on terror rage and the level of anger between liberals and conservatives is rising and threatening political careers.

The Iraq study group released its findings this week and everyone is focused on their recommendations, hopeful that they will provide the United States with a quick, safe and productive exit strategy from Iraq. Interestingly, the American Muslim community has been engaged in dialogue over the conflict for some time and The Free Muslims Coalition has come to pretty much the same conclusions that our own Iraq Study Group came to. The thought process the American Muslim group traveled to reach their conclusions is interesting because it approaches the issues from the perspective of the Arab Iraqi Muslim culture instead of our own. This perspective is very important because in the end, it is the only one that will be left standing once the United States withdraws.

Dialogue is crucial if we wish to avoid the growing liklihood that all Muslims will eventually be lumped into the catigory of "Islamo-facists", which is the term being used more and more frequently to describe the fundamentalist threat. Therefore, in the interests of promoting constructive and informed dialogue among my distinguished and sophisticated readers, I am passing today's article by Kamal Nawash on to you. Thank you, Mr. Nawash for sending me your comments.

-Michael Jaquish


GUEST COMMENTARY:

THE PATH TO A STABLE IRAQ
By Kamal Nawash 12-08-06

Over the past two years the Free Muslims Coalition has published several critiques of the path to a stable Iraq. With the release of the Iraq study Group's report we think it is helpful to summarize our analysis of how to achieve stability in Iraq.

Iraq is a multiethnic heterogeneous society. While it has numerous groups, the three largest groups are the Shia Arabs, Sunni Arabs and Kurds. For more than a 1000 years,
Iraq has been ruled by Sunni Arabs. This of course changed after the United States invaded Iraq where power shifted to the Shias and the Kurds and where the Sunni Arabs
now feel that the new government does not represent their interests. Consequently, the Sunnis responded to their marginalization with a deadly uprising that has resisted all efforts to quell it through military means. For this reason, the Free Muslims Coalition has repeatedly argued that THE PATH TO A STABLE IRAQ CAN ONLY RESULT FROM A POLITICAL SOLUTION where all the parties and especially the Sunni Arabs feel that they have a stake in the new Iraq.

As mentioned above, after the invasion of Iraq, Shia Arabs and Kurds became the dominant powers with the prime Minister being a Shia Arab and the president being a Kurd. As to the Sunni Arabs, they lost all significant political and economic power. The marginalization of the Sunni Arabs was particularly painful because most of the Sunni Arabs did NOT support Saddam Hussein. Nevertheless, the toppling of Saddam Hussein affected them in a negative way. Among their grievances is the issue of Debathification. This is a process by which the new Iraqi government targeted those who were members of the former ruling Baath party. This process disproportionately affected Sunni Arabs who either lost their jobs or were not allowed to seek government jobs because of their past membership in the party. Those who were members of the Baath party argue that their membership was out of necessity and it is not fair to target them.

A second uncompromising grievance of the Sunni Arabs is that they want Iraq to remain
united and intact. Since the toppling of Saddam Hussein, Iraq has ventured into a loose
federation that brings enormous fear to the Sunni Arabs. The invasion of Iraq has divided Iraq into three jurisdictions. The Kurds who live in the oil rich north, the Shias who live in the oil rich South and the Sunnis who live in the center which is resource poor. The Sunni Arabs want an equitable distribution of resources so that they do not become impoverished while the others prosper.

Moreover, in the new Iraq, the Kurdish area is behaving like a separate country. The new government of Iraq has no control over the Kurdish region. The Kurds do not allow the Iraqi government to open ministries and the Iraqi military is not allowed to venture in the Kurdish area. THE SUNNI ARABS FEAR THAT THE KURDISH AREA MAY BREK OFF FROM IRAQ AND DIVIDE THEIR BELOVED COUNTRY.

To address their concerns, the SUNNI ARABS WANT TO AMMEN D THE NEW IRAQUI CONSTITUTION WHICH THEY FEEL DOES NOT REPRESENT THEM. So far, the American Supported Shai and Kurdish government has rejected political compromise with the Sunni Arabs. Consequently, the Sunni Arabs revolted against the new Iraq and have vowed never to accept the new Iraqi government unless political changes are made.

Again, the path to a stable Iraq is a political dialogue among the groups and not a military solution. At this point, the role of the United States should be to encourage its friends in the Shia and Kurdish lead government of Iraq to open serious dialogue with the Sunni Arabs. In other words, the U.S. should take the role of an aggressive mediator among the parties. In this context, IT MAY BE HELPFUL FOR THE UNITED STATES TO MAKE IT CLEAR TO THE IRAQUI GOVERNMENT THAT IT WILL SOON LEAVE IRAQ AND IF A GENUINE POLITICAL DIALOGUE AND POWER SHARING DOES NOT MATERIALIZE THAT THE U.S. WILL LEAVE EVEN SOONER.

The threat of abruptly leaving Iraq maybe the most powerful leverage the U.S. has with the parties, especially the Shias and the Kurds. This is because THE NEW IRAQUI GOVERNMENT WILL MOST LIKELY COLLAPSE IF THE U.S. LEAVES PREMATURELY. Moreover, it is absolutely IMPORTANT THAT THE UNITED STATES ENCOURAGE THE PARTIES TO REVISIT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGION AND STATE. The Kurds correctly supported the creation of a secular state. The new Iraqi constitution created a country where religion is substantially intermingled with the government. THIS IS A FORMULA FOR DISASTER. In a heterogeneous country like Iraq the government will NOT succeed UNLESS IT IS OFFICIALLY SECULAR. The Kurdish position on this issue is the best solution and their position must be supported.

As to leaving Iraq, the United States military should first redeploy away from the population centers so that they will not be visible to the average Iraqi and yet be close enough to assist the Iraqi government if a major crisis occurs. Moreover, redeployment will send a clear message to the Iraqi government that the U.S. will not always be there to protect them and that they have to take matters into their own hands by reaching a political solution that is acceptable to most Iraqis.

In conclusion, IF THE UNITED STATES WANTS PEACE IN IRAQ THEN THE CONCERNS OF THE SUNNI ARABS MUST BE GIVEN SERIOUS CONSIDERATION OR THE WAR IN IRAQ WILL ONLY GET BIGGER. Iran's influence will increase and the Sunni Arabs will continue to revolt and harbor criminals like the now deceased Zarqawi and his deadly followers who are coming from all over the Muslim world to join the revolt in a "holy war."

The Free Muslims Coalition is delighted that the Iraq Study Group has reached much of
the same conclusions as those advocated by the Free Muslims Coalition.

For more information, visit our Web site at www.freemuslims.org
Please respond to this article in our Free Speech Zone at: http://freemuslims.org/blog/
Please contribute to the Free Muslims at: http://freemuslims.org/support/donate.php


A READER'S COMMENTS:

Interesting insight. I agree with his (Kamal Nawash) analysis of Iraq as an immensely complex society and his conviction that in light of the divisions, a secular society would be best, but...it's up to them to decide. I disagree with his presumption that the Shiites have not made concessions to the Sunnis; in fact, it's my understanding that enormous compromises have been made in order to make the Sunnis feel they can buy into the system. Unfortunately for them, they are no longer in power, and are in the minority. Whether or not they supported Saddam (and it's true that many did not), as Sunnis, they were given perks because they were Sunni; they can no longer expect to call the shots and set up a system that is advantageous to them.

-SZ
US Diplomat with extensive Arab/Muslim experience)