The division of Iraq. The requirements of its preventing and the factors of its realization

The division of Iraq. The requirements of its preventing and the factors of its realization


Tuesday, February 18, 2020
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The division of Iraq. The requirements of its preventing and the factors of its realization
Abdul Halim Al-Rahimi

Despite the assertion of the majority of Iraqis, from various components of Iraqi society, ethnic, religious and sectarian, he rejected the division of Iraq and their concern for the unity of its political and geographical entity, but, in return, some of them, especially political and religious leaders, raise the slogan of its federalism or its division into three entities. For various pretexts and reasons! Invitations to establish a Sunni province have been raised in the western provinces.

After political leaders refused to participate in the drafting of the 2005 constitution and called for a boycott of the referendum to oppose many of its articles. 
Some Shiite religious leaders, a year after its adoption, expressed their desire to establish a federal entity for nine Shiite provinces, or a shiite majority, represented by the project put forward by the late Mr. Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, then president of the Supreme Islamic Council, and then reintroduced federalism and partition in Subsequent stages, in some western provinces, during the protests that broke out in 2012 and 2013, was repeated when a draft (National Guard Law) was tabled before parliament for discussion and approval at the end of December 2014, as some political leaders, or deputies from the provinces, counted it. Western, (a recipe for the division of the Iraqi state), and put in an equation (National Guard or Western Region)? 
Finally, after the parliament's call to convene on January 5, to decide on the withdrawal of foreign forces, especially the international coalition forces, from Iraq, the deputies of the parliamentary political blocs, the Sunni and Kurdish constituents, refrained from attending the session because they objected to their agenda. By making a decision to remove the troops. 
Foreign. 
A number of these deputies expressed their reluctance to attend the session and vote on the proposed resolution as harming Iraq's interests and weakening its resistance and fight against ISIS and all terrorist forces. 
Indeed, political, social and economic circumstances and causes, and perhaps the least influential external factors, are behind those calls that should be studied, understood and taken into account. 
Some writers and academics make mistakes when they refer to one external reason, and their example is what candidate Joe Biden expressed to President Obama in 2008, arguing that reforming the situation in Iraq can be achieved by what he called the "soft division" For Iraq. 
There is no doubt that the use of the Biden Project to interpret the reasons for the calls for federalism or division as evidence is a horrible simplification of a complex issue, in addition to what it represents based on the (ethereal evidence) of Biden's call to provoke the feelings, opinions and positions of Iraqi segments calling for federalism or division for reasons that it deems justified for that call, This refers to what can be described as the intellectual laziness of some writers and academics who facilitate external conspiracy theories instead of deeply delving into the causes, justifications and motives of such calls, so that we can know and identify the requirements for preventing federalism and partition by providing conditions for upholding Iraq's political unity. and his national identity. 
If the establishment of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which has been achieved in practice since 1991, and was confirmed by the 2005 Constitution, and subsequently approved by political forces and public opinion, and became an acceptable reality, the Kurds, for their part, express their eagerness to remain part of the State of Iraq, but they do not hide their desire for independence if they circumstances so beckoned. 
As for the province of the nine Shiite provinces, the talk of it and its circulation declined shortly after the call for it, and the western provinces with a Majority Sunni majority remained the ones that raise some of their political and religious leaders, from time to time, the slogan of the establishment of the Sunni province, or the province of western provinces, within the state Al-Iraqiya, which opponents say is a way to divide Iraq, as Shiite provinces will remain an existing entity alone without calls from any political or religious leaders! In fact, what prevents partition and the introduction of federalism, as an administrative system, with the exception of the federal political entity of Iraqi Kurdistan, which already exists, is the understanding of each component of the feelings, desires and legitimate demands of the other component, with an active role for the state in achieving this. 
Achieving real national reforms for the benefit of all Iraqis, and in their various components, is one of the important and necessary requirements for maintaining the political and geographical unity of the Iraqi national entity, because taking positions under duress and oppression and not taking into account what the other demands, and not participating in real With wealth, power and decision, it will lead to division sooner or later. 
Here it is useful to recall what the great religious authority, Mr. Ali al-Sistani, said in his interview with AFP, published on August 23, 2015, in which he warned against "partition" unless real reform is achieved: "Perhaps the situation will be dragged into what no loving Iraqi wishes." For his country of division and so on, God forbid. 
While the political class responsible for achieving reform is unable to do its part, the situation still threatens to happen to what no Iraqi hopes for, as Mr. Sistani warned early on.

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