Allawi Warns of Civil War

- Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's interim prime minister warned Monday that insurgents are trying to foment sectarian civil war as well as derail elections, while thousands of mourners turned out for funerals in the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala a day after car bombs killed 67 people.

Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said the mainly Sunni Muslim insurgents, blamed for Sunday's bloody attacks, want to "create ethnic and religious tensions, problems and conflicts ... to destroy the unity of this country."

"These attacks are designed to stop the political process from taking place in Iraq," Allawi told reporters. He added that his administration would not be deterred despite expecting more strikes before key Jan. 30 parliamentary elections — the first free vote in Iraq since the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958.

There are different reasons for the escalation of violence inside of Iraq, but all are tied to the impending elections scheduled for January 30, 2005. In dealing with the subject matter the article is on, the Sunnis would rather have a civil war than a Democracy because they are a minority in Iraq. This is a drastic change from the Saddam days because Saddam is a Sunni and gave the Sunnis powers in his government.

Shiites in Iraq account to roughly 60-70 percent of Iraqis. Kurds stand around 15-25. Sunnis naturally fill in the bulk of the remaining percentages depending on which estimation you choose to go by. It is reasonable to assume that with Democracy Sunnis will lose the power they once held under Saddam.

What needs to happen in Iraq is the different tribal groups need to recognize nationalism over heritage. To coin a phrase from our president, it's going to be "hard work," but a good public relations campaign could help the nation's citizens pull for Iraq rather than their ethnic heritage. Then again, the public relations aspect of this entire conflict has been less than satisfactory.

There are also outside forces trying to derail Democracy from entering into the Middle East. Of course Democracy exists in Israel and Afghanistan, though having Democracy start in Iraq would be a boon for all freedom-lovers in the entire region. This is why the governments of Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan to an extent and Iran are so dead-set against Democracy in Iraq.

Saudi Arabia opened up their first day of voter registration to little fan fair which is fitting because any elections in Saudi Arabia would be a sham. They do not allow women to register to vote and the elections are for minor roles in the Saudi government. Of course you have to start somewhere, but the inclusion of women would be a major step into spreading Democracy into Saudi Arabia. The failure to include women demonstrates the lack of a desire to insert Democracy into Saudia Arabia by the Royal Family.

Syria and Iran have sent money, weapons and even spies as we learned earlier today into Iraq in an effort to both support the insurgency and defeat the idea of Democracy. A Democratic Iraq would give hope to those that live in either regime which naturally threatens the leaders of all nations of their reign.

Later on in the above article, there is an interesting quote from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also accused America and Israel of being behind the bombings in Iraq. "I am sure that the hands of the U.S. and Israeli espionage networks are behind recent events," he told government officials, according to Iranian state television.

This type of statement is two-fold. First it tries to deflect blame away from Iran for supporting these type of attacks as well as sends out a preliminary denial an Iranian intelligence official was present in the area. Second it sends the same message that many in the Middle East have sent out before; Muslims are not capable of committing such attrocities.

The second aspect of the statement is nothing new. We have heard this throughout the years though thankfully there have been more and more statements rebutting this type of assumption. The thought still persists however and the government of Iran furthers the thought with a statement as assinine as this one.

The threat of civil war in Iraq was also one of the concerns of the CIA in a leaked report in the run-up to the U.S. elections. This was also a concern prior to the decision to invade Iraq. The threat still looms because there are a minority of people inside of Iraq who have lost their power and wish to obtain power in another form. Of course the funding and inciting of violence by neighboring countries does not help.

Cross-posted at In the Bullpen

Posted by: Chad at 01:59 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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