Iraqi Nationalism

What is Iraq?

We know what it was. It was a colony, and later a nation state, whose boarders were drawn in such a way that the tribal elements within those boarders would always hate each other enough that they couldn't unite and spill the blood of their colonizer, or later their oil cartel.

The power vacuum left by the removal of Saddam Hussein (and not adequately filled by the U.S. occupation regime) intensified into a civil war. According to Colin Powell and NBC this just happened this week. This civil war is driven by the ambitions of so many parties in the country and region, that untangling it all seems extremely daunting.

To this complex problem I propose a simple solution--nationalism. Generally, I am no advocate of nationalism, but if you need a path from hellish chaos to democracy, nationalism is just about the only way to go.

The only true nationalist among all the power brokers in Iraq is Muqtada al-Sadr. Sure, he commands an army of murderers and torturers, but this is Iraq were talking about. Congrats, al-Sadr, you're the new boss. He basically is the boss now anyway. Whether al-Sadr wields that power from the throne himself, or continues to influence things from behind the scenes, he has the (poker term) big stack and since we badly need to (poker term) fold, the best way to leave a stable situation (sailing term) in our wake is to throw what (war term) little firepower we have behind the inevitable (there's no winners in war)"winner".

Since we are in no position to ask for anything in exchange as we leave Iraq, it's a good thing that the one thing we should want happens to be in al-Sadr's best interest--a unified Iraq. The three nation model would leave Saudi Arabia and Iran staring each other down for generations. Such a deal would leave the Sunnis no oil. It's unfathomable that peace could exist under such circumstances.

If, however, al-Sadr can appeal to the Sunnis and the Kurds on the grounds that everyone in Iraq is better off with a strong, independent, socialist Iraq. If the country can be given a national identity, al-Sadr can govern the whole country. There's a way to do just that. It's the same thing Ho Chi Mihn used--Marx.

Sure, al-Sadr should probably play down some aspects of the doctrine, but one doesn't need to run around quoting Marx to play the class war card. One doesn't have to work very hard to imagine the Iraqi people being convinced that they are only pawns in a high stakes game between Americans, Iranians, Saudis, Syrians and the transnational oil companies designed to rob them of their national treasure--Oil.

Maybe al-Sadr should throw a (Texas) tea party. It's an idea you can build a country around. How do you think we got Democracy here?

Tags: Iraq War, Marxism, Muqtada al-Sadr.