Iraq: The struggle between past and present

Who said history does not repeat itself? An example is Iraq, where there is a clear and uncontrollable sectarian struggle. The Sunnis’ mistake in Iraq was being lenient with al-Qaeda, which hijacked the resistance and contaminated it with spiteful sectarian slogans against all Iraqi Shiites.

Most Iraqi Sunnis were against al-Qaeda’s ideology, and are against that of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). However, their voices have not been heard due to the stupid US management of Iraq, which was pushed by experts in Washington toward a model of Iranian Islam – US President Barack Obama has clearly revealed that.

For the new rulers in Baghdad, from Ibrahim al-Jaafari to Nouri al-Maliki and even Haider al-Abadi – the worst being Maliki – decisions are made in the interest of Iran and Shiite groups affiliated to it, which deepen sectarian grudges.

Iraq is sick, which is why it is subject to the struggle of international and regional wills, and to the Sunni-Shiite conflict. This is Iraq’s present, but was it also its past?

History

Following Iraqi appeals for help from Safavid tyranny against Sunnis, Ottoman Sultan Sulaiman al-Qanuni led a huge campaign to liberate the country in 1533. He did so by 1534, and stayed there for months to organize matters, calm Sunni-Shiite tensions, and relieve Ottoman authorities from the Iraqi headache and Safavid threats.

Safavid-Ottoman wars from 1543-1547 ended with the drawing of boundaries of geographic influence between the two, which included Iraq and other Arab territories. However, Iraq fell to the Safavids in 1623, and then to the Ottomans in 1638. History is repeating itself in a more hideous and stupid way.

This article was first published by Asharq al-Awsat on July 11, 2016.
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Saudi journalist Mshari Al Thaydi presents Al Arabiya News Channel’s “views on the news” daily show “Maraya.” He has previously held the position of a managing senior editor for Saudi Arabia & Gulf region at pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. Al Thaydi has published several papers on political Islam and social history of Saudi Arabia. He appears as a guest on several radio and television programs to discuss the ideologies of extremist groups and terrorists.