The Pentagon’s old friend Ahmed Chalabi is behind us 100%:
BASRA, Iraq, June 27 - With the Aug. 15 deadline for writing a new constitution bearing down, a cadre of powerful, mostly secular Shiite politicians is pushing for the creation of an autonomous region in the oil-rich south of Iraq, posing a direct challenge to the nation’s central authority.
Shiites at Friday Prayers in Basra support Moktada al-Sadr, the cleric who opposes autonomy for the south.
The politicians argue that the long-impoverished south has never gotten its fair share of the country’s oil money, even though the bulk of Iraqi oil reserves lie near Basra, at the head of the Persian Gulf. They also say they cannot trust anyone holding power in Baghdad because of the decades of harsh oppression under the Sunni Arab government of Saddam Hussein.
“We want to destroy the central system that connects the entire country to the capital,” said Bakr al-Yasseen, a former foe of Mr. Hussein who spent years in exile in Syria. He is one of the chief organizers of the autonomy campaign, which is supported by Ahmad Chalabi, the one-time Pentagon favorite and scion of a prominent Shiite family from the south, among others.
Turkey would go absolutely BS at the idea of breaking up Iraq. They have Kurdish problems of their own. The last thing they need is an independent Kurdistan on their border.
I have always thought breaking up the country into maybe three pieces was the best solution, but apparently the big boys disagree, so I doubt it will ever happen.
Canada goes through this same problem periodically.
I guess since the plain old conquer approach didn’t work, now it’s time to try “divide and conquer”.
The funny thing is that all of this that’s going on right now has already happend in Iraq, in this century, with Britain trying to rule Iraq from 1918-1932.
They kept getting their asses kicked so they finally gave up direct involvement.
Turkey would go absolutely BS at the idea of breaking up Iraq.
I don’t give a damn what Turkey thinks about it, myself.
I have always thought breaking up the country into maybe three pieces was the best solution
Holy cow!!! We finally agree on something about Iraq. Does this make me a neophyte neo-type?
“Breaking” the country up into three pieces is the obvious, natural, organic, and maybe even inevitable solution. I never did understand why it’s ruled out automatically as a consideration by the powers that be.
Turkey would go absolutely BS at the idea of breaking up Iraq.
I don’t give a damn what Turkey thinks about it, myself. I guess we have to given that there are strategic US airbases on Turkish soil and they are an important NATO ally.
I have always thought breaking up the country into maybe three pieces was the best solution
Holy cow!!! We finally agree on something about Iraq. Does this make me a neophyte neo-type?
“Breaking” the country up into three pieces is the obvious, natural, organic, and maybe even inevitable solution. I never did understand why it’s ruled out automatically as a consideration by the powers that be. If you break up the country into 3 pieces and run for the border, the Sunnis will just invade the Shias in the south and the Kurds in the North and within 2 years you’ll have another Saddam Hussein running the place only the new guy will be a religious fanatic with a taste for American blood.
I guess we have to given that there are strategic US airbases on Turkish soil and they are an important NATO ally.
Turkey gets more out of us than we get from them. If we were serious about breaking the country up into its natural pieces, they’d take it. As for them being an important NATO ally, I wish someone would let them know. When I was over there, they seemed like more of a threat than the Iraqis.
As for the Sunnis being able to overrun the North and South, and a new Saddam springing up, I don’t see it happening. The more likely scenario would probably involve an Iran-backed Shia takeover of the Sunni area. But that might happen even without first breaking the country up.
As for the Sunnis being able to overrun the North and South, and a new Saddam springing up, I don’t see it happening. The more likely scenario would probably involve an Iran-backed Shia takeover of the Sunni area. But that might happen even without first breaking the country up.
If the country is broken into three, the Sunnis in the middle would be left without the oil. Without the oil, they’d be just another flea-ridden desert country. They’d have nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying an overt or covert take-over of the Shia south (they’d have a much harder time taking the Kurdish region). It’d be interesting to see what Iran would do in that case.
All in all, I think the Brits had it right: just get the hell out.
they’d have nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying an overt or covert take-over of the Shia south
Be that as it may, I don’t see that they’d have the means to do it.
All in all, I think the Brits had it right: just get the hell out.
I’d be cool with that.
Probably correct. I wonder though, if the Sunni’s wouldn’t then have control over what little industrial capacity is left. Might be a while before the Shia’s have the wherewithal to defend themselves. I’m sure Iran would be willing to defend them (and finally bring them into Iran).
What a mess. If only we’d get off the oil addiction, we could tell them all to pound sand. Literally, in this case.
If Iraq were divided into its natural parts, I would worry that sooner or later Turkey would take over the Kurdish North, Iran would take over the Shiite South, and the Sunnis in the middle would be battling both for survival. Then again, maybe that’s not a bad thing. If they’re fighting among themselves maybe they’ll concentrate less on us. We could slip the Sunnis arms through the Saudis and keep the conflict going for decades. It worked pretty well until Iran and Iraq got tired of fighting.
