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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (43845)	3/24/2003 7:11:52 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

More on Iraq After yesterday's wildly successful Naw Ruz party, which I shall talk about at greater length in a future post, the latest news from (or on) Iraq has proved to be mildly intriguing at best. Iraq has proven to be a war far easier than that of Afghanistan, as evinced by the statement by Gen. Franks, and despite the claims of the detractors that it would become another Vietnam. The desert plains and the urban nature of Iraq (most of the population is concentrated in a few key cities such as Mosul, Kirkuk, Tikrit, Baghdad and Basra) means that the targets are overt and that it is a plain territorial conquest of sand and cement. This complemented by the novel tactics of psychological warfare, being waged by the awe inspiring nightly bombing, as part of the doctrine "shock and awe" means that Iraq's rapid capitulation was always an inevitability as I have stated before. The massive air assaults, which I saw on CNN, claimed three lives (not specified whether civilian or military) according to the Iraqis. Considering that the "shock and awe" aerial assault was analogised to Dresden, one would have expected widespread devastation rather than such precision with minimal casualties. There are of course instances when the missiles stray off course, as they did in Khuzestan, Iran, nevertheless there have been no instances where inaccuracies have led to human tragedy. Lives, both American and Iraqi, are considered at a premium and even the loss of one is reported immediately. This is perhaps the first war, or invasion, where the lives lost will be in the hundreds rather than the thousands and it is worthy sacrifice considering that an entire nation of 20mn people are regaining their freedom. The true martyrs of the war are those American and British troops who lay their lives willingly so that Muslim citizens of Iraq can once again enjoy the fruits of freedom! Indeed can Islam find any greater friend and ally than Anglo-American civilisation? There was an interesting view given by analyst Krauthammer of Fox News that the images of wide scale bombing of Baghdad would be shown by Al Jazeera to the Arab and Muslim world inflaming opinion. For instance the bombing appeared to be devastating even though it had a negligible effect on civilian infrastructure and lives nonetheless Muslims would be led to believe, through selective coverage, that bombs were being rained down upon the 5mn people of Baghdad. Even though I would dismiss the foolish protests by Muslims occurring through Asia (especially strong in the eastern Muslim nations of Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia) it is still necessary for America to ensure that the Islamic Crescent is aware of what really is going on within Iraq. At a time when victory is such a certainty, with the near capture of Basra, its airport has already been taken, and surrender of thousands of Iraqi troops (along with the entire 51st division) it is critical to think of the development, both diplomatic and economic, following the war. Reconstruction & aid efforts (even the UN is galvanised into action) and the sovereignty of an united Iraq seem will become the priority of the day after Baghdad's capture. Of course that sovereignty seems to be under threat from the Turkish invasion in the north even though designs of such a nefarious nature is vehemently denied by the Turks. The Turkish incursions into northern Iraq are a joke and it is fitting response to those who hailed Turkey as the West's foremost Muslim ally. The Turks have shot themselves in the foot and by forgoing on the 30bn dollars of aid offered by America for cooperation (the cost of the war will be rather excessive for America, especially considering the budget wrangling in the Senate) and now are scrambling to be part of such a successful effort. They may now willingly lend their precious air lanes nevertheless Turkey will suffer as a result of a free Iraq. The Turks completed Atatürk dam and were able to hand wring Iraq when it came to the flow of the Euphrates nevertheless now with an Iraq under American guidance this will no longer be possible. Turkey's Kurds in the strategic south eastern provinces will look at the liberalism and prosperity of Kurdistan in northern Iraq with a mixture of awe and envy, which could strengthen their rebellion and insurgency. Turkey will no longer be the bulwark of the United States since Iraq will replace it to become the new ally and key stronghold of the region. Of course even so I am surprised by the commentators’ reaction to the Turk's invasion, which I would dismiss outright. It was immediately discernable that the analysts of Fox News had virtually no idea of Iraq's topography and dynamics. Exclaiming that a Turk invasion would divert the attention of the Kurds seems rather farfetched. The borders between Turkey and Iraq are mountainous and Turkey realised long ago that to invade Iraq's Kurdistan would be a foolish endeavour, destined to failure, and at any rate hindered by far too many Kurdish guerrillas. An interesting question is what will be the Kurdish contribution to the American efforts in the liberation of Iraq? The answer lies in Iraq's complex ethnic structure and historical interaction between its diverse peoples. For Iraqi Sunni & Shi'ite Arabs may trust American liberators but the people of Baghdad would be horrified at the thought of Kurdish guerrillas streaming down from the north as part of the invasion. If it were ever to occur Baghdadis would then perceive the liberation efforts to be a sequel to Hulagu's genocidal invasion in the 13th century. The inclusion of Kurds in Arab areas would squander the goodwill of the Americans and inflame ethnic rivalries. Thus the Kurdish resistance to Saddam will remain localised and not be allowed by the Americans to spread any further than the traditional Kurdish cities such as Sulaymaniah, Kirkuk (Kirkuk is mixed because of Saddam's efforts in the 70's and 80's to pacify the northern regions by settling Arabs) and Mosul. latif.blogspot.com Mosul is the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh and location of the headquarters of the Iraqi Army 5th Corps and the 16th Infantry Division of the Iraqi Army 5th Corps. Principally Kurdish there is a large minority of Assyrian Christians, who trace their roots to the imperial masters of Iraq during the first millennium B.C. Iraq indeed has had many conquerors, some lasting for a thousand years, and throughout its history liberation from tyranny has been largely been driven by foreigners thus recent events confirm a historical trend. Zachary Latif 14:29