Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (25076)	8/11/2003 9:30:36 AM
From: epicure	Respond to of 89467

Defining the destiny of Mesopotamia By Jonathan Feiser The ouster of Saddam Hussein marks a shift both within Iraq as well as throughout the Middle East. The real concern, however, is where that shift is heading. Historically, British-demarcated "Iraq" has long remained in a fragile quest for its own identity, which has only served as a destabilizing force. One clear example of such underlying fault lines was the 1958 Iraqi revolution. This brought an end to Iraq's monarchy and 13 years later eventually contributed to the final withdrawal of the British Empire from the Middle East. The revolution was organized by Iraqi nationalist General Abdul Karim Qasim and his more Ba'ath-tainted colleague, Abdul Salam Arif. Arif later aided in overthrowing Qasim and established the first - albeit failed - Ba'ath regime. The theme in Iraq that trademarked the 1958 revolution and extended to the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 remains perfectly clear: Power should never be relinquished. This theme explains the series of coups that occurred after 1958 and eventually facilitated the rise of the second Ba'ath regime under president Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr. The rise of al-Bakr and his vice president, Saddam Hussein, augmented the traditional warrior ethos, one that characteristically enshrined the attainment of power over all else. One defining characteristic that drove this series of revolutions was how each impacted the power balance that then existed between the Soviet Union and the United States. Today, these same balances continue to posses a great deal of legitimacy with regional neighbors not only located in the Middle East, but also in South Asia as well as in Europe and Russia. Thus, in spite of the present efforts to stabilize the country, the exterior situation retains many of the geopolitical and regional security concerns that have never wandered far from the Iraq's historical balance sheet. Paying attention to these factors remains a crucial part of the game and is inherently linked to the establishment of beneficial constructs to aid Iraqi society. At this juncture, the military component is certainty critical to the defeat of those organizing hostile resistance to the US presence in Iraq. Yet a narrow assessment of opposition naturally appeals to the utilization of narrowly defined solutions that seem to rely on the prolonged presence of American military forces. Indeed, such a narrow - and perhaps overly strained - reliance indirectly increases the threats that exist at the intra-regional levels. This continued development directly undermines the Bush administration's vision of global security. Clearly, the indigenous threat enveloped within religious veneer, augmented with anti-Western propaganda, does not fade into history, but subtly adapts to increasingly flexible degrees within conflict and crisis. A conventional war with such a nemesis, while negating any conceivable parallels to the war in Vietnam, nonetheless heralds the possibility of sharing a similar fate. The authors of Iraq's previous coup successes misjudged their means of power in their relationship with the intimate diversity of Iraqi society. In essence, they could afford that cost, but the US cannot. Thus, regardless of any possible success stories to come, the best intentions of the US presence may haplessly become an unknowing contributor to the cyclic inertia of an Iraqi legacy of overthrowing leadership. The American presence in Iraq may become permanently perceived by the locals with the role not of savior, but of occupier. Even though this cycle may not necessarily dictate a trend of further instability, it nevertheless represents a chapter flushed with increasingly greater challenges and misrepresentations. Presently, however, it is difficult to apply the precious lessons inherited from past "regime change" debacles. With this in mind, the process of transplanting a new regime should entail subtle realigning and renovation but not replacing - or appearing to be replacing - the deep roots of traditional and sedimentary "family orientated" systems of power that mark Iraq's cultural history. Such systems are generational and therefore run in contravention to foreign implanted and artificial constructs. In the meantime, a return of regional history may perhaps be relevant in the confusion left by the current power vacuums formed after the removal of Saddam. Due to this situation, it has become clear that fragmentation within Iraq is not threatening to happen, but has already occurred. Published with permission of the Power and Interest News Report, an analysis-based publication that seeks to provide insight into various conflicts, regions and points of interest around the globe. All comments should be directed to content@pinr