What the Heck's Going On In Iraq?

With official U.S. military operations in Iraq being done for many months now, most Americans aren't paying any attention to the country anymore, (I wonder if they can find it on a map now?) But a quick glance at the news over the past few months show that the country is anything but quite. But the war is over, so shouldn't everything be fine, right? I mean, Americans wouldn't leave the country before it was fixed, right, right??!?!

The aftermath of an insurgent attack on Iraqi soldiers.

Well, the problem is that Iraq is still severely messed up. Many of the problems that the U.S. "solved" were just minimized with overwhelming U.S. firepower, (a.k.a. they just killed 90% of the people who were causing problems, which caused the other 10% to stop what they were doing or hide underground). But if something is minimized, it's still happening. And Iraq's problems are no longer minimized, they're simply just not as bad as it was in the late 2000's. Here's just a summary of what Iraq is going through at the moment:

• Sectarian violence, mostly between Sunni and Shia Arabs, which leads to a highly polarized and extreme society that doesn't get along with people that are only slightly different than they are. 
• Massive corruption of government and other public officials.
• Crackdown on civil liberties and human rights by the government. 
• Fucked up economy and job market. 
• In the middle of an imperial power struggle between the West and Iran. 
• Having spillover of the Syrian civil war, which only further polarizes society. 
• A small, very wealthy upper class hogging up all the wealth, leaving very little wealth and resources for the vast majority of the population, who are very poor. 

Many of these problems are inter-related, which make them all the more difficult to solve. For example, the imperial struggle between the West and Iran to control Iraq involved a lot of propaganda. Iran's power base in Iraq are Shias, while the West support the Sunnis, generally. Iran commands some Shias to attack a Sunni mosque, a place of business where Sunnis work, etc, etc, to gain power, take out a rival, etc, etc, whatever the case may be. But this also polarizes society, because now, the Sunni community that just got attacked views the Shias with hatred and rage because they just killed Sunnis. Their anger clouds their judgement, and makes them view all Shias, not just the particular Shias who did this attack, as Iranian agent infidels who are traitors to Iraq. Now they go attack some random Shia neighborhood in response. But this has the same effect on the Shias who just got attacked. Now the Shias feel persecuted, so now they wanna fight back. And that's how the vicious cycle of sectarian violence continues.

The core issue actually has very little to do with religion, despite what many right-wing U.S. commentators say. There is nothing in Sunni texts that say "You have to kill Shias," and vice versa. The issue is primarily political: both the West and Iran want control of Iraqi affairs. Power struggles like this one have happened all over the world, not just in Muslim countries. But these sides are using religion as a catalyst for violence and to divide Iraq society. Think about it, by just looking at two people, can you tell which one is Sunni and which one is Shia? Absolutely not. So how do the Iraqis tell the difference? Because they take out the time and energy to find out who is a Sunni, who is a Shia, which neighborhoods are Sunni neighborhoods, which stores are run by Shias, etc, etc. People take the time and energy to do these things for a reason, not just cuz they want to. And these reasons are some of the bullet points above.

Some problems cause other problems to happen, while others make already existing problems worse, (Sorry guys, none of this is good news). For example, a corrupt and inefficient government makes sectarian violence all the more easy to carry out because the government forces cannot stop the gunmen and suicide bombers who are carrying out these attacks. The government cracking down on innocent civilians' human rights makes people not want to cooperate with the government, or makes them flat out want to attack the government because they're sick of this shit. A crappy ass job market for young people makes them all the more likely to engage in criminal activity, because they're not getting anywhere in life the legal way, so why not? They view the government as corrupt and oppressive, so why bother paying attention to their stupid laws?

Iraq's location has made it a prime target for expanding empires throughout history. It's not easy to defend because it's flat compared to the Iranian mountains to the east and easy to get to from the Mediterranean coast to the west. Historically it has produced much food, making it a prime target for empires needing to feed their ever-growing population. Currently, Iran wants it as its gateway to its other Arab allies: Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas. Having a cooperative Iraq makes it easier for Iran to send arms and volunteers to help the dictator Bashar al-Assad put down the rebellion in Syria. The West wants it strategically so it can use it as a launching pad against these same Arab powers and Iran, as well as control of its oil fields and vital Persian Gulf port.

Conclusion: Iraq is screwed because of many factors. There is a way to for them to stop it, but it will be close to impossible because it will require many people, who are iron-willed but not extreme, to come and work together. And in the current condition it just isn't gonna happen. These group of Iraqis would have to set a list of principles and stick to them 100% no matter what happens. That takes dedication and perseverance that is rare, and the chances of many Iraqis having these characteristics, (or any people for that matter) is close to none. This is why real change in countries happens so rarely in history because the odds of all the right things being set in one place at one time is extremely rare. These principles would have to be:

1. Never to attack unarmed civilians for any reason, no matter what their race or religion may be. 
2. Uphold every Iraqi citizen's human rights, no matter what their race or religion may be.
3. Vote out every single politician that is corrupt, or, if he/she is non-electable, protest the government to get that person outta office. It may take 2 or 3 elections for this to happen, but they got to send a message to people in office "If you're corrupt, we're voting you out, no ifs ands or buts." They got to make the politicians serve them, not the other way around. 
4. Every citizen has the right to self-defense and right to bear arms. The common citizen has to have a way of protecting himself and his family from sectarian thugs, especially if the government can't/won't protect them. Never rely on the government for protection.
5. Organize neighborhood watches, committees that solve local issues. Through dialogue and saying how your week went, your interactions with people, etc, etc, local people can root out the sectarian extremists that hide in their midst. For example "I was hanging out with so-and-so and he made several disturbing comments about Kurds. Let's talk with him, see what his problem is, why he feels that way, what we can do." Or "I saw so-and-so going to an unused garage several time last week. What's he doing? Why's he going there?" It may nothing, or it might be a terrorist attack in the planning. They should always go on one of these visits prepared for the worst, which would be a violent individual. 
6. Never faltering loyalty to their goals and ideals, which would leave no room for corruption, back-room deals, or double crossing. 
7. Democracy. Now this doesn't mean they have to have a Western style democracy. This simply means they must have the type of government the people want. If they want a government set up like Iran's, (the one difference being that everyone has terms and elections), then let 'em have it. If they want a British style parliamentary system, then let 'em have it. 

Finally, who is to blame for the mess that Iraq is currently in? Well, everyone involved, unfortunately. The U.S., Iran, and Iraq all have contributed to this mess. It's not all one country's fault, contrary to what many other people will say. Some countries are more to blame than others, but none of the three are completely innocent. The sad thing is that the people losing out the most are the people who deserve the biggest break after the hell they've gone through: the Iraqi people.