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April 17, 2008
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The Reign of Gangster Governance
Kurdishaspect.com - By Rauf Naqishbendi
On the surface the government of Iraq has been transformed from tyranny to democracy. But upon scratching the surface one sees corrupted government officials heading organized crime and preying on the Iraqi people. High-ranking Iraqi government officials are engaged in the utmost corruption, favoring their cronies which results in the benefit of a few well-connected and privileged people while the rest of the Iraqi people are floundering in financial hardship. The major political parties that comprise the Iraqi government are the leading militia groups that have been instrumental in the bloodshed, destruction and sectarian fighting. The Iraqi government is at work against itself, and because of this the Iraqi people will experience an epoch of turmoil tainting their present and future prospects.
When Saddam was banished from power, the military and law enforcement were obliterated. This created a vacuum soon filled with armed militia led by the eminent members of Shiite political organizations such as the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, which prime minister Nouri al-Maliki is affiliated with, and the Al-Sader group led by Muqtada Al-Sader. Kurds also have their own armed militia known as the Peshmarga. The difference is that the Kurdish Peshmarga fought Saddam for more than three decades prior to the Iraqi liberation, and fought alongside American troops to topple Saddam’s regime. On the other hand, the Shiite militia and their leaders popped up after the Iraqi Liberation. In fact, there wasn’t any armed resistance or active political opposition in Iraq ’s Arabia during Saddam’s ruling since opposition leaders fled the country to find refuge in Iran . Therefore, all Iraq’s Shiite elite including Iraq’s prime minister, Mr. Maliki, the head of the Shiite coalition, Al-Hakem, and Al-Sader are the fabrication of the Iranian Ayatollah’s sponsorship, training and indoctrination.
Regarding the vices of the armed militias, sound sovereign state principles dictate that all armed forces ought to be under the command of the central government. The armed forces of every state are to serve as a means of maintaining internal peace and security while providing a bulwark against external threats. If the armed forces are fractured and their loyalty divided amongst confronting leadership, this allows an opening for internal conflict which could bring the country into a precarious internal armed conflict, thereby derailing its peace and security. In countries with a heterogeneous population this will propel the disintegration of the country or, at a minimum, a drawn-out armed conflict with much tragic bloodshed and destruction.
Its own natural enemy, Iraq ’s heterogeneous population encompassing anathematic religious and ethnic groups and externally menaced by its hideous neighbors necessitates a loyal armed force. When a distinct group embarks on the formation of their own armed force within a state, they do so for their own protection, to secede from union, or to achieve their ambitions of domination. From what has transpired in Iraq one can see that the aforesaid reasons fit the current situation. Iraqi Shiites are emboldened to maintain their domination. Kurds fear the Arabs given the tragic genocide committed against them by Saddam and his predecessors, and they have a deep-seated desire for statehood. They justify their own armed force firstly for protection and secondly so that at the first flash of opportunity they can gracefully separate from the God-cursed republic of Iraq and shake off the yoke of repression, freeing their nation from the shackles of subjugation.
In southern Iraq , these militia groups are engaged in threatening citizens, taxing businesses, and extracting government contracts for their cronies at extortionate prices well above the market value. For the most part, the territories of these groups are demarcated and each acts within its territorial domains to defend its members, providing immunity to their criminal gangs, and threatening and intimidating citizens who oppose their views. The elements that make up these groups are not guardian angels but rather rogues and riffraff despised by their communities. Sadly, chief Iraqi government officials as well as the overwhelming majority of Iraq ’s parliament are affiliated with political parties that have ties with an armed militia; hence from top to bottom the Iraqi government is a regime of gangsters.
Iraq could be ranked as the poorest country in the world as regards the availability of social services, such as sanitation, electricity, drinking water and infrastructure relative to its revenue. Besides the petroleum revenue, since the beginning of war, the US has shelled out fifty billion dollars as a contribution to reconstruction and rebuilding, yet the availability of social services and oil production after the war are both at lower than pre-war levels. Even without oil revenue, the US ’s hefty fifty billion dollars is a formidable amount for a small country like Iraq , but there’s not much good to show for it other than the enhancement of Iraqi leaders’ bank accounts. The question is: why did the US give such a considerable amount knowing it would only be deposited into Iraqi leaders’ bank accounts? We are not doing that well in America , every community has its needs and we could have used that money ourselves, after all, that money was borrowed against taxpayers’ future earnings. If the Iraqi government had dispersed that money as intended, it would have been a different scenario. However, the problem goes far beyond the squandering of American taxpayers’ money; it has fueled corruption resulting in the creation of thousands of millionaires and billionaires while the average Iraqi is impoverished, suffering from the lack of basic life necessities in a country with a 40% unemployment rate.
The tumultuous Iraqi saga will continue unless the government is purged of the corruption and power struggle of the Iraqi leaders. The ubiquitous corruption and the Iraqi leaders’ gang mentality have left no glimpse of hope for a better Iraq . Courtesy of President Bush, America has created a big mess for itself and an even bigger one for the Iraqi people.
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