Crisis in Iraq
RADICAL ISLAMIC group Isis (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ) – dubbed more ruthless and fanatical than al Qaeda – has declared itself head of a new Islamic state, or caliphate, spanning Iraq and Syria. Notorious for deploying social media to brag of the mass execution of captured Iraqi soldiers, Isis has world leaders on red alert as it pushes the boundaries of political geography and violence.
Following impressively swift battlefield gains since mid-June the Sunni-led Islamist militia declared a cross-border Islamic state stretching from Diyala province in Iraq to Aleppo in Syria. This directly challenges the modern map of the Middle East drawn up by Great Britain and France after World War I. The course of events remains very uncertain and the gains might be quickly reversed; equally the turmoil spanning Iraq and Syria has the potential to spread.
Isis (or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant) began as an al Qaeda offshoot but was rejected by them earlier this year. Isis has since renamed itself the Islamic State or caliphate under its leader and self-proclaimed caliph Abu Bakr alBaghdadi, who is claiming to be the modern-day political successor to the Prophet Mohammed. This has not been achieved without violence. Reports from cities where Isis has taken control tell of public executions, beheadings, kidnap, amputations, torture and beatings among tactics used to maintain control. But there are also reports of improved administration, basic public services and rudimentary justice. In a bitter conflict with the Syrian and Iraqi governments, Isis has published annual reports since 2012 containing facts and figures of its military exploits. Details of over 10,000 military operations include 4465 roadside bombings, 1047 sniper hits, 1015 burning and bombing houses and places of worship, 1083 assassinations using silenced weapons and small arms such as knives.
A caliph is a successor to the Prophet Mohammed, and he rules a caliphate, an Islamic political entity governed by Islamic law. Modern national boundaries are deemed non-Islamic constructions, hence the hugely symbolic act of dissolving the IraqSyria border. The Ottoman Empire constituted the last caliphate until it was abolished by Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) in 1924.
The majority of Muslims worldwide are Sunni but in Iraq they are a minority; roughly 20 per cent of the population (a slightly smaller percentage is a different ethnic group, Sunni Kurds). Sunni Islam was the official religion of the Turkish-led Ottoman Empire which governed Iraq before World War I. Sunnis have dominated government. Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, pictured above, and the inner circle of his ruling Baath Party were Sunni Muslims.
Shia constitute a minority of Muslims worldwide but a 60 per cent majority in Iraq; the Shia are also an overwhelming majority in neighbouring Iran – the big winner from the United States invasion.
The historic division of Shia from Sunni arose early on over the question of succession to the leadership of the Islamic community. Shia held that this ought to be limited to the family of the Prophet Mohammed beginning with his cousin and sonin-law Ali. Sunni were content to follow whoever they deemed competent.
Kurds are a non-Arab ethnic group with their own language and ambitions; Kurds make up somewhere between 15 and 20 per cent of the Iraqi population. the three provinces of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. The League of Nations welded these three provinces into Iraq and issued Great Britain a mandate to govern in 1920 (Great Britain secured similar mandates to govern Transjordan and Palestine; France was awarded mandates for Syria and Lebanon). The British installed a Sunni monarchy under King Faisal, who had helped lead the Arab rebellion against the Ottomans alongside T E Lawrence (of Arabia). The Kingdom of Iraq gained independence in 1932.
Yes but we have to backtrack first. The Iraqi monarchy was overthrown by a military coup in 1958. The new republic endured 10 years of upheaval until the Baath Party established a firm grip on power in 1968. Vice President Saddam Hussein nudged aside ailing mentor Ahmed Hasan alBakr in 1979. A purge followed, as did the invasion of Iran in 1980 and a disastrous eight-year war that cost a fortune in human life and economic loss before ending in stalemate. An equally disastrous plan to invade Kuwait in 1990 to pay for the previous war through oil backfired spectacularly when the US-led coalition forced an Iraqi withdrawal. Sanctions were then imposed on Iraq for failing to disarm.
The US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 knocked Saddam Hussein and the Sunni minority from power. US-sponsored elections then allowed the majority Shia to dominate government. But from 2011, Arab Spring upheaval spreading across the Middle East had Shia Prime Minister Nuri alMaliki fearful of a Sunni-led challenge. To guard against this he promoted loyalists from within his own Shia community and particularly from his own Dawa Party to key positions in the police, the intelligence services and the army.
Maliki’s actions increasingly alienated Sunni. For example, the
Besides the invasion and subsequent missteps, the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) concluded with Maliki in 2008 prompted withdrawal of US forces by December 2011. The recent battlefield rout by Isis has led to a huge loss of military assets by the rebels thus drawing a reluctant US back to fray. Besides the US, Iran has a vested interest in keeping the Islamic State at bay so there is an unlikely alliance happening between former enemies.
Always. Iraq has the world’s fifth largest oil reserves and recently stood as the world’s seventh major producer. The battles in the north have included a struggle for the Baiji refinery 130km north of Baghdad. The Kurds have has also taken the opportunity to seize oilrich Kirkuk. However, Iraq’s major deposits are in the south around Basra; this is Shia territory where hard-line Sunni Islamic State could scarcely be less welcome.
True, it is a long way away and apart from oil prices, Kiwis should be mindful on several fronts: the crisis has already impacted many Iraqi citizens, some of whom will have family here. On a diplomatic level, New Zealand is hoping to secure a seat on the UN Security Council later this year and in the longer run former PM Helen Clark makes a plausible candidate as the first woman to be UN SecretaryGeneral.