Iraq: History and Nowadays of a Semi-desert Country Located in the Western Part of the Asian Continent Essay

Introduction

Iraq, which is officially referred to as the Republic of Iraq is a semi-desert country located in the Western part of the Asian Continent and shares its borders with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the South, Turkey to the North, Syria to the North-west, Iran to the East and Jordan to the West. Apart from the political instability caused by the wars that have characterized Iraq of late, it does have a very rich history which dates back to the ancient times of Mesopotamia, the place which serves as the cradle of civilization (where civilization first began- it is believed to be the original birthplace of writing, philosophies, laws, science, and mathematics). [Mesopotamia is between the river Tigris and the Euphrates]. The two rivers also double up to help neutralize the desert condition of Iraq to make it a little bit habitable (W. Eilers (1983).

The year 2003 saw a lot of changes taking place in Iraq, thanks to the inversion of Iraq by the British, American, and other multinational forces. The inversion had far-reaching consequences especially in the political arena, some of which include: – Establishment of a more democratic parliament, rise in Civil Violence, Worldwide official Recognition of Iraq’s minority groups (Kurdish and Shiite Arabs), Ousting and Eventual Execution of the former Iraqi’s president dictator Saddam Hussein and finally the inversion resulted to the citizens’ active political participation and a significant economic growth (Tripp, Charles, 2000). It is now six years since this happened; this essay will try to highlight some of the areas that have gone under a significant metamorphosis; in the structure of governance as well as the economic scene of Iraq. It will also touch on the perception of the world on the Post War situation of Iraq.

History

After its foundation, Iraq was put under the succession of one emperor after another, starting with Cyrus the Great up to Alexander the Great who ruled until the Seventh Century when the Islamists conquered Iraq and put it under Islamic Caliphate. By the 8^th Century, under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate, the city of Baghdad was so well established that it was the leading metropolis of the Arabs and the entire Muslim World. It held this position for five good centuries. In the 13^th Century, Baghdad had a population of over a million people and was the largest multicultural city of its time. The Republic of Iraq came into being after the abolishment of the monarch system in 1958. From there on there was a series of overthrows and revolutions which saw power exchange hands from one leader to another…until 1979 when Saddam Hussein took over as Iraqi President upon killing many of his opponents (Hiltermann, Joost R, 1994).

Iraq under Saddam Hussein

With Saddam in power, Iraq and its neighbors changed from good, to bad and finally to worse so drastically that it called for the intervention of the international community (Through the United Nations). Saddam attempted to make nuclear weapons in 1977 but this plan was thwarted by the Israelis in 1981 when the Israeli aircraft bombed a 40 MW light-water nuclear Material Testing Reactor (MTR). Disability further deepened after the success of the Islamic Revolution that supported the establishment of the Shiite Muslim Theocratic State. They began opposing some of Saddam’s actions; this marked the beginning of Saddam’s woes which never ended till the day of his hang. In 1980 Saddam waged war with Iran, claiming that the Iranians wanted to overthrow his government. He attacked Iran killing both Iranian soldiers and civilians with Chemical weapons (Black George, 1993).

As a result of American and Western Support of Iraq, in what the Americans referred to as “dual containment”, the war ended in a stalemate in 1988. The Iran-Iraq war left Iraq in an economic disaster that needed to be addressed. To Saddam, the option that he chose was to conquer Kuwait and possess the oil-rich state, and use the resources to rebuild the Iraqis economy. He went against the United Nations orders not to attack Kuwait and did so then went further to declared that “there is no longer any such country like Kuwait since it is now part of Iraq” (AFP, 2007). The UN in retaliation passed a heavy sanction against Iraq and ordered it to withdraw from Kuwait, but Saddam heard none of that. In 1991 under chapter seven of the UN Charter which authorizes all its member States to “use any necessary means to restore international peace”. The coalition forces overpowered the Iraqi forces Saddam was forced to withdraw from Kuwait…he eventually accepted the inevitable after his men were destroyed and brought to their knees.

Just after the war, in the same year the war ended, the Iraqi civilians staged protests against Saddam’s regime, but the president’s response was so violent that the protesters had to cool down. Saddam was not just about to give up, for he continued with his “bad boy behaviors” even after the war: – in 1993, the private investigators reported that he had planned to assassinate the then US President George H. W. Bush and in 1998 he chased away UN weapon inspectors. To counter this breach of the regulations, economic sanctions were imposed on Iraq by the UN resulting in the death of more than 0.5 million Iraqi children.

Government, Politics, and Economy of Iraq

Iraq is defined by its current constitution as a Federal Government under a Democratic, Islamic, and Federal Parliamentary Republic. The government consists of the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary, and other independent Commissions. The country had been under the Baath Party for 32 years until when the US-led inversion put to an end the rule in 2003. The citizens made history in 2005 by coming out in large numbers to democratically participate in a vote against the proposed new constitution, they then proceeded to conduct their first-ever general election under the developed new constitution.

The Iraqi economy depends highly on oil. Oil is the dominant contributor to their well-being, contributing about 95% of the total foreign exchange earnings. The Iran-Iraq eight-year war caused a major slump in the Iraqi economy due to the destruction of oil export facilities, massive borrowings, and of heavy accumulation foreign debts which left the economy just staggering to keep balance. The total economic losses from the war totaled at least US$ 100 billion. But after the inversion in 2003, the economy has gradually grown and with the help of the international community, the US taking a leading role, the country looks poised to revamp and recapture her lost glory.

War and Its Impacts

In 2002 the Iraqi administration after being accused of trying to acquire Uranium from Niger fell bowed to the pressure and accepted to allow weapon inspectors into the country, but by this time, America was already poised to start the war, they just went to prepare the battlespace in Iraq and create room for the US military Forces. It was on March 20^th, 2003 when the US inversion set off. The main reason for going to this war is that the Iraqi government had refused to honor UN Resolution 687 and have continued to manufacture weapons of mass destruction and the need to outs the oppressive authoritarian leader Saddam and restore democracy to Iraq. The war was a great success to the US and a big slump and failure to Saddam’s regime. Apart from being kicked out of power, he was later even charged with a series of crimes against humanity and hanged.

The war led to an average of 2 million people fleeing (mostly from persecution) the country at the onset of Saddam’s regime. Most of them fled to Jordan and Syria (UN High Commission for Refugees Report). After the inversion quite a number have been reported to have started returning to the country, out of this number, only 46,000 had so far returned by October 2007.

Post-war

The war had got good and bad effects alike, the country made a major leap to the front in an attempt to boost their economy and international relations. Infrastructural development came up; telecommunication, road network, water, electrification, and provision of all other necessary needs were given facelifts. But above all was the utilization of the countries huge reserves of oil… To help the country regain the lost status, the current government has also embarked on the development of a parliamentary democracy system which will be composed of eighteen (18) governorates (referred to as Muhafadhat).

Since the war to remove Saddam ended in 2003, the insurgency cases have never stopped in Iraq up to this very date. That is the chief reason why the US established a Coalition Provisional Authority (www.iraqcoalitiion.org…CPA Website) to help with the governance after completely removing Saddam. This was then followed by an Iraqi Interim Government in 2004 and finally, in October 2005, the Iraqis elected their permanent government.

Though the war ended, there are still over 140,000 coalition troops in Iraq. Iraq is now a fully governed state but the reports on the civilian deaths are so much worrying that the coalition forces have decided to remain within the county and keep vigil. Lately, Just less than one month ago, the Iraqi parliament approved that the US forces can still keep around for the next three years. The reasons are so obvious, for reports indicate that some of the terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda took advantage of the insurgency after the inversion and got entrenched in the country. This has caused a security threat in the country. Iraq is the fifth most politically unstable country in the world after Sudan (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Foreign Policy Report, 2008). The continued sectarian violence cases reported in the country are suspected to be of ethnic cleansing. These attacks mainly target the minority groups of Iraq like the Mandan, Yezidis, and the Assyrians.

Conclusion

Therefore, owing to the ongoing security situation in Iraq, we are not just about to see the last of the coalition forces leaving the country. But with time they will all clear off and Iraq as a Democratic Republic Nation will once again be on its own. But this is not expected until the 31^st of December 2008 when the mandate of the multinational forces in Iraq expires as given by the UN in 1790. But on the other hand, the United States is working on a strategy to grant its forces freedom to continue with their operations in Iraq. Intelligence reports have it that the US government has been putting pressure on the Iraqi government to enter with them some kind of alliance that has got imposing conditions acting in favor of the US. If this plan goes through, then the US will be able to establish fifty military bases in Iraq. All these bases will contain US troops, with their personnel enjoying full legal immunity. And to add onto this, the United States will never have to inform the Iraqi Government the number of troops on their soil, when they are coming or leaving (Gwynne Dyer, 2008).

Work Cited

1. “Charges against Saddam dropped as genocide trial resumes”, AFP, 2007
2. Black, George [1993]. “Genocide in Iraq: the Anfal campaign against the Kurds” / Western Asia Watch”. New York • Washington • Los Angeles • London: Human Rights Watch.
3. Gwynne Dyer (2008). “Washington and Baghdad: the treaty that isn’t” (HTML) (in English). The Japan Times Online 1. The Japan Times.
4. Hiltermann, Joost R. [1994]. “Bureaucracy of repression: the Iraqi government in its own words” / Western Asia Watch. New York • Washington • Los Angeles • London: Human Rights Watch.
5. Office of the Press Secretary: The President’s State of Union Address: A2002.
6. Tripp, Charles: “A History of Iraq”: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000 p. 34
7. W. Eilers (1983), “Iran and Mesopotamia” in E. Yarshater”, The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol.3, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.12-22