Currently, the United States and its allies are in deep negotiations to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear enrichment program. Still, the United States is faced with another challenge in its foreign endeavours that of ensuring that a stable unity government is established in Iraq. The objective is to establish a unity government in Iraq that has minimum interference from Iran. The US economy is no longer favourable to support extra expenditures on international operations such as Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Thus, US President Barrack Obama is striving to keep his commitment to withdraw all the US troops from Iraq. However, the main problem is that Iraq is still not politically stable and the dilemma is what would be left behind once the US troops in Iraq are withdrawn from the country (Neary 34).
The other dilemma is how Iran would be prevented from interfering in the internal affairs in Iraq since the possibility of terrorist groups taking charge of the country are high when the US troops are withdrawn from Iraq. For the past four years, Iraq under the leadership of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has not yet achieved the desired level of democracy. Going by the WikiLeaks documents released recently on the Iraq war numerous cases of rape; murder and torture by security forces are still prevalent in the country. It is quite evident that following the just-concluded parliamentary elections in Iraq where Iran had a big role in causing a stalemate in the formation of a new government Iraq is far from stable.
A fragile deal aimed at forming a unity government is now prevalent in Iraq which means that Ayad Allawi, the main opposition candidate may be forced to take up the position of the national security overseeing committee because he had a majority of the votes in the just-concluded parliamentary elections. With such a position in the hands of an opposition leader and the main rival of the ruling prime minister, it is obvious that Iraq’s national security might be at stake. However, this plan might work for the benefit of the country particularly because Ayad Allawi will be able to prevent the domination of Iran in the internal affairs of Iraq.
The greatest mistake the world leaders and the international community can make in helping Iraq achieve the desired level of democracy is to negotiate with Iran on its role in Iraq. The reason is that the United States has begun the war in Iraq and it is the US that should play a major role in ensuring that Iraq gets back to its feet and the desired levels of democracies are achieved. Negotiating with Iran’s leftist agents which have continued to meddle in Iraq’s internal affairs to advance the interests of Iran would be detrimental because Iran would not agree to leave Iraq. The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of achieving lasting peace in Iraq. The main argument is that there is a possibility for a just and lasting peace in Iraq.
“Just peace” is a term that can be defined depending on how the war was fought in Iraq, how the war was conducted and the understanding of the just war. For example, the term “just peace” is derived from the tenet of a “just war”. A just war refers to the rules of war which includes less use of force during the war, ensuring that fewer combatants die or get injured during the war and having a just cause to go to war as well as ending the war as soon as possible in order establish the ground for a just peace. From the above rules of a just war, it is quite evident that the war in Iraq was fought for a just cause and the aim was to destroy any elements of weapons of mass destruction which Saddam’s regime would have proceeded to produce. The evidence of nuclear plastic tubes and the stiff opposition staged by Saddam in preventing the United Nations nuclear investigators from carrying out their investigations in Iraq were reasons enough for a just war to unearth any form of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
The war was also conducted in a way that only the targeted rebels and locations suspected to be used for the production of mass destruction were destroyed. In addition, the war was also conducted in a way that only the targeted individuals such as Saddam Hussein and his accomplices were arrested and charged. The current effort by the US government to withdraw its troops from Iraq is another rule of a just war. In this regard, it is quite evident that the rules of a just war were followed in Iraq and therefore the possibility for a just and lasting peace is also possible. Since just peace is also defined by the success and the winner; it is true that there is a considerable amount of success and winning in Iraq.
Some of these successes are comprised of political and economic achievements. Politically, Iraq has been able to hold democratic elections twice something unheard of during Saddam’s regime. This is surely a just peace because researchers contend that one of the many tenets of a just peace is to restore democracy which is a legitimate thing to do. Although the US and its allies changed the government in Iraq, it is still true that the war was just because the former government was a great problem to the Curds who never wanted to be part of Iraq due to the increased suffering they experienced at the hands of Saddam Hussein and his government.
Economically, the war on Iraq was a Just war because the Curds were able to settle in the northern part of Iraq. Previously, the Curds had no land of their own and this was the reason why they never wanted to be part of Iraq and thus they formed the biggest resistance against Saddam. While the oil reserves were just below the Curds locations, the Curds never benefited in any way from the oil reserves. The war on Iraq brought just peace because earnings from oil exports in Iraq are used for equal development of the nation including the areas inhabited by the Curds. Such areas were previously neglected and thus the Curds remained behind in every economic aspect. From the religious perspective, it is hard to reconcile the religious groups in Iraq and therefore this is not a viable option for a just peace.
Taking the example of Ireland, religious reconciliation has not achieved any meaningful results due to persistent fights between different religious groups. However, the current structure of the Iraqi government composed of federal, republican, pluralistic and democratic parties is evidence enough to demonstrate the fact that there is a possibility for a just and lasting peace in Iraq. Federalism in the current government means that the governing principles are based on history, geography and power separation and not on sect or ethnicity. This is a great sign of progress towards a lasting pace in Iraq.
It is imperative to note that just peace will never be achieved through the complete withdrawal of the US from Iraq because the main objective is to eradicate terrorist and militia groups from Iraq to ensure that the established government remains stable. For example, in Somalia, militia and terrorist groups have continued to destabilize the transitional government and this should not be the case in Iraq. The terrorist and militia groups were highly prevalent in Iraq before the onset of the just war. Although the majority of these groups fled to Afghanistan and other areas around Pakistan, indeed, such groups may completely be eradicated from Iraq and a course for just and lasting peace achieved. Today, extreme efforts are being undertaken to restore the shattered economy in Iraq, protect the victims of war and necessitate a quick transition into a democratic nation as well as institute a well functioning institution that can be used to bring the current and previous rulers who abused human rights in Iraq to justice. Since peace entails justice through economic and political settlements it is obvious that Iraq will achieve a just and lasting peace characterized by a wide democratic space (Tinyere 56).
To deal effectively with the militia and terrorist groups, the US and its allies should engage in deep consultations with the Pakistani and Afghanistan governments to chat the way forward to ensuring that militias and terrorist groups do not thrive in their territories. This would be a step forward towards ensuring that such groups fail to establish their territories in Iraq and thus pave way for just and lasting peace in Iraq.
Works Cited
Neery, Bob. Just Peace. New York: Sage Publishers, 2009, p. 34.
Tinyere, Lord. Don’t let Iraq Fall Prey to Iran. New York: Sage Publishers, 2010, p. 56.