The situation in every single Arab country is bad, extremely bad. But it is in Iraq where the situation is worst, not in Syria, Libya, Yemen or Egypt (economically speaking). The Americans pulled out of Iraq on the 18th of last month. Since that day, there have been terrorist attacks in Iraq on a daily basis, and I estimate that about 300 Iraqis have been killed and more than 500 have been injured since the U.S. withdrawal. And as if this is not enough by itself, Iraq is witnessing an unfolding political crisis that may lead to civil war, with politicians who want to hand over power in their country to Iran – and this would be the mother of all catastrophes (at least Syria is for the Syrians, whatever happens). On the day the Americans withdrew, I read in the New York Times an article co-written by former Prime Minister Dr. Iyad Allawi, the Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi and Finance Minister Rafe al-Essawi. The article began thus, “Iraq […] stands on the brink of disaster”, while the first paragraph warned that the country is headed in the direction of a sectarian dictatorship that carries with it the threat of civil war. The U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, at the insistence of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki – and reportedly with Iranian instigation-, coincided with an arrest warrant issued by the Maliki-controlled Ministry of Interior against Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, who fled to Iraqi Kurdistan. About the same time, Maliki followed this measure by asking Parliament to give a vote of no-confidence against Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq on account of his failure, after Mutlaq called Maliki a dictator. Then Ghadban al-Khazraji, deputy governor of the Diyala province, was arrested on charges of terrorism. Since all these individuals are Sunni members of Al-Iraqiya coalition, these measures have prompted many to say that Iraq is now subservient to Iran. In truth, this is something that IRCG commander Qassem Suleimani did not hesitate to spell out publicly, when he said at an Islamic conference in Tehran that Iraq is subject to Iranian will, along with South Lebanon, and called for efforts to establish Islamic governments in both countries. Today, Iraqis pin high hopes on the upcoming national conference, although Al-Iraqiya has accused the Prime Minister of attempting to obstruct the conference by prosecuting Sunni leaderships, especially those who are among its members, and to carry out arbitrary arrests and hog sovereign portfolios, such as the ministries of interior, defense and security, nearly two years after the legislative elections. Nuri al-Maliki has not implemented any of the decisions taken at the Conference of Arbil one year ago, and there is no reason to expect that a new national conference will be held, let alone expect that it would agree to decisions that would then be implemented. The leaders of Iraq all jointly bear responsibility for the worsening deterioration. I accuse them all before anyone else of this, but I do not forget the Americans, who invaded Iraq on falsified premises, and murdered hundreds of thousands of its people and destroyed its future, all while the American war criminals remain at large, and are even attempting to return to power. Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan, General Commander of Dubai Police, spoke out courageously at the national and regional security conference in Bahrain last week, when he presented 38 threats to Gulf security and said that U.S. foreign policy is the first and most significant of these threats. I fully support the Lieutenant General's assessment, and I thank him for stating it publicly. He said that Khomeini had tried to export the revolution and failed, and that now, the Americans are attempting to export revolutions to Arab countries under the pretext of democracy, but that they will fail as Khomeini did before; this in addition to the failure of their wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and the war on terror. Khalfan added that Iran had failed to topple Saddam, so the United States came, ousted him and left Iraq wide open to Iranian tutelage, something that threatens the security of the entire Gulf region. Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan questioned the intentions of the Americans, and said that if they were really concerned for the wellbeing of peoples, then there is the Palestinian people who more than any other people are denied their rights, yet the United States publicly objects to the Palestinian state. I had once thanked Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan for Dubai security's success in establishing that the Israelis engage in international terrorism, after Israel assassinated the Palestinian freedom fighter Mahmoud Mabhouh. Today, I also thank him for his statement in Bahrain and congratulate him for it. I am confident that he would agree with me if I said that a total deterioration in conditions in Iraq will spillover and exacerbate security threats in the Gulf, and if Iran controls Iraqi policy, then these threats will only increase. The party responsible for this is the U.S. foreign policy, ran by the Israel lobby, the neocons and the Likudnik enemies of peace and of Arab and Muslims everywhere. [email protected]
