Comment: Civil War in Iraq (by Rustam Dow)

The American Civil War between the Northern states of the Federal Union and the Southern Confederate States of America is now part of America's patriotic, historical complex. Essentially, the cause of this civil unrest was differing ideologies, mainly on the issue of slavery, as the South sought to preserve the appalling practice.

Up to and beyond the point of the bloody civil war in 1862, America's record of human rights neglect included not only systematized slavery, but genocide as well. Anyone who is intimate with aboriginal history in America, and many other parts of the world for that matter, would not shy away from using the controversial term "genocide" to describe the effect of colonizers on Indigenous populations. To negate this reality is as ridiculous as denying the more recent and intellectually "mainstream" atrocities of modern history.

Despite America's tyrannical past, it has grown into a nation of wealth, pride and opportunity for millions of domestic inhabitants; furthermore, many around the world consider it the archetype of an ideal nation state. One might hypothesize that one reason for America's success was the absence of other nations infringing on its sovereignty. In other words, America's ability to evolve may have resulted from its ability to apply culturally appropriate solutions derived from its own socio-political environment. Internal solutions to internal problems seemed to have worked in the case of America; however, this creed of self-determination cannot apply to all nations in any circumstance; Bosnia, Nazi-Germany and ideally the many war-torn countries of Africa are exceptions where military intervention was and is unfortunately warranted.

Despite all of Iraq's internal problems prior to the 2003 invasion and the current civil war, it is still unclear to many whether the international community's intervention is warranted. It seems that the coalition forces must now answer the question of civil war in Iraq, at least according to conservative media and their patriotic reverberation of governmental rhetoric.

Today, civil chaos between Iraq's Shiat and Sunni-Muslim demographics is part of the global public's consciousness and is being used by American media as a justification for the continued terrorization of Iraq. However, one must not forget the unreliability of the media and their objectification of Arabs. The media has reduced Arabs to irrational and violent beings, and as objects to be "rationalized" through glorified visions of American force. An example is the media's role in rallying patriotic support after 9-11 to sell this unjustifiable war in the first place. Now, military agenda setters, or military think tanks, are playing on those exact same naiveties to remain in Iraq.

The current civil strife in Iraq, which is not new to the region or to Islam, is not a valid reason to remain in Iraq. The tension and madness initiated by the current ally occupation is fueling once docile cells of these religious sects that were not as active under Saddam. This is a classic example of divide and conquer, not liberation.

In the case of America, civil war is now part of its patriotic complex. America now stands proud and independent for its ability to deal with its own problems as a sovereign nation. Unfortunately, this chapter in Iraq's history might be written in a dishonorable tone, citing foreign military invasion and occupation. Furthermore, the dignity of the Iraqi nation continues to be wounded under the red herring of liberation, not to mention the human cost of both Iraqi citizens and American soldiers. Liberation would be to allow Iraqis to progress as a nation, independently and not at the hand of trained killers from another hemisphere.

Will America be able to answer Iraq's question of civil war? Furthermore, will America be able to "win" this war at all? The truth is that they will not end the civil war but only continue to fuel animosity in Iraq. Moreover, war in Iraq will not end as long as American troops are on their soil; armed Iraqi nationalists will not rest until the illegal occupation ends. Only one question remains: how many more must die before this hopeless occupation ends?

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