Hello everyone. This is my first post on here, and although this is the section for potential officers, I am not and am joining as a bog standard bootneck (if they will have me that is ;-))
With regards the topic of conversation, somebody mentioned the conflicts that exists between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims in Iraq, but let's not forget that these are not the only two of the groups living in the country. You see, Iraq is a country that used to be two separate countries. For those of you who don't know these countries were called Mesopotamia and Kurdistan.
Now, if you look at the current situation the arguments between Sunni and shi'ite aren't the only problems raging. Turkey has made several incursions into Iraqi territory in order to have a pop as it were at Kurdish fighters. This, as you should know, has caused quite a bit if upset amongst the Iraqi government as well as the larger international community. Furthermore you have the religious/ethnic/culturally (call it what you will) aggravated civil war in the country. For those of you who don't know, since Saddam was toppled from power, at its lowest estimation, half a million Iraqi civilians have died due to said "civil war".
The question that needs asking then is what can be done to prevent any further upset? Well, as far as I can see the inter-communal problems arise, not so much out of religious belief itself, but rather who it is that governs the country. You could argue that in the same way the Kurds have been given a certain level of autonomy, the same needs to happen with the Sunni's and shi’ites. This is of course not as easy as it looks though as some major Iraqi cities will be very mixed and forced removal of citizens is of course a no go area. However, to provide an area where different groups can live may help to cut back on the level of violence, and maybe what Iraq needs is a central government with as little power over local affairs as possible. Basically, what I am saying is that if Iraq is to work, then as much power needs to be devolved down to as local level as possible. If anything, this will bring the benefit of allowing these different groups to live as much under their own rule as possible, and may even cut back on the need to create different areas as Sunni and shi'ite tend to live in different villages/towns/cities anyway.
What I am saying is that whilst I believe Iraq can be a peaceful country, at present, given the current governmental structure, it can’t be peaceful because there are simply too many divisions to allow for it. In short, what has happened is a western system has been given to a people who have different needs and considerations that need to be taken into account when formulating a government. What is needed is a government that is localised, not centralised. At least then, different groups’ feelings can be taken into account when formulating effective policy.
