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Taking into account the three major population
groups in Iraq, the proposed divisions would include
the Kurdish Zone in the north, the Shiites in the
south, and the Sunnis in the center of the country.
When I first heard it, I even entertained the idea
for a brief moment. But after reflecting on the
history of this area, I quickly changed my mind.
When the vast Ottoman Turkish Empire was defeated in
World War I, none of the present Muslim nations
existed.
The Ottomans, who ruled that part of the world for
four centuries, systematically destroyed national
entities and made them regions under the direct
control of Istanbul.
The conquering British and French created the
present nations and their borders. Iraq did not even
exist until Winston Churchill took a map and with
his pen drew its present borders.
The same thing was done for most of the Middle East.
Nations were created with a stroke of a pen. The
chaotic aftermath illustrates what happens when the
West interjects its ideas into Middle East problems
without understanding the peculiar nature of each
area and how important the Muslim sects are that
inhabit them.
They were almost totally ignorant of 1) the ancient
tribal homelands and the fierce rivalry between
certain tribes, and 2) the areas that were
traditionally controlled by certain sects of Islam
and just how important that control is.
When Churchill casually sketched the borders of the
new nation of Iraq, he guaranteed that there would
be problems that could only be contained by a brutal
dictator like Saddam Hussein.
Unwittingly, Churchill forced together into one
entity the Kurds, whom everyone hated, the Sunni
sect, which was a minority in the area, and the
majority Shiite sect.
The Shiites' holiest shrines were included, but land
that had traditionally been part of the old nation
was placed into another new nation called Kuwait.
Lebanon had been part of pre-Ottoman Syria, but the
French carved it out separately.
Trans-Jordan, which became the Kingdom of Jordan
under a British fiat, was also artificially created
by the stroke of a pen. In fact, at the Conference
of San Remo in 1922, the League of Nations
originally mandated Trans-Jordan to be part of a
Jewish homeland.
But Israel surrendered it so that the original
inhabitants of the territory of Palestine would have
a homeland.
But let's get back to the Iraq problem. The
situation as it exists today in Iraq cannot be
solved by another imposition of Western stupidity.
Sixty-two percent of the Iraqi population is Shiite.
The Sunnis make up about 30 percent and the Kurds
about 8 percent.
If there is, indeed, a division into three separate
states, this is what will happen. The Shiites are a
fundamentalist sect of Islam and recognize the
Ayatollah of Iran as their spiritual leader. They
will immediately reject American- imposed democracy
and become inseparably aligned with Iran.
The Sunnis will be forced into an alignment with
Sunni Syria for self-protection.
The Kurds appreciate the United States and would
remain separate and continue to be our friends. The
only problem is that Turkey, Syria and Iran hate the
Kurds. Turkey would break relations with us for
creating a Kurdish state. It would demand that we
remove our extremely vital military bases from
Turkish soil.
That would leave the U.S. with two friends in the
Middle East that are hated by everyone – Israel and
Kurdistan.
A further complication that would surely cause
conflict is the fact that almost all of Iraq's oil
is in the Shiite and Kurdish areas. There's not much
chance of a workable arrangement whereby the Shiites
and the Kurds would share their wealth with the
Sunnis. Remember, Saddam Hussein was Sunni, and he
and his sect inflicted unspeakable suffering on the
Shiites and Kurds.
But now, the Shiite-dominated Iraqi Parliament has
approved the idea of a three-state Iraq, and the
idea is developing legs.
To make matters worse, former Secretary of State
James Baker has been leading a panel called the Iraq
Survey Group. This committee has been studying the
situation and is due to hand the White House just
such a recommendation following the elections.
Naturally, the Iraqi Sunnis, responsible for most of
the insurgent violence, oppose the plan. As I said,
most of the oil is in the Shia and Kurdish Zones.
So if the plan goes forward, the threatened Sunnis
will start a civil war. But the Kurds and the
Shiites suggest that if the plan doesn't go forward,
they will start a civil war. The only way to hold
Iraq together would be for the U.S. to impose a
ruthless occupation, which we will not do.
The actions of the Western powers, taken decades ago
with total ignorance of the area's history, are now
insoluble – just as the Bible prophets predicted
they would be in the "last days." But these same
prophets predicted that this would pave the way for
a person of enormous powers who is waiting in the
wings to be unveiled – he is called "the
anti-Christ." The world is just about ready to
embrace him.
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