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Religion in Today's World: A divided Iraq
13.2.2007
By Richard Kropf - opinion |
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February 13, 2007
To understand what is going on in Iraq today, and
more important, what America can do about it, it is
necessary to see things within a much wider context.
Aside from the fact that Islamist terrorists from
other nearby countries are using the opportunity to
strike at U.S. forces without having to travel far
from home, what we are seeing in Iraq is the breakup
of a nation that was artificially created following
the defeat and dismantlement of the old Turkish
Ottoman empire at the end of the First World War.
The idea back then -- under temporary British
supervision, which ended up lasting about 30
years!-- was to weld the Kurds in the north, the
Shiite Muslims in the east, the Sunni Muslim Arabs
in the west, plus some Chaldean and Syrian
Christians, Jews and an assortment of other ethnic
and religious minorities into a single modern
"nation-state" -- much like those in Europe, say
like France or the United Kingdom.
The problem with such an idea, however, is that such
united "nation states" seem to be becoming a relic
of the past. Increasingly, various ethnic, regional
and religious groups within such nation-states are
demanding more and more independence from
centralized governments, and are ready to go to
revolt or even resort to terrorism to press their
point.
We need only think of the Spanish civil war in the
1930s, when both Catalonian and Basque autonomy were
major issues --and to some extent still are. In 1921
the UK finally had to accede to most of
predominantly Catholic Ireland's independence, with
the Protestant majority in the northeastern corner
of that little island still refusing unification
with the rest. When the British finally gave India
its independence in 1947, two (when predominantly
Hindu India and solidly Muslim Pakistan split), and
eventually three (when the eastern half of Pakistan
became Bangladesh in 1971) different countries were
the result.
Perhaps we in the "new world," most of us
descendants of immigrants who came here voluntarily
- and eventually learned to get along with other
groups of people -- cannot appreciate or even
understand this. What we tend to forget is that many
of our ancestors were fleeing religious persecution,
the aftermath of a century of European religious
wars. Here in the USA, it is probably only the
native Americans -- who were here first -- or
African Americans, who were dragged here against
their will, can appreciate what it means to have a
"nationality" or sometimes even a religion imposed
on oneself.
The latest examples of what happens when strong
dictatorial governments break down are not
encouraging. The Soviet Union has split apart into
about 10 different countries, and where the Russians
will not let go, in Chechnya, there has been hell to
pay.
Then there is what was once Yugoslavia, now six or
seven separate countries, the remains of what had
been one artificial nation-state (also created after
World War I) which famously had, as one saying put
it, "five languages, four races, three religions,
and two alphabets."
PETER GALBRAITH, a U.S. State Department official
who helped try to clean up the bloody mess that was
Yugoslavia, has been arguing that the idea of a
united Iraq is already a lost cause. Galbraith is
probably right.
Yet, bad as it is - in proportion to its much larger
size, is the situation in Baghdad any worse than it
was in Sarajevo? If the U.S. was able to help settle
things down there and in Kosovo with only a fraction
of the troops we have in Iraq, why are we now
sending yet more troops?
The best thing we can do now is plead for an
international force of peacekeepers to move into
what was Iraq to help try to keep down the bloodshed
while the boundaries of at least three new countries
are drawn on the map.
- Richard Kropf is a retired priest and
theologian who frequently shares his thoughts from
his cabin on the banks of the Pigeon River.
gaylordheraldtimes com
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