Post #1

Post #1: Iraq

-Timeline of Tensions in Iraq- 

            The geographic location of modern day Iraq has some of the richest history in the entire world. The Sumerians were one the earliest known civilizations, arising out of the Tigris-Euphrates river valley they brought to the world the first writing system known to man. Aside from recording history for the first time, the Sumerians were the front-runners in developing ancient science and technology. One of their largest contributions to modern society was the implementation of city states ruled by a centralized authoritative entity (Sumerian govt?) The struggle for power within the region could have arguably began when the Semitic people, better known as Akkadians migrated into Iraq from the west and settled in Sumer. Throughout Ancient Iraqi history you had the Babylonian Empire, Assyrian Empire, and eventually the Ancient Egyptians.

After Ottoman Iraq sided with Germany during World War 1 and British influence was introduced into Iraq, the British ultimately took control of Iraq. In 1920, Iraq became a League of Nations mandate under British control and was named “State of Iraq”. Britain granted independence to the Kingdom of Iraq in 1932, which was ruled by King Ghazi while Britain retained air bases in areas of Iraq. After the coup d’état, Rashid Ali al-Gaylani took power, which put fear into the British government with thoughts that the new government would cut oil ties to western nations.

After the success of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, President Saddam Hussein began his reign Under the rule of Saddam Hussein, Iraq used chemical warfare against Iran. This started the Iran-Iraq war and the genocidal Al-Anfal Campaign aimed at the Iraqi Kurds. After the annexation of Kuwait we entered the First Gulf War when our (U.S.A) military was forced to intervene The Shiite and Kurds led uprisings against Saddam Hussein which didn’t have much success as the Iran/Iraq war was initiated shortly after. The war, which lasted for roughly 8 years, ended which turned Iraq to a new page, the gulf war. Preceding the gulf war came the war on terror in 2003, which controversially and arguably ended in 2008. From 2008 to present, Iraq has still been struggling to resolve its issue of power, and how to distribute it.

 

The wrong distribution of power throughout Iraq’s history has left its country in a state where over time; they have accumulated a problem that needs much help to resolve. Iraq has accepted so much foreign humanitarian aid that they now face a roughly 4.5 billion-dollar debt that is owed to the U.N.. Iraq is asking for a portion of that money from the U.N now and is in need of a bail out essentially. The tragedy of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the War on Terror and the decentralization of authority in Iraq and the Middle East has opened up the possibility for insurgent terrorist organizations such as the Taliban and ISIL to emerge. The problem facing the world is that these terrorist organizations believe in a version of the Islamic faith that is far different than the greater Muslim population. Islam is the worlds largest religion and we cannot allow for insurgent groups like ISIL to set stereotypes about innocent Muslim individuals at a time when coordination and cooperation is essential to peace in the middle east. Tensions between the U.S and Iraq are not as bad as before because of the spread of terrorist organizations throughout Syria and other surrounding countries. Iraq did have its problems as it is stated that, “Islamic State seized about a third of Iraq’s territory in the north and west in 2014, but has slowly been pushed back by Iraqi forces.

These issues have also misplaced millions of people, contributing to the growth of humanitarian aid. As the issues in Iraq continue, the U.N plan said it was only asking for a fraction of the money they owe, asking for $861 million in bail out money. If granted the money, it is in the best hopes of the U.N and the United States that Iraq finds the best possible ways to allocate funds. Iraq needs the money badly or the refugee problem facing the world will only grow.

Post by: Kyle Conway