Report Says That Iraq Is Nearing collapse

  This is an interesting report from Chatham House where Dr Gareth Stansfield says that there isn't just " one " civil war nor is there just " one "  insurgency but there are several in each category between the communities in Iraq. hit the site and download the report, which is in PDF.

  Within this warring society, the Iraqi government is only one among many 'state-like' actors, and is largely irrelevant in terms of ordering social, economic, and political life.  It is now possible to argue that Iraq is on the verge of being a failed state which faces the distinct possibility of collapse and fragmentation.  Accepting Realities in Iraq

Accepting Realities in Iraq  is the title of the new Briefing Paper which Dr. Stansfield wrote. It goes on to say:

...although Al-Qaeda is challenged by local groups, there is momentum behind its activity. Iraq's neighbors too have a greater capacity to affect the situation on the ground than either the UK or the US. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey all have different reasons for seeing the instability in Iraq continue, and each uses different methods to influence developments.

Dr Stansfield says: ‘The coming year will be pivotal for Iraq. The internecine fighting and continual struggle for power threatens the nation’s very existence in its current form. An acceptance of the realities on the ground in Iraq and a fundamental rethinking of strategy by coalition powers are vital if there is to be any chance of future political stability in the country.’

  The report also says that Baghdad blogger's, Sunni and Shi'a, give a better understanding of the of the political identity in Baghdad, dealing with the atrocities in daily life and the affects that they are having.

   Another note about the blogger's compared to their views only just a year ago.

" Barely a year ago, young Iraqis commonly talked about their desires to see the Americans leave and for a genuinely Iraqi political process to emerge. Now, bloggers tend to fall into one of two categories: they either wish the U.S. to stay in order to prevent the final collapse into a ' total ' civil war: or they wish the U.S. to leave in order to allow the civil war to erupt fully- such is the level of sectarian-based hatred in Baghdad today."

  I will be delving into this report off and on as it has some really eye opening conclusions in it, which maybe those idiots in the White House will read through. I doubt it though, to much reality in it.

 

Tags: Iraq Chatham House Sunni Shi'a Baghdad Gareth Stansfield