By ALI BLUWI ARABNEWS
Every time I hear politicians of the Third World utter the word “unity” I remember a meeting between the late Libyan leader Qaddafi and the late Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba and the latter’s response to Qaddafi’s call for unity. It is normal that in politics wishes do not always materialize. For this reason, people do not take these wishes seriously and analysts ignore them.
A few days ago, Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi gave a demagogic speech in which he called for a union between Iran and Iraq. This statement lacks the basic objective conditions. First, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki is not the man who can lead Iraq to that direction. Second, the Arab Shiites will refuse to allow their country become a satellite Persian state. Iraqi thinker, Hassan Elwi — from a very prominent Shiite family — repeated the same argument. Additionally, President of Kurdistan region Massoud Barzani said that Iraq is inching toward a dictatorship similar to the one during Saddam Hussein. Al-Maliki is consolidating his grip on all Iraqi security and sovereign institutions. He confirmed that this situation under Maliki could push for alternative options including a no-confidence motion and a new understanding with the Iraqi List. Implicit in Barzani’s threat was the option for secession!
Iraqi Vice President Tariq Al-Hashemi had to flee Baghdad for Irbil when he realized that Al-Maliki was planning to assassinate him with a series of charges of terrorism. Al-Maliki had accused Iyad Allawi before and he would not hesitate to misuse and abuse his authority to hurt others. The visit of Tariq Al-Hashemi and Barzani to Turkey and their meeting with the Turkish prime minister was indicative and means that Ankara has been closely following the developments in the Iraqi political scene. Previously, Al-Maliki summoned the Turkish ambassador to discuss government’s statements but he did not summon the Iranian ambassador who had started talking on behalf of the Iraqi government. Some Iraqi members to the Parliament such as Hassan Elwi and Zafi Al-Ani called for the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador from Baghdad. But does Al-Maliki have the guts to reproach the Iranian ambassador?
EDITOR’S NOTE: Please note that this article is from the Saudi Arabian point of view. We will publish sometimes also views from the Iranian side. The Muslim Times is politically neutral. The readers will have to make up their own minds…
Having lived in Baghdad however my own view is that the Arab Shiahs definitely are not ‘blind followers’ of Iran. (After all the center of the Shiah faith is supposed to be Iraq!)
Before discussing any unity between Iraq and Iran, it is important to sort out their own internal issues. Iran has been struggling on global pressure on advancement of nuclear technology as well as many internal issues. In Iraq,the government is not fully establish in democratic terms. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki needs to set his directions towards democratic Iraq, before taking any immature steps of union of both countries. Kurdistan is an other issue among Iran, Iraq and Turkey. Such union will be a psychological threat to other neighboring countries and adversarial effects on United States.
is not the man who can lead Iraq to that direction. Second, the Arab Shiites will refuse to allow their country become a satellite Persian state.