This article was written for the Communist Youth’s underground publication in March 2008 in Tehran. At that time, Iran’s political atmosphere was radically polarized, and various debates were taking place among the left. Social proximity and mutual influence of Iranian and Iraqi political movements made it important to pay attention to the situation in Iraq. As a part of the writing of this text, the Worker-Communist Party and the Communist Party of Iraq’s reports and analyses were taken into consideration. In order to explain the state of democracy in Iraq, the following article was written.
Now that years have passed since that assembled democracy and Iraq was terribly torn apart, we are again witnessing the rise of Islamic and nationalist movements. The Sadr Movement, which entered the scene in those years with kidnappings, murders and beheading of political and social opponents, has become the main flag bearer of events in Iraq today. Therefore, I thought that publishing a perspective from the Middle East left about the events of those years can help to understand today.
Photo: Iraqi students take part in an anti-government protest in Basra, Iraq, February 2020. (AFP) Slogans such as “Forget outdated traditions,” “End classism” and “No more differences” were trended on Twitter in Iraq.
When the Marines of the US State Terrorism entered Iraq in March 2003 under the pretext of destroying weapons of mass destruction and fighting terrorism, and the American Air Force dropped thousands of pounds of cluster bombs on the Iraqi people (as the largest, unique to the most individual and the most horrible perpetrator of massacre and crime in the world), it was looking for the gift of democracy to them, they did not even think that after several decades of the Vietnam war, this time they have stepped in the swamp of Iraq.
Iraq trembles under the terrible apparatus of US state killing and Islamic terrorism, security has turned into a myth and public dissatisfaction has covered Iraq, every day there are numerous news and reports of bombs raining down on slums and killing defenseless people. It was published in the media by the US military until the beheading and shelling of the Islamic terrorist organization. But suddenly the page turned. As if nothing has ever happened, the Islamic Republic and the United States entered into negotiations to maintain security and democracy in Iraq (!), Moqtada Sadr’s current as a dirty and anti-human movement that kidnaps people and uses mortars and bombs. He massacred defenseless people, crawled to his nest and now, he announced temporary peace!
The events in Iraq can be seen as a sign of the success of the “democracy export plan”, but the problem is that this democracy has nothing to do with the freedom and liberation of the Iraqi people. Until now, the governments and bourgeois media of the West called the government of the likes of Pinochet and Papadoc and other dictators in their favor as democracy, and today they refer to the ethnic-religious governments of Afghanistan and Iraq as democracy. Negation of human identity and rights of citizens and organization of society and government based on religion and ethnicity is the basis of the democracy desired by the West in the post-Cold War era, and today Iraq is a society that clearly shows the deeply reactionary and inhuman nature of this democracy to everyone.
The government that was assembled in Iraq was formed based on a temporary compromise and balance between Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite forces. The Patriotic Union, Hizb al-Dawa and the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution, whose leaders have divided the presidency, prime ministership, parliament presidency, vice president and other high government officials among themselves, are all armed forces, and along with the US forces, they are involved in the killing of people and They have directly played a role in creating the chaotic conditions that have engulfed all of Iraq.
The relationship between these forces is also completely competitive and hostile. After the fall of Saddam, hatred and historical hostility between Kurdish and Arab nationalism on one side and Sunni and Shiite forces on the other side has become more intense. Today, these forces have become active in politics and have appeared in the government as representatives of their religion, nation and tribe. The interim government is the result of a completely unstable balance between these ethnic-religious forces, and therefore not only cannot bring about improvement in the chaotic and chaotic conditions of Iraq today, but it will undoubtedly be the cause and source of tensions and explosions in the future.
Finally, US and its allies reluctantly accepted the presence and influence of the Islamic Republic as the flag bearer of the dirty movement of political Islam in Iraq and the Middle East. They presented the story of the old friendship between the two nations and sat at the negotiating table and tried to present their behind-the-scenes deals to the world as ways to establish security in Iraq. The withdrawal of US troop from Iraq remained a dream for the Islamic regime and other Islamic movements, but they succeeded in doubling their influence and political credibility in Iraq and subsequently in the Middle East and the world. Just a few days ago, when Ahmadinejad arrived in Iraq, he went in front of the cameras of BBC and CNN to Al Jazeera and… and fired his last shot at the Great Devil: “We are not concerned about the possibility of the US attacking Iran. Almost everyone knows that US cannot win any war.” Now US military even should escort him too!
US made the basis of its policy of continuing its presence in Iraq to assemble security and democracy, and the Islamic regime appeared on the scene to help the security and reconstruction of its long-time friend and brother Iraq, with a funny face. Both demagogic currents are moving to attract public opinion to achieve their goals and interests, but inwardly, the Iraqi people not only have no benefit from these exchanges, but they are facing the scourge of terrorism.
Still, reactionary and dirty movements of Islamic terrorism such as Jaysh Al-Mahdi and Moqtada Sadr’s extremely inhuman movement are not only on the scene and threaten the future of that society, but they are also going to participate in the elections by US invitation!
The current government is also a puppet government of the gangster clan that is in charge of affairs in Kurdistan and the whole of Iraq. An anti-labor and misogynist movement that we have seen the fruits of from a long time ago until recently, with the crowding of the labor councils and the massacre of prayers. Talabani, since he used to come to Tehran to suppress the labor movements and the opposition of Iran and left with a bag full of money, became an unquestionable chain dog of the Islamic Republic. Barzani was also the ruler of Iraqi Kurdistan from the beginning!
A ruler whose entire clan, from his son and daughter, grand children to uncle, aunt, cousin, etc., are all government staff, and in the last trick, he pulled out the gift of parliament from his hat so that everything would be completed! Apparently, Talabani and his partners have entered the government after an election process and have taken this dangerous task upon themselves. A big lie that was sold not only to the people of Iraq, but to the whole world, even though the gift of democracy is nothing more than this anywhere else in the world.
The case of Iraq has served the Islamic regime or perhaps the capitalism in danger 2 times, an 8-year war and helping to stabilize this inhumane government and today helping to grow and influence it more in the world. What has plagued the people of Iran and Iraq so far is the lack of security, poverty and unemployment, the lack and very low quality of welfare facilities, education and services, and a terrible cultural backwardness.
What you think?