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Ahmed Mohsin
Christie Bogle
English 1010
August 5, 2016

Iraq the broken nation

The sanctions, foreigner Intervention, In Struggle for National Identity, and the Corruption that
made stable country like iraq to be disaster and unstable and easy target for terrorist organizations.
They are also lessons to other countries that These reasons are mostly destroying the countries and
effecting the development. Why these reasons made the country unstable? and How?

Before we Discuss the viewpoints, we need to take quick look of the country history. The
country was a very prosperous and stable like many other oil-dependent countries for long time.
However, Iraq's Modern history place points to just pattern of authoritarianism, corruption and
violence. Iraq was founded on 11 November 1920 and its intuitions and army were being
improved by Iraqi government regularly until 1958 when the 14 July Revolution led to the end of the
monarchy by Brigadier General Abd al-Karim Qasim who took control of the power. He
Strengthened the government and army. Also, he reformed Social reform, Women's rights, Land
reform, laws to protect the oil from foreign companies, etc. He was the best the president in Iraqi
history as people say. He worked to invited and reconcile between all sects, nationalities and
religions in iraq. However, he was overthrown by Colonel Abdul Salam Arif in a February 1963 coup

After his death. The country entered in dark period as many say. In 1979, The new president Saddam
Hussein came to power was dictator but he built strong government and made the army stronger. In
September 1980, He declared war on Iran following supported by several countries such as Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia, United States and other countries. The funds that Gulf countries lent to Iraq were used to buy
high tech weapons, high tech weapons that made Iraq one of the largest armies in the world and a force to contend

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with. "Ironically much of the money and weapons came from the countries that united to fight against him."1 The Gulf
countries bankrolled him while the Western nations, . ("Iraq, World Book, p. 260) when war was ended

a lot of people were so glad. After 8 years of hustle, after war the oil prices went down. Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia wanted their money back. They started blackmailing the president of iraq. He
responded back invading Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The united states interfered and forced iraq to
withdraw its troops.

The problems started when UN put sanctions on Iraq. The Iraqi economy collapsed. The
country stopped exporting. Many factories closed to due to the lack of materials. The sanctions
made country to rally on its internal sources. The food prices went up due to lack of foods. A lot of
people had no food and had limited sources. My mom told me that when UN put sanctions on the
country, it made the country the worst place to live and people began to starve. People blamed the
UN for the damages. However, some of people have said the sanctions was good in helping the
country to rally on its internal sources and manufacture a lot of factories. Some of the sanctions still
exist so far which interrupts the Development of the country. They should be lift even if the country
has not paid compensation to other countries.

In 2003, the US and its allies invaded iraq and disassembled the Iraqi government, army and
replaced them with unqualified ones. The new army is so weak that could not keep people safe.
Many people have said that this was huge a mistake. Three years later with weak army that could
not keep that country safe, the country had Sectarian violence between Sunni and Shias. The hatred
began to build up. The Mahdi militia that was supported by Iran responded back by killing Sunnis.
The religion, race and nationality started to play important role of Iraqi society. Most of educated
people like doctors, engineers etc. were killed or fled to other countries. At that time, the Iran started
to interfere by supporting Al-Mahdi militia. The Iranian intervention in Iraq was not to help Iraq but to
extend Irans influence across the region. According to the Middle East Project Director of the
International Crisis Group Many dismiss Maliki as an Iranian stooge, set in place to advance Shiite
interests in the name of a greater Iranian plot to extend Irans influence across the region. .. that

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the Maliki regime is an extension of Iranian power. (Baker, Aryn) The Iranian troops began operating
in Iraq just do harm to the Sunnis and foreign troops. The Iranian military presence will not only
alarm Iraqi Sunnis but it would be a major affront to the U.S.s Sunni allies in the Gulf. The terrorist
organizations like Al-Qaeda in Iraq started to rise When Iran interfered in iraq and violence had rising
dramatically. Most of the people including me believe that government needs to use the old army to
build stronger and better one to stop the intervention of other countries in Iraq. The government think
Iranian intervention is good thing and its trooping is helping the government. However, this makes
the government so weak and showed the government should be replaced.

In 2010, the violence was going down fast. However, according to independent writer The

corruption is unbelievable, says Ghassan al-Atiyyah, a political scientist and activist. You cant get a job in
the army or the government unless you pay; you cant even get out of prison unless you pay. are free you may be captured by
some officer who paid $10,000 to $50,000 for his job and needs to get the money back. Corruption complicates and poisons
the daily life of Iraqis, especially those who cannot afford to pay. . (Cockburn, Patrick) The corruption increased

dramatically. Iraq to a point where virtually every individual or company is making some form of
payment to facilitate services that should be part of normal governmental administration. As a
consequence, the country has consistently performed poorly in the past decade in most global
corruption indicators. Most of Iraqis think that first step to eliminate on corruption is to change the
government. But the most of politicians used their positions to steal and take contracts. The
corruption cannot be treated overnight. The reform process is very difficult and requires many
sacrifices to ensure the return of normalcy to life in Iraq. More broadly, Iraq reveals the vulnerability
of conflict and post-conflict areas to corruption and the need for a holistic strategy in which security,
development, and the rule of law complement one another. Such an approach is not a guarantee of
success, but the absence of a holistic strategy is a guarantee of failure.

At the same time, the disputes appeared between people. al-Maliki abused Sunnis, who
started protesting against him and refusing to talk with government. According to CNN author, At
checkpoints across Baghdad, soldiers have defied a recent order from the prime minister to remove

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Shiite religious flags . At schools in the northern city of Kirkuk, students have raised Kurdish
flags (Arango, Tim). The Kurds view Arab as the enemy and think that they abused them.
Therefore, they want to have their own country. The Sunnis, who ruled the country for long time,
hate Shias for how they manage the government and think they are not qualified to be in power.
People think that the country need to be divided. However, the idea would lead to more war and is
not good chose. The division of the country was the best opportunity for ISIS take over Mosul. Best
solution that All groups need to come to together and reconcile by forgetting their religion, race, sect
and uniting. This is first step to have better future.

Iraq has most important role in stabilizing the middle east. The country is dealing with a lot of issues.
However, it has bright future. However, all groups need to come to together and reconcile to get their
country back.

Work cited:
1. Arango, Tim. " In Struggle for National Identity, Iraqis Rally Around Many Flags." New York Times December 23, 2014: web)
2. Cockburn, Patrick. "Iraq 10 Years On: How Baghdad Became a City of Corruption." Independent., 4 Mar. 2013. Web.
3. "Iraq, World Book (New York, World Book, 1990), Vol 10, p. 260
4. Baker, Aryn. " Iranian Intervention in Iraq Would Be Risky." Time 16 June 2014: Web.