Weekly Commentary

The Rude Awakening of Iraq

It is very encouraging that a growing number of Iraqi politicians, joined by US officials in Baghdad and Washington are talking, in varying tones, about how Iran is fueling and directing the sectarian conflict in Iraq. More encouraging, however, is the rise and consolidation of an anti-fundamentalist front in that country.

The terrorist bombing of the sacred shrines in Iraqi city of Samarra was indeed a rude awakening for all those who never thought Tehran would get into the wicked business of blowing up the Shiites’ holiest sites. Welcome to the evil world of Khomeini’s Islamic fundamentalism in which every imaginable act of barbarism is justified when it suits the mullahs' interests.

One of Iraq’s leading politicians and a leader of the Accordance Front, Tarek Al Hashemi, told Reuters earlier in the month, “The main player in Iraq is Iran. It wants to create chaos for America in Iraq as part of the conflict over the nuclear issue… Pushing the Americans into a quagmire in Iraq at the present time serves Iran’s national interests.”

Another prominent politician, Dr. Hatem J Mukhlis, the Secretary-General of the Iraqi National Movement and a member in the Iraq interim transitional assembly, wrote this week in the Washington Times, “The Iraqi fire is constantly fueled by our neighbor to the east. This violence will never cease without a major change in the Iranian policies. Blowing up the Holy Shrine in Samara is a blunt example of a disgraceful attempt to stoke religious strife and block progress of political process in Iraq, widely exploited by the Iranian regime to foment sectarian frictions.”

As Iraq's new parliament was sworn in today, Adnan Pachachi, a senior Iraqi politician who inaugurated the oath said "We have to prove to the world that a civil war is not and will not take place among our people... The danger is still looming and the enemies are ready for us because they do not like to see a united, strong, stable Iraq."

Pachachi’s remarks, a direct jab at Iran and its Iraqi proxies, were interrupted from the floor by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of pro-Tehran Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, who said “the remarks were inappropriate because of their political nature.”

There are still some on the both sides of the Atlantic making a desperate policy sales pitch for yet more engagement with the Iranian regime. They point out to the destabilizing role Tehran has been playing in Iraq and warn that stepping up pressure on Tehran would only result in more chaos. They suggest that the US and Iraqi democrats should back down and enter into dialogue with Tehran.

They are correct in one aspect; the endless capacity of the clerical regime for death and destruction. This should not, however, be used as pretext for the continued appeasement of the mullahs which amounts to an outright capitulation to Iran’s terrorist-based expansionist agenda.

There should be no doubt that Iran’s ruling theocracy has been the primary contributor to and the main beneficiary of the rising violence before and after the Samarra bombing. Tehran has used it to instigate more violence against the Iraqi people and the United States.

Behind daily headlines about the bombings and revenge killings in Iraq are the reports about the emergence of a much-overdue anti-fundamentalist Iraqi front made up of political parties of all religious, ethnic, and political stripes. This rising coalition has rightly demanded a non-sectarian unity government and rejected the premiership of Ibrahim Al–Jafari, who represents the pro-Tehran United Iraqi Alliance.

News from Iraq indicate that, parallel to its growing understanding of the extent of Tehran’s “comprehensive strategy” for Iraq, the front has also come to appreciate the positive role that Iran’s staunchly anti-fundamentalist opposition, the People’s Mojahideen, has played to strengthen this front and thwart Tehran’s inroads in Iraq.

In his Washington Times op-ed piece, Dr. Mukhlis wrote that “Let's not overlook the fact that those fundamentalist theocrats [in Iran] would stop short of nothing to reach their goals. Exporting terror is a tool to preserve their power. A Newton style reaction is in order. The People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran could provide the missing link in this phenomenon… The PMOI has steadfastly confronted Iran's oppressors for more than 27 years. They are staunch Shi'ites and strong believers in genuinely democratic foundations of Islam. Women stand tall in the organization's structure and hierarchy. This makes the PMOI a unique, democratic entity worthy of enabling support to combat the Iranian terror in Iraq.”

As in the nuclear case, surrendering to the clerical regime’s belligerence in Iraq is tantamount to declaring Tehran the de facto victor in Iraq where the United States, according to Under Secretary of State Ambassador Nicholas Burns, has “worked tirelessly and at great cost over the past three years to help Iraqis develop a pluralistic, democratic, federal, and united Iraq which is stable and at peace with its neighbors.”

Acquiring nuclear weapons capability and dominating Iraq are two pillars of the clerical regime’s strategy. None could possibly be thwarted without meaningful partnership with the anti-fundamentalist Iranian resistance which has already played the key role in shaping the international campaign against Tehran’s nuclear drive. (USADI)
 

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The US Alliance for Democratic Iran (USADI), is a US-based, non-profit, independent organization, which promotes informed policy debate, exchange of ideas, analysis, research and education to advance a US  policy on Iran which will benefit America’s interests, both at home and in the Middle East, through supporting Iranian people’s  aspirations for a democratic, secular, and peaceful government, free of tyranny, fundamentalism, weapons of mass destruction, and terrorism.

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