Category: Iraq

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is shocking; it seems impossible to be true. ISIS is a Sunni jihadist group with violent ideology that calls itself a caliphate and religious authority. Organized rebel militias were engaging in combat with government troops in cities around and near Syria and Iraq. ISIS is known for public executions, crucifixions and other acts during this. But how did Isis get to this point? This paper will be analyzing the uprising of ISIS, the United States involvement, and Iraqis guards’ involvement in the growing of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Before discussing ISIS and the current events going on it’s important to examine how and why the group of ISIS evolved and what the group is about. ISIS wasn’t around always according to (Vox, YouTube, 0:22-0:26). In the video it states in 1979 the Soviet Union ended up invading Afghanistan to defend a dictator from the rebels. Among the rebels is a man that was well known, young, and well educated-his name is Osama Bin Laden. The Soviet didn’t really succeed, according to ‘Soviet Invasion in Afghanistan’, it says that “In 1988 the Soviet Union signed an accord with the United States, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and agreed to withdraw its troops” (Michael Ray, paragraph 6). While all this was occurring with the Soviet invading Afghanistan, there were 2 men- Osama Bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. These two men would gather people, growing 2 well-known terrorist groups-al Qaeda and ISIS-these leader and founder had their groups headed back to Afghanistan around 1996. What happens after these changes everything and creates mass violence and war for decades.

Breathing in smoke, saying your final goodbyes, tears, and screaming filled the streets on September 11th, 2001. The unimaginable happened that morning of September 11th at 8:45 am- 19 members of the terrorist group al-Qaeda attacks America. The men hijacked 4 planes early that morning and “Flew 2 into the twin towers, 1 into the pentagon, and the other crashed into a field in Pittsburg”, as said in the article (by history.com editors, paragraph 1). With these killing thousands and thousands of people the United States of America invades Afghanistan in hopes to find and the man that planned this monstrosity. Back in Afghanistan the founder of ISIS- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi heard what was happening and how the U.S invaded Afghanistan and fled to Iraq. The one behind the attack was the leader of the al-Qaeda group-Osama Bin Laden. As the United States invaded Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden fled to Pakistan. As mentioned in the article by BBC news, “When they reached an outcrop and saw a large group of up to about 900 al-Qaeda figures, the battle for Tora Bora began” the US Special Forces try to capture Bin Laden and end up failing to do so (BBC news, paragraph 8). Osama Bin Laden ended up fleeing to Pakistan and from that point forward Osama Bin Laden was in hiding for almost 10 years after that point. 2 years later the United States does something that sets the stage for ISIS: The United States of America invades Iraq on March 30, 2003 to May 1st, 2003.

Saddam Hussein was the 5th president of Iraq and was the president from 1979 to the year 2003. After explosions in the capital of Baghdad, Iraq, the president of the United States George W. Bush announces: “At this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger” (history.com, editors, paragraph 1). The United States believed that the Iraqis president Saddam Hussein, was in the process of getting weapons for a mass destruction or already had in his possession, so the United States made this the evidence and invaded Iraq and Iraqis government.

With all of that being said Saddam Hussein was afraid when the United States invaded Iraq, even though he told his people of Iraq “It is without doubt that the faithful will be victorious against aggression” (history.com editors, paragraph 3). Saddam Hussein went into hiding after the United States invasion and would only talk to his people through audio message, so the United States couldn’t find his hideout through video. The United States found him in a hole underground in Tikrit. When the United States invaded, the Iraqi army was so overwhelmed by the United States, Britain and other forces the Iraqi army crumbled leaving many men of all ages angry and without a job according to CFR (paragraph 2). With this happening to the Iraqis army the thousands of unemployed people went and joined the insurgency while the Iraqi army was disbanded in 2003 when the invasion occurred. The founder of ISIS-Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was among the many jihadists people/groups that flooded in with different groups to fight Afghanistan again but this time his team was more dominant and ruthless than ever before. Zarqawi’s group weakens shortly after, so tries to revamp the image and becomes allies with al-Qaeda and is known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). “Two years later the United States strikes and ends up killing Zarqawi”. In the snippet from Vox YouTube channel (Vox YouTube, 2:32-2:39). Fast forward to 2011 the United States thought Iraq looked good and stable so withdrew and the United States army left.

Back in Iraq the group al-Zarqawi formed and became allies with is still remaining, but barely people are involved and is now called ‘ISI Islamic State of Iraq’. The leader’s name of the group ISI is Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Baghdadi wanted to expand his group and expand his territory into Syria to fight alongside the rebels in the Syrian civil war, so he sent a man that goes by the name of Jabhat al-Nusra to do such. Baghdadi helped people escape, attacking prisons to gain more support and people to join his terrorist group. A year or so later Baghdadi announced he was going to take control of all al-Qaeda groups and branches in Syria and Iraq, let’s just say al-Nursa was not happy at all. That’s where the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria came from or some may know it as ISIS. By June 2014, ISIS had built an army in Syria, and it launched a military-style invasion-because al-Nusra would not give up leadership in Syria. The Iraqi army, weakened by corruption, folds with little fight and Baghdadi got and welcome or at least tolerate ISIS’s arrival within days, “ISIS controls a third of Iraq and a big part of Syria” (Vox, 4:33-4:40). Soon after that dies down and becomes less and less powerful over the years.

Organized rebel militias were regularly engaging in combat, ISIS is known for carrying out public executions, crucifixions and other acts during this. We analyzed the uprising and downfall of ISIS. The United States involvement was a huge factor on why ISIS and al-Qaeda was growing rapidly. In that case, it could be around for years. ISIS is simply too weak and surrounded by enemies, ISIS will respond by decreasing into an insurgency; a terrorist group still capable of horrifying violence nothing more.

Development is a very controversial issue. In fact, each state can be considered as a living unity capable of action, and each nation in the world has a peculiar personalized history. For this reason, the conditions that allow a particular development change from state to state, considering different variables such as the composition of the territory, the character of the population, the geographical position on the map, the international relations developed from its origin to today. In this essay I will take as case study two completely different states, which are, however, strictly correlated and which intertwine and overlap in many different ways. I am going to develop the controversial idea of American’s nation-building, tackling it in the perspective of a uniqueness in the history. Then I am going to analyze the same nation-building procedure in Iraq, and trying to investigate how they influenced each other, with a specific mention to 9/11 attacks and the consequent ‘Iraqi Freedom’ operation.

Probably the first appearance of the idea of the so-called ‘American exceptionalism’ appears in ‘Democracy in America’: “The position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one” (De Tocqueville, 2003). In fact, many scholars consider that United States of America resulted by absolutely peculiar circumstances, that descended not only from its colonial past, but also from the uniqueness society structure, its beliefs and, last but not least, from its isolated geographical position, which did not bring substantive threatens to its security and allowed a virtually unlimited expansion toward the West. This school of thought named ‘consensus historiography’ (Trautsch, 2016), developed mainly in the 50s and has been the prevailing view for at least a decade. The theory goes back to the colonial period, when after the Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party, started the American independence war in 1775, followed by the United State Declaration of Independence the year later. The main idea relies on the diversity of American nation-building compared to Europe. American colonies had been created at different times, each one had its own legislation, and a specific position in the British commercialism. Furthermore, American society lacked those inequalities that characterized European countries. In fact, settlers did not import feudal relationships or the supremacy of nobility. The unique American society was fluid and allowed social mobility, was built on tolerance and pluralism enabled everyone to find his own fortune (Paine and Americana). So, it can be stated, that it is in this social peculiarity and in this special relation with England that the ‘American dream’ started to develop.

The founding myth of United States, steeped in individualism and Protestant ethic, also mentioned in the Declaration of Independence: “All men are created equal, (that) they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (US, 1776). It can be easily seen how this article diverges from European constitutions and, more broadly, how American nationalism is different from European’s. This one has been formed on concepts such as race, class, and the distinction between citizens and ‘others’. The American nationalism is mixed with the European ideology of liberal democracy, the puritan’s values of optimism and pragmatism and it is not based on race or something else, but on the free choice of each individual to embrace the American way of life. This factor allowed American to become a population, despite being composed of inhomogeneous people from different social backgrounds. This, together with unlimited space and plenty of resources, gives to United States a peculiar and unique shape, that enables its citizens to raise with an ideal of liberty that maybe no other nation could boast (Antonucci, 2001).

So, to conclude, Americans were not born with nationalism, but they have developed it in a spontaneous way, without the imposition of an authoritarian monarch or strictly divisions between population, and this created simultaneously a stronger national feeling mirrored by the willingness of each American citizen to adhere to this narration.

In the opposite part of the world, Iraq had a troubled colonial history. It has been under the Ottoman Empire’s dominion until the end of World War I, when the League of Nations assigned the mandate to Britain. But the country suffered from the religious and social fractures of its own society, that was divided into two main Islamic religious group, the Sunni and the Shiite, and counted a significant minority of Kurdish. The British government led anyway to the Great Arab Revolution that managed to unify the two religious currents in 1920. But the revolution leader was not able to create legitimacy and remained, although unofficially, controlled by Britain. Iraq gained independence officially only in 1932, but the nation building process should take much more time to consolidate. The World War II increased the internal economic and political fractures, while anti British sentiments continued to rise. Through protests and conflicts, emerged the Baathist party which put the conditions for Saddam Hussein’s leadership. He managed to restore the relationships with many Middle Eastern states and relatively improve the economic situation of the country, but his bloody dictatorship could already be seen as an attempt to nation building (Hippler, 2005). The almost nonexistent state was transformed into centralized tyranny. In fact, social divisions were suppressed in blood. The government increased exponentially oil selling, and with that money the state was armored. On this conqueror wave, Hussein launched the country into the Gulf war, with the great ideal of the elimination of the Iranian competitor in order to have access also to its natural resources. But the epilogue was definitely different. Only four days after the start of the so-called Gulf War, United Nations under the patronage of the US imposed heavy economic sanctions to Iraq, comparable to an economic embargo. The next yeas a US driven coalition formally under the United the Nation defeated Iraq. And this was the country’s ruin. So, the Hussein’s attempt to build an Iraqi nation through war was failed at the beginning of the ’90s and the country collapsed inside.

The combination between money and brutal repression did not create a nation state, instead, left it only with suppression and blood and without any social or political identity (Hippler, 2005). At that point, tension was palpable in the country and ethnic divisions exacerbated the precarious social situation. Saddam Hussein itself belonged to the Sunni Iraqi minority (among 20% of the population) that is instead prevalent in Muslim’s world, while about the 60% of the Iroquoians are Shiite, a minority in the whole Muslim world but majoritarian in the neighboring Iran. Not to mention the Kurdish Shiite 17% of the population, politically more stable and which has always aspired to build an autonomy region. This extreme situation contributed to develop the following hypothesis. Iraqi people have never experienced that ideological and political revolution brought in the West by enlightenment. In fact, it is probably impossible to build a nation if some fundamental steps are skipped, such as state secularization, freedom of thought and associate and, above all, monopolization of violence. In a society in which illegitimate violence remains ordinary, people don’t develop a ‘nation sentiment’, instead they take refuge and swear allegiance to their own ethnic group which are entitled to ensure security for the members, and so the groups predominated over the idea of the nation. In this sense, there is not a nation, but at least three different ethnic, social and religious groups fighting inside borders drawn by others and that nobody feels proper. In fact, the situation seemed unchanged since former Iraqi King Faisal I wrote on a confidential memorandum in 1933: “There is still – and I say this with a heart full of sorrow – no Iraqi people but unimaginable masses of human beings, devoid of any patriotic idea, imbued with religious traditions and absurdities, connected by no common tie, giving ear to evil, prone to anarchy, and perpetually ready to rise against any government whatever” (Batatu, 2012).

Until the American intervention occurred, it can be stated that no progression has been made into the formation of an authentic Iraqi nation, despite Hussein’s attempt. After the end of the Cold War and the affirmation of United States as unipolar superpower, it seemed that the western democracy model had won against totalitarianisms, and it started to spread the moralistic motto of exporting civilization in those nations who continued to experience totalitarian regimes, even using military power when necessary. And American intervention in Iraq did not take long to come. After the 9/11 attacks, it took only two years and some spurious few allegations to start the ‘Iraqi Freedom’ operation. In two months, Baghdad had fallen and Hussein had escaped. At this point, occupation forces’ leader Paul Bremen started to dismantle Iraqi’s security structures and to eliminate Baath party’s residue. Thanks to this power vacuum created by US, centrifugal forces were irreversibly unleashed. Excluded the Kurdish component that managed to reach some semblance of autonomy, the two Muslims groups started to fight against western occupation and against each other, and to acquire efficacy both affiliated to terroristic groups. Violence flared up. Terroristic attacks against each component of the puzzle intensified out of all proportion, and it was clear that American attempt to nation build was miserably failed. Only in 2005, after an indescribable violence escalation, Americans tried to establish the first necessary step to create a nation, that is the election of a constituency assembly. But, again, ethnic tension emerged: Sunnis boycotted it and Shiite component were deeply split. After grueling negotiations, the constitution was approved by a popular referendum and the Parliament was formed, enshrining the predominance of the Shiites. This encouraged the outbreak of a civil law between the two factions, which ended only in 2007, and despite a new government, Iraqi’s institutions remained deeply weak and consistently depending from US presence. The turning point took place with a change in American policy, namely the replacement of some officers and the start of the so-called surge, that consisted in an increase in American troops on the ground, an enforcement of the Iraqi Security Forces by through an American military disengagement, that indeed realized in 2011 after nearly 8 years of military occupancy. Unfortunately, American moralistic new colonialism embodied in democracy’s exportation miserably failed. It only triggered a spiral of violence that materialized in the birth of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) which assumed control of almost a third of Iraq in 2012 and which was definitely defeated only in 2017. After that, controversial elections took place in 2018, but the risk of civil unrest remains high.

The diversity which permeated American society before the creation of United States of America was its strong point. It allowed the creation of a fluid, free and heterogenous society. The economic development created by an abundant resourcefulness, a strategic geographical position and an excellent relation with the old continent, allowed the development of strong institutions and these led to the creation of a permeating patriotism embodied in the most powerful nation in the world. On the contrary, the lack of industrialization, the international oppression in a strenuous fight for resources, its geographical position and the sequence of colonial masters have impeded the construction of Iraqi institutions. In fact, many interventions, included the American one, were not aimed primarily to the establishment of democracy, instead more probably they were focused on take possession of Iraqi oil. This is a recurring pattern which permeated all the Middle East, which transformed one of the richest geographical regions in the world into a never-ending battlefield. The continuous conflicts prevent the country to entrench liberal institutions and led to bloody dictatorships that inculcated hatred for the West, extremism and illiberal ideologies, and this fact obviously impeded the establishment of a western model democracy. To conclude, Iraqi troubled colonial past, its particular geographical position, together with an ethnic division and a lack of industrialization created a state which was never allowed to evolve into a nation.

References

1. ANTONUCCI, M.C. 2001. Alcune Osservazioni Sul Nazionalismo Americano, Il Dubbio, Number 03,2001. Access date 02 October 2019.
2. ANGELI, M. Thomas Paine e la Rivoluzione Americana Analisi del Common Sense. Tesi di laurea, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, a.a. 2008-2009, relatore F. Romero.
3. BATATU, H. 2012. The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq: A Study of Iraq’s Old Landed and Commercial Classes and of its Communists, Bathists and Free Officers, Saqi, pp.25-25.
4. DE TOCQUEVILLE, A. 2003. Democracy in America, Regnery Publishing, pag. 518.
5. HIPPLER, J. 2005. Nation-Building by Occupation?–The Case of Iraq. Barry Stone, trans. Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, pp.1-2.
6. TRAUTSCH, J. M. 2016. The Origins and Nature of American Nationalism. National Identities, 18:3, pp.289-312.

The aim of this report is to understand Iraq’s refugee crisis, and analyse how it has come about. The report will start with general background information about Iraq, explaining their refugee situation. Following that, an evaluation of the international community. Finally, an outline of the actions within the international community in which help the refugee crisis.

What causes people to become refugees in Iraq?

Iraq is ranked as the 9th top country in which the most refugees flee from. One of the main reasons that any type of Iraqis are forced to leave their country is because of an invasion on Iraq, which occurred in 2003, until the present day. The conflict ensures that no Iraqis is safe, therefore millions choose to leave. An emergency organisation, which came about because of this conflict, is named the UNHCR emergency, whereby they aim to provide some assistance to those forced to leave. In Iraq, mass executions have occurred, Iraqis are raped daily, and shocking acts of violence are committed. Due to this, over 11 million people are homeless and defenceless, in need of some assistance. Turkey surrounds Iraq from the North, followed by Iran on the East side, Syria and Jordan from the West, and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from the south. Iraq, which is now an Islamic, democratic, parliamentary republic country, consisting of 38.3 million people, has a prime minister named Barham Salih. However, going back to 2003 when all the conflict started, Saddam Hussein was the Prime Minister. Hussein had signed off on a letter addressed to the UN, confirming that Iraq did not withhold any chemical, nuclear or biological weapons (as it was a newly enforced law at the time.) However, Hussein had lied, as he did possess these types of weapons. Nevertheless, the US speculated that Saddam Hassan’s weapons were in fact, stocked in Iraq. This started the US invasion on Iraq (2003.) Not only did Hussein lie about the weapons, but he had also committed “crimes against humanity” while also being Prime Minister. The current Prime Minister, according to the public in Iraq, say that Salih is “a sophisticated and experienced personality, relentless in promoting dialogue and coexistence.” On top of that, Salih is not ignoring the Iraqis fleeing his country, nor the position he is in as the current leader. He has made countless donations towards the UNHCR, helping his people find better lives. The groups leaving Iraq are not sectioned into main religion groups; it is really, whoever is in areas in which violence occurs. However, speaking of religions, 64% of Iraqis are Islam, and 33% are Sunni Islam. The other 3% consist of smaller religions around Iraq. The languages used in Iraq are Arabic, Persian, Syriac, Kurdish and many more.

The International community responding to Iraq’s refugee crisis:

Pre-emptive Love:

Pre-emptive Love is an organisation founded by Jeremy Courtney, who aims to provide “legal help for Iraqi children and their families suffering from persecution and displacement.” According to their website, they are a “coalition stretching across Iraq, Syria, the United States, and beyond…” Jeremy founded this organisation in 2007, whereby he helped children get the medical attention they needed, including heart surgery. Since then, the organisation has expanded, helping refugees with proper medical attention (as stated before), and even taking on the full responsibility of providing many other resources due in 2014. Why 2014? In 2014, an ISIS invasion on Iraq came out of nowhere, and because Iraq was underprepared for the “biggest crisis in Iraq ever”, Pre-emptive love partnered up with the ‘Iraq Health Access Organisation’ to support those in need.

Pre-emptive Love ended up providing a wide range of resources for Iraqis including: food, water, clothes, medical support, education and even housing. On average, due to the organisation growing in helpers, they feed as many as 50,000 people per day. Pre-emptive Love also provides support and a helping hand to those who have been victimised by ISIS, by guiding them into working industry. On top of this, they “provide small business grants, tools, and coaching so they can start again and so their families can flourish.”

World Vision:

Moreover, ‘World Vision’ has been helping displaced Iraqis with “food, water, sanitation, shelter and safety.” Named as one of the largest humanitarian organisations ever, World Vision has set up grounds in Iraq, due to people having to flee their homes because of violence. World Vision is an Australian organisation designed to help “vulnerable children”, however, has sought internationally, helping children in Iraq who have been in tough positions due to gang violence and street conflict (forcing them to flee.) Since 2014, World Vision has worked with Iraqis, and committed to bringing “hope and help” to families in those situations.

Last year, World Vision helped over 937,000 children and adults due to programs in Iraq, providing “Food, Health, Education, Protection, WASH and Livelihoods,” which run in five governorates within the country. Additionally, World Vision has set up programs in Iraq to educate young ones of the simple ways of life. As an example, the company has started a program, which runs throughout Iraq, named the “Wash Up!” program. This purposefully teaches kids about water, sanitation and hygiene. Stated on World Visions website, “Every 60 seconds, a hungry child is fed.”

An evaluation of the actions within the International Community:

Pre-emptive Love:

Medical Care for refugees with home displacement has improved, due to them not being able to seek medical attention on their own [before], and Pre-emptive love providing them with the help they require. Pre-emptive Love gives displaced families/Iraqis immunisations, which aim to prevent all sorts of diseases and infections. In 2018, 94,465 medical consultations in Iraq were made from World Vision. This includes immunisations for children and adults. Additionally, refugees who cannot find an immediate home after fleeing are granted with a long-term place to stay; this includes shelter, food and water, hygiene kits, and more. How is this all happening? Well, aside from donations and fundraisers across the world, the Pre-emptive Love organisation has set up a little online shop, selling home made goods by refugees. Even though the prices are fairly high, all funds go straight towards helping displaced refugees live venture to a new country and live a long and happy life.

So, how could anything that Pre-emptive Love is doing be negative? Well, it is not so much the organisations fault here, but there is a downside to helping out refugees on the run from violence and conflict. On rare occasions, Terrorists can pose as refugees, coming to support groups and organisations such as Pre-emptive love. Turns out that “The largest share of terrorists (35%) were lawful permanent residents, followed by those who entered the U.S. on tourist visas (22%).” This means that Pre-emptive love could be helping terrorists travel to their next destination, whilst unknowingly providing them with care. What can be done, is checking all information they have about each refugee, making sure they aren’t harmful to the environment Pre-emptive Love aims to settle them in.

World Vision:

World Vision has worked for over 50 years to establish a well known organisation. One if the biggest plus sides to funding refugee help organisations are donations. World Vision raises money from all around the world, to resettle refugees in another country, getting them away from what they needed to flee from. World Vision has helped over 185,000 people (98,000 of which were children) with clean water, sanitation and hygiene. As well as helping 400,000 refugees with food assistance. On top of that, World Vision workers travel around Iraq to bring fun to refugee children. They teach kids games, ways of living, give them life resources, and prepare the children for a safe and happy future. Why? Well, every child needs the chance to go to school, get a job, and live a life. World Vision gives refugees that opportunity, making the world a better place.

According to the UNHCR, 67% of refugees worldwide are placed into refugees camps, designing to help them, but do not. Before getting decent help from organisations such as World Vision, children grow up learning about life, whilst barricaded in these camp walls. More than 3 million Iraqis are displaced across Iraq since the ISIS invasion of 2014. A typical refugee camp in Iraq holds around 11,400 refugees. There are 40 refugee camps throughout Iraq, bringing numbers of Iraqis in refugee camps to 456,000 people. Children do not get access to schooling there, so they learn ways to think and live for themselves. Nevertheless, the children learn not to trust authority, since that is how they got into the awful camps. So, rather than learning a sense of community, they learn to only worry for themselves. World Vision risks bringing children and even adults who have dealt with all of this into a society that is much more civilized and educated about societal morals. However, World vision could set up a program tailored to teach refugees about common society standards, to let them free into a nice country, safe from the violence they worked hard to flee from.

Based on the information provided in within this report about refugees in Iraq, the international community has addressed and helped the situation. It becomes clear that helping refugees start a new life by giving donations helps them, also puts a positive light on the world. Additionally, with ISIS invading Iraq, refugees need extra help in which both organisations provide (clothing, housing, food, water, and more.) By recognising who enters the country, continuing programs like Pre-emptive love and World Vision, nevertheless, teaching refugees about our modern day society, the refugee crisis in Iraq will change for the better.