A must-read article on theWar On Iraq—An Iraqi Perspective

This diary is written in response to Pam In Calif’s comment to my comment to BarbinMD’s front page article George Bush's Foundation of Peace.

Raed Jarrar (Iraq Consultant to the American Friends Service Committee. He blogs at Raed in the Middle.) wrote an article today titled "The Iraqi Civil War Bush and the Media Don't Tell You About" which presents an Iraqi’s perspective on the civil war in Iraq that I have never heard before. Raed is one of the few bloggers that our beloved Riverbend (MIA since 10-22-07—I wish we’d hear from her) links to on her site. (I like that Alternet.org titles their section on Iraq "War on Iraq" as compared to the usual "War in Iraq.")

For my take on Raed’s article, hop in a barrel and follow me over the f-a-a-a-alls.

I recommend that you read the entire article and to induce you to do so, I give you these few excerpts:

While the majority of Iraqis know that the current Sunni-Shiites tension did not exist before 2003, no one can deny that after five years of U.S. occupation, sectarian tension is now a reality.

So, the US invasion and occupation created the current split between the Shia and the Sunni.

According to the Iraqi mainstream narrative, the foreign occupation is the major reason and cause for violence and destruction.

The occupation, rather than helping to reconcile the differences between the Shia and the Sunni, exacerbates the situation.

This Iraqi-Iraqi conflict is in many ways similar to the U.S. civil war: Iraqis who are for keeping a central government are fighting against other Iraqis who want to secede.

This perspective has not had much play in the MSM.

The last couple of years witnessed numerous examples of how the Bush administration systematically took the side of separatists in the Iraqi executive branch against nationalists in the elected legislative branch, repeatedly bypassing the Iraqi parliament. In each of these cases, there was the potential for reaching compromises that would have satisfied both nationalists and separatists. However, the aggressive support of the U.S. government for the separatist executive branch against the parliament has made it impossible for Iraqis to settle their differences.

So, US actions have not facilitated the reconciliation of the various Iraqi factions, but have increased the tensions between them. This, of course, is totally counter to the supposed rationalizations for the "surge."

Understanding these nuances of the Iraqi-Iraqi conflict reveals how the war is a political struggle that will end as soon as the U.S. withdraws, not a religious war that will intensify after Iraqis take their country back.

This observation is utterly beyond the comprehension of the bush misadministration, yet so clear to anyone with a "reality" based perspective on the war on Iraq.

Crossposted at Docudharma.