Operation Iraqi Freedom: The Biggest Consequence of the American Invasion of Iraq

Source

     In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq on the pretext of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD).  According to a radio address by former president George W. Bush, "Our cause is just, the security of the nations we serve and the peace of the world. And our mission is clear, to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people."

U.S. Solider perparees to take
the statue of Saddam Hussein.
Source

 What was estimated at first to be a very short and straight forward operation turned out to be a long and grueling process. Once the regime of Saddam Hussein was brought down (literally and symbolically), there was no state infrastructure left to hold Iraqi society together.

The Iraqi citizens, under threat, began to form militias to protect their own people. Iran had long wanted to see the fall of Saddam Hussein-- during the Iran-- Iraq war Ayatollah Khomeini originally refused to stop fighting until Hussein was removed from power. With Hussein out of the way, Iran was free to exert its influence on Iraq's Shi'a majority.
As a consequence of Iran exerting influence on the Shi'ites in Iraq and militias protecting their own sectarian violence skyrocketed. A series of maps shows the change of Baghdad over a few years from a largely mixed city to a predominantly Shi'a city:

The maps are color coded to show majority populations from 2003[top left], 2006 [top right], 2007[bottom left], and 2008 [bottom right].
Green= Shi'a Majority   Red= Sunni Majority  Blue= Christian Majority and Orange= Mixed
Source

A Sunni newspaper published the following political cartoon: Translations and image provided by BBC Middle East

"The cartoon depicts the map of Iraq as a pool of fuel leaked from a barrel with an Arabic phrase reading "Maliki's sectarianism" written on it. Then, a hand holding a lit torch seems to be trying to set fire to Iraq. On the sleeve, the word Iran is written, while the torch bears the name of the Iranian "al-Quds brigade".

Other evidence of rising sectarianism after the fall of Saddam Hussein includes the emergence of Sunni extremist group Da'ish (ISIS/ISIL/IS). Da'ish has been able to control a significant portion of Iraqi terrority. This would not have been possible before the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Source: BBC

The Yazidis- Who Are They and Why Are They in Today's News?

BBC News: Who are the Yazidis in 60 Seconds

The Yazidis are a religious minority in Iraq. Though they have faced persecution throughout their history, currently they suffer at the hands of Da'ish and make an appearance in western media outlets.

Source: BBC News 

Roughly 40,000 Iraqis belonging to minority groups (mostly Yazidi) were forced to flee Da'ish to Mt. Sinjar in 2014. Here there is a severe lack of food and water. If the refugees leave the mountain for more resources, they risk violent death from members of Da'ish. There have been many pleas for humanitarian aid including one from a member of Iraqi parliment, Fiyan Dakheel, who tearfully pled, “We are being butchered under the banner of there is no God but God,”
The U.S. has provided humanitarian aid to those trapped on Mt. Sinjar but has no current plans for evacuation.

In October 2014 U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic stated during an interview that ,"Facts are indicating that [Da'ish] actions against Yazidis may amount to attempted genocide." 

According to  an article in American Aljazeera the majority of those who have not fled the area have been shot, buried alive, sold into slavery, forced to convert, imprisoned and or sexually assaulted. 

Only Nixon Could go to China: Can Hardliners in the Middle East Create Peace ?

Source

It's impossible to discuss Middle Eastern politics without the Arab/ Israeli conflict popping up.

 "Is peace possible?"

"Are you in favor of a one or a two state solution?"

"But who has a rightful claim to the land?"

These are among some of the questions that crop up during talks of the Arab Israeli conflict. Let's add another question:

Can Hardliners create peace?

Given the right wing nature of Israel's current coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu, this is a question that is highly relevant to the conflict. Previously, there were more "ideal" conditions yet progress was halted.

When Yitzhak Rabin was in office, there was genuine progress towards a peaceful resolution. He pulled the IDF from the heart of Lebanon and stationed them in security zones, was highly instrumental in the Oslo Accords for which he, Shimon Peres, and Yasser Arafat were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. Shortly after, in November of 1995, Rabin was assassinated by a right wing orthodox Israeli in what is now known as Rabin Square in Tel Aviv.

Rabin Square, Tel Aviv December 2012 by Jessica Lowenstein

When I was in Tel Aviv 17 years later, I spoke to my tour guide about the event. He said that progress hasn't been made, because all of the politicians fear being assassinated like Yitzhak Rabin was.

I think that if a hardliner were to put effort into the Middle East Peace process that could negate the fear of assassination because they would have more  respect from the right wing. However, there will always be radials, wether left or right wing.

One of the biggest problems with the peace process is that these claims  to the land are rooted not only in history but in religion also. It's not like when Nixon went to China for this reason.

Non state actors in the area are becoming more and more of a factor in the peace process. There cannot be a peace process without the involvement of Hamas, and possibly Hezbollah. Israel will be hesitant to acknowledge these groups because mere acknowledgment gives them a certain power. In order for there to be a sustainable peaceful resolution, these two groups will have to be addressed as well, regardless of who represents the Palestinian and Israeli people.

Ethnic Groups by State in the Tigris and Euphrates Valley and Anatolia

Individuals of Influence: Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi

Mohammed Reza Shah Time Magazine Cover
Source: Time Magazine

Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi was the shah of Iran from 1941-1971 when the Iranian Revolution overthrew his government. He came to power after Britain and Russia invaded Iran post during World War II and forced his father, Reza Shah, to abdicate.  Mohammed Reza Shah began rule of Iran at the tender age of 22. During his early years of rule Iran experiences its most democratic point in history.  

As the shah consolidated power, he wanted Iran to be the big player in the Middle East region. Due to global factors such as the demand for oil, and the Cold War Iran is an important piece on the world chest board for the west. The U.S. viewed Iran as essential to blocking the spread of communism due to her location. In the early 1970's when a Marxist group came to power in South Yemen and influenced an uprising in Dhofar, Oman Mohammed Reza Shah sent British mercenaries, weapons and his own soldiers to help put down the insurgency.

Mohammed Reza Shah was pro-Western and this is reflected in Iran's foreign policy The U.S. used soft power in the form of foreign aid to get Iran to sign the Baghdad Pact in 1955. As part of the U.S.'s new human right's initiatives under President Carter the government also pressured the Shah into making reforms in Iran. The U.S. considered him a necessary ally but was also wary of some of his riskier practices such as in 1969 when the Shah decides to challenge the border of  the Shatt al-Arab by sending an Iranian Naval ship up the river with the intention to declare war should Iraq open fire.

Dates and historical information taken from Professor Commins' Modern Iran Class, Dickinson College Fall 2014

Early Origins of the Shi'a /Sunni Divide

Islam, not unlike Christianity, isnot a homogeneous religion but split into two large 

branches Sunni and Shi'i Islam, each with their own offshoots.

While the history of the divide goes back nearly to the rise of Islam, the effects of this division are still seen to this day. 

Source: Council on Foreign Relations

Origins of the Divide

In the year 632 the prophet Muhammed died. Muhammed was more than a religious figure: through his establishment of the Muslim community or ummah, he became an important political leader in the area as well. His death left the ummah without a leader-- a position which needed to be filled. As Muhammed was the "seal of the prophets," the leader would not be a prophet himself. But how to choose? Some followers of Islam said that Muhammed had designated 'Ali-- his son-in-law, cousin, and devoted follower to be his successor. Many others insisted he had not named a successor  and companions of the prophet gathered together to appoint a  new leader.

During the meeting ('Ali was not present), 'Umar a charismatic leader from the ummah, went up to Abu Bakr and gave him his support as leader or khalifa [successor]. According to the shiite tradition, 'Ali gave Abu Bakr his support after he was elected in oder to preserve the unity of the ummah. 

'Umar Source: Wikipedia 

Abu Bakr served as caliph from 632-634, and 'Umar is chosen as his successor during the period of 634-644. After 'Umar is killed by a Persian slave in 644 there are two strong candidates for khalifa: 'Uthman and Ali. Ultimately, 'Uthman is selected to succeed 'Umar and serves from 644-656 when he is killed during riots by his own people. 

'Uthman Source: Wikipedia

'Ali succeeded 'Uthamn in 656 during a troubled time in the caliphate. Some of the ummah felt that Ali had not performed his duties in avenging the death of 'Utham. Talha and ibn al Zubayr found Ayesha, one of the prophet's widows, and together they plotted against 'Ali. This resulted in the Battle of the Camel near Basr in present day Iraq. Talha and ibn al Zubayr are killed and Ayesha returned to medina. This divided the ummah.

'Ali: Source: Wikipedia

'Ali realized the consequences of this division and sought the support of Mu'awiya, the governor of Syria, who was well respected.  Mu'awiya did not feel that 'Ali had properly avenged the death of 'Uthman and refused his support. The two met in battle in 657, known as the Battle of Siffin. Mu'awiya's forces were loosing and at the suggestion of one of his military commanders, 'Amr ibn Al-As, had his men place pages of the Qu'aran on their lances and hold them up, which confused the opposition and stopped the fighting. 'Ali and Mu'awiya decided to enter into negotiations and each send a man to deliberate as to wether or not Ali had fully avenged the death of 'Uthman.

Negotiations determined 'Ali had not fully avenged the death of 'Uthman. Some of the followers of 'Ali, known after as the kharijites, left his camp after this incident because they felt he was at fault for allowing things to go into negotiation. 'Ali starts to massacre some of the kharijites which causing more trouble in the ummah. He also decides to go after Mu'awiya which many find dishonorable as the negotiations were legally binding. In 661, Ali is stabbed to death in a mosque near Kufa.

                                         The Imamate

Source: University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Shi'ias believe in a form of government of the caliphate known as the Imamate, starting with 'Ali. The Imams are religious and political leaders who are often given some deity like qualities such as the ability to perform miracles.  Arguments over who was the true Imam  have caused further branching of Shiism. 

Source: Wikipedia

The Caliph

Sunnis believed in the caliph as a political leader, and the ulema or religious scholars as the spiritual leaders of the ummah. 

Conclussions

This is a very basic overview of the early origins of the Shi'a/ Sunni divide. There are many more events that take place in Islamic history that deepen these divides but this is a blog post and not a history book.  It is also important to note that while there is a schism not all Shi'as and Sunnis live in rivalries. In some places they do co-exist peacefully, and even intermarry. 

Historical dates and information taken from Professor Pulcini's Islam lecture, Fall 2014 at Dickinson College.

Water Footprints

Water is an essential and irreplaceable part of life. Even if life on Earth could be mysteriously sustained without water, many of our day to day activities would be disrupted. Water is used to produce meat and crops which we then consume, for bathing ourselves and cleaning objects, in religious rituals, for transportation, to produce industrial goods, and the list continues. In short, without water, there would be no hamburgers, no iPhones, no cars, no tea or coffee, etc...

Source: National Geographic's Water FootPrint Calculator

Source: Water Footprint Network

The amount of water an individual consumes per day/week/year is actually a measurement that can be calculated. The result is called a water footprint. Both National Water Footprint Network and National Geographic have tools that can calculate your water footprint. Each tool uses slightly different information to provide their answers so it's worth visiting both.

Possible Failures of the Data

I am not sure how accurate my results are as I live on a college campus. I personally do not wash my own dishes but a worker for the caf must use water to wash the dishes I used. I don't choose what food is purchased/ cooked but I do have some choices in meals once I enter the caf. I also do not water the lawn but it is possible that Dickinson College does.  However, once could argue that the school would be doing this services for another student even if I never matriculated.

 Another discrepancy I found was expenditure on material goods. I tend to be a careful shopper and buy either second hand or with sales/ coupons so I end up spending less per item. It is possible in the long run that I am a bigger consumer than the average American but my water scores dropped very low when I input my personal expenditure in dollars. I used the year 2014 for my calculation but in terms of travel it is a bit of an odd year for me: as much as I enjoy it I don't typically fly from New York To Istanbul to Casablanca (roundtrip), New York to London to Madrid (roundtrip), from Casablanca to Tunis (roundtrip), from Ouarzazate to Casablanca,  and Philadelphia to Miami to Lima (roundtrip). Nor do I typically take the ferry to and from Spain, or the bus/train around more or less all of Morocco.  I do however, typically do a lot of driving for work during the summer months as I photograph at different universities/ races.  I also wash my hands a lot at my other part time job (hosting/bussing tables at a restaurant) and I included this in my calculations because I work on average four nights a week.

Personal Consumption compared to Others

Using google's converter tool, I converted 1,529 gallons of water per day to 558,085 gallons per year to approximately 2113 cubic meters per year. This is over twice the amount of water calculated by the other tool (980 cubic meters per year). However, according to National Geographic's Measures, I am well below U.S. average  in my personal water consumption.

According to the National Water Footprint Network, the water footprint per capita in Iran is 

1866 cubic meters per year. This is higher than the global average (1385 cubic meters per year). My score on the National Water Footprint Network's calculator was approximately half of the consumption in Iran. According to National Geographic's measures I consume 247 cubic meters per year more than the average Iranian. Averaging my two scores out gives a consumption of 1,546 cubic meters per year which while higher than the global average is still below the Iranian levels of consumption.

Turkey's water footprint per capita is 1,642 cubic meters per year, according to the National Water Footprint Network. Again, my score with the same calculator falls well below this average at 980 cubic meters. My score with National Geographic is 471 cubic meters more per year than the average Turk. Averaging my two water scores places me 96 cubic meters per year under the Turkish average. 

Source: The Economist

There was no data provided for Iraq.

Reflections

In the US though water is considered an abundant resource, there is a lot of emphasize on sustainability and conservation in modern US culture. Dickinson College places a water bottle tax to encourage reusable water bottles. The school caf has a big focus on composting and there are no trash cans in site.Everything is sorted by school workers into appropriate bins. I am not sure if there is this same emphasize in my region of study. Both Iran and Turkey have a fair amount of fresh water compared to the rest of the region but logically water conservation is in everybody's best interest.

Are politics local? Reflections on Activism

Source: Asl.org

Since the rise of globalization, even local politics have become something for the world to access, assess, and even get involved. It is a lot easier to learn of events and struggles in other parts of the world now with computers and social media. A great example of technological activism is the ASL ice bucket challenge. ASL affects a small number of the population and was not a commonly known medical condition prior to the viral ice bucket challenge. The original challenge was to either donate $100 to support ASL research or to put up a video of having a bucket of ice poured over your head. The challenge has since been modified and many people donate in addition to the video. While making a video of pouring ice over your head may seem silly, ASL is now a household term and according to ASL.org, the ASL association has received over $115million  in donations from this challenge.

 Naturally, the group who is affected the most by certain policies has a stronger motive for changing said policies. However, sometimes a group does not realize the need for action, or is incapable of action. The situation may seem hopeless, there could be weaponry and threats to safety involved, etc. Sometimes activist groups lack organized leadership, and fail with the best of intentions.

With globalization, we also have an increasingly global level of politics. The United Nations is a supranational organization that tries to police the world and keep nations and states in check. There are also regional organizations such as the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council that can get involved in local politics if they see them as a threat to the greater good.

Factors of my Political Identity

Others in Our Community

 I'm part of a small minority at Dickinson: a transfer student. I don't know the exact statistics but when I went to orientation as a transfer there were about 14 other transfers spread across two class years, and roughly 600 freshmen, or first years as they are called at Dickinson.

Orientation was a particularly rough time. The freshmen were very excitable-- after all it was their first time away from home, they were going to make new friends, and participate in all of the extra curricular activities a liberal arts school has to offer. The orientation was designed for the freshmen and aside from the few special programs for transfers, we were completely ignored. During one activity, the school handed out class of 2017 shirts and when I asked them if they had any class of 2015 shirts they stared at me blankly and asked why on earth would I want a 2015 shirt.

Nobody really thought less of me for being a transfer, and I didn't think less of anyone for being a Dickinson student for the entirety of their undergraduate studies. It's just different and sometimes manifests itself in different ways.

As Dickinson is a small school, come junior year, a lot of the students had already formed their friend groups. While I do have some traditional Dickinson students for friends, I ended up spending most of my time with other transfer students. As a transfer student, they room you with other transfer students, most likely due to housing constraints, but it makes it harder to escape that group.

My second year at Dickinson, I opted to live in special interest housing as a way to meet more people. I live in the Global House, and my roommate is a junior and always brings her friends to visit and introduces us. Doing extra curricular activities on campus has also provided me with a chance to interact with traditional students.

Sometimes my friends and I will talk about the differences in our first two years of education. It's a fairly politically neutral topic and doesn't really cause fights. Sometimes, I feel left out, because many of my friends has experiences here that I never had but then I think back about my time at Montgomery County Community College and can't imagine what my life would have been like without my time there.

Edit:

While this wasn't part of my original post, something happened tonight that I think belongs here.

I received a call from an older friend who works for a school district nearby. She had asked me previously to help as a translator for the school district as they had just enrolled an Iraqi girl whose parents spoke very little English.

"Remember that girl I told you about from Iraq? Her father mixed up the time of the parent teacher conference and came in at 7:30 in the morning. I asked him why he moved here all the way from Iraq. It seems strange to go all the way from Iraq to Roslyn, Pennsylvania. He said he wanted to buy a house."

We chatted a bit about moving. My friend was originally from New York and talked about her move from Brooklyn to the suburbs of Pennsylvania. A little while later, she asked me another question.

"Jessica, aren't all Iraqis terrorists?"

Though I was not attacked in this statement, I was offended, and even embarrassed.. As a Middle East Studies major, I spend a great deal of time discussing the peoples, languages, histories and cultures of the MENA region. In my little academic bubble, I don't hear statements like this too often, but I feel they are reflective of a lot of the general American mentality towards people from the Middle East.These statements aren't always made out of hate: most people get their information from news reports, or second hand through other biased informants and can only form their opinions on what information they have available.

I bring this up because fear of the unknown can lead to prejudice. After I told my friend of my good experiences with some Iraqi people, she began to calm down. Anyone can be a terrorist, terrorism isn't a genetic trait or an ethnic trait.

In order to better understand the others in our community, we need to learn about them. In a world where we are ever connected by technology this becomes increasingly important. In the old days where trans-ocean travel was only possible via boat, it was a lot easier to ignore other groups and live with the mentality of "us" and "our land here" and "them" and "their land far over there." With technology and ease of travel, this is no longer the case. "We" and "they" share the same space know.

Stepping Through the Wardrobe: Where I Live, Where They Live

Found on Pinterest

Discussing the transition of going from Morocco back to our home country, the U.S with the group I studied abroad with was difficult. The closest we came to describing our feelings came from the popular C.S. Lewis novel, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." It was like preparing to return from Narnia for the first time. While Morocco is lacking in ice queens, it was a perfect way to describe the alternate realities we faced.

These alternate realities make understanding one another difficult sometimes. It's hard to walk a mile in another's shoes if you can't first comprehend how to put them on and properly tie the laces.

Cultural Differences

One of the biggest cultural differences I noticed was the dependence on material goods in the U.S..  For someone living in Gaza, in constant fear that their home will be bombed, their children taken, and their loved ones killed, the need for material goods here in the U.S. is absolutely absurd.  Yet, if you want a job that will be able to support your family, it's usually necessary to own a nice suit, and a car to transport yourself to and from work. Without these items, and the rates of unemployment, it is possible to loose your home through foreclosure, have your children taken if you are unable to care for them, and have your loved ones killed by illness since you have no health insurance to bring them to the doctors.

Another cultural difference has to do with the family dynamic and sense of community. In the MENA region, it is quite common, and quite desirable for children to live with their parents even after marriage. Here in the U.S. it used to be completely unacceptable for this to happen-- living with your parents at the age of 40 used to carry huge negative stigma. With the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2005, this is becoming more of a necessity but it is not usually a prideful move.

Environmental 

Photo from my trip to the Sahara in Morocco

In terms of environment, one of the biggest differences between the North East USA and the MENA region is the climate. The North East has a clear four season cycle with plenty of rainfall whereas the majority of the MENA region is desert.

Due to the lack of precipitation in the desert, there is a lack of access to fresh water for many people which affects everything from bathing, to international politics over who has access to which source of water.

Philadelphia: found on ilovebricks.blogspot.com

In my part of the United States, access to water is something that is taken for granted. We bathe daily, take long showers without shutting the water off while we lather up, forget to fix leaky faucets, etc. We never have to worry about water whereas some people in the MENA region only have water in their homes on some days of the week. Israel is one of the world leaders in water conservation not out of luxury but out of necessity.

The state of Pennsylvania will never go to war with the state of New Jersey over access to water. However there could be wars between states over access to water sources in the MENA region.

Resources to Overcoming Boundaries

One of the best resources in overcoming environmental and cultural boundaries to understand another group of peoples is to step through the wardrobe and travel. Travel allows you to experience things first hand. While it is not possible to travel to every nook and cranny of the MENA region there are some other resources that can be used to understand "them":

books, films, anthropological studies, academic courses, and of course speaking with the people from the region.

If relying on second hand experience, it is important to remember that some media sources are more truthful than others: everyone has an agenda and nothing is completely unbiased.

All too often we have a tendency to discuss the Middle East as one giant party where everyone is the same but this couldn't be further from the truth. Again, looking at the U.S. as an example, the culture in Philadelphia is different from the culture of New York City and they are only a two hour drive apart. Even the geography is a little different: New York is mostly an island. Environment is a huge factor on the development of civilizations and cultures that someone who lives next to a freshwater lake may have some trouble understanding the life of a nomad in the Sahara desert.