Iraq Press Roundup

Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, governments, groups and individuals have addressed the question of whether the situation in Iraq is better now or if Saddam Hussein was the best option for the country.

Those who aim to understand the political situation in Iraq highlight many negative points, starting with injustice and human rights abuses and ending with the financial, health security and social deterioration, the Kurdish al-Taakhi newspaper said Wednesday.

Is Iraq better off now, or is it the past that was better?

The political disputes among the Iraqi political blocs and parties resulted in opposition movements that portray current times as the worst as if what Iraq went through under Saddam Hussein was better for the country.

The people who oppose the political process in Iraq accuse the government of collaborating with neighboring countries whose insurgents are the cause of the chaos and death in Iraq.

It is unclear if the opposition voices are only critical and aim for a better change or if they are merely against whatever it is the Iraqi elected government plans to achieve in terms of regional and international relationships.

On many occasions, political parties that oppose the government announced that neighboring countries carry out attacks in Iraq in order to prevent any success as they may fear a similar democratic experience in their countries.

Neighboring countries fear the United States could interfere in their matters because the latter dominates world economics and politics and therefore sets up conspiracies against countries that are not in line with its interests.

Many say that conflicts around the world are caused by religious and cultural conflicts between radical Islam on one side and liberal and secular movements on the other.

Some of the mistakes the Iraqi government made that created opposition to the political process in Iraq are evident in the amount of corruption that continues to be present, the war against those who worked for the Saddam Hussein government and the inability to contain them.

Other reasons that led to opposition are the increase in random assassinations, many of which are acts of revenge, the brain-drain of Iraqi intellectuals, remnants of the previous regime and their plans to plant terror and fear inside the people of Iraq, and, lastly, the insufficient performance of the new Iraqi leadership to move Iraq in the right direction.

Iraqi reports indicate the relationship between the local government and officials in western Anbar province and the government in Baghdad is unstable and might lead to deterioration. The complications are caused by ignoring complaints from the police leaderships, who are mostly local residents, and the Awakening Councils on the lack of collaboration with the government in Baghdad.

The Iraqi government in Baghdad tries to "tie the hands" of the local authority in Anbar through imposing unnecessary procedures that curtail the availability of basic necessities such as electricity and water, the Baghdad-based al-Mashriq newspaper said.

The compulsory federation

People in Anbar have resisted any attempt from al-Qaida or other rebel group to return to the province. However, people there also intend to bring about improvement in the hopes of reviving the area, the Sunni newspaper said.

The provincial elections in Anbar, if they were carried out, could result in merging the Sons of Iraq force of the Anbar Awakening Councils and other security groups with national security forces.

The Awakening Councils are mostly Sunni tribal men who began collaborating with the U.S. forces to fight al-Qaida in Iraq in 2006.

A budget for reconstructing the region must be set up according to the damage faced due to the military operations against al-Qaida and the rebel groups.

The authority in Anbar province aims to force the government in Baghdad to support the "security institutions" attempting to eliminate al-Qaida, since it is the responsibility of the Iraqi authority to ensure that al-Qaida has no safe haven in Iraq.

The Iraqi government in Baghdad must prevent political disputes between tribal parties whose interests are only self-serving. Such disputes could open the door for the return of al-Qaida and increased violence in the region.

A big part of the stability in Iraq is the stability of Anbar, and therefore the Iraqi government has to move forward and offer more to its people, considering it was the people who were willing to fight al-Qaida.

The central theme is that the Iraqi authorities must give more attention to Anbar because it represents the focal point in the decrease in violence and facilitates a suitable atmosphere to achieve national reconciliation.

Consensus among the Iraqi political blocs and parties is the only step left toward complete stability, and reconciliation will provide an important lesson from the past.

Iraqi politicians wait until an incident occurs before they start analyzing reasons and results for discord, as if similar events never took place before. The Iraqi government disregards lessons from catastrophes of the past, the daily Addustour newspaper said Wednesday.

Policy of reactions

The Iraqi government's refusal to merge the Awakening Councils into the Iraqi security forces is the cause of the latest attacks in Adhamiya and other areas in Baghdad, the newspaper said.

The most serious problem facing Iraq today is that each political party has its own agenda. When one political party doesn't agree with another party, they both take the path of "adding fuel to the fire" without regard to the hundreds of casualties and other victims of that policy.

Many believe the deteriorating political and security situation is caused by the Kurds who wanted to annex the city of Kirkuk to Iraqi Kurdistan. Others say it is due to the interference of regional countries in Iraq, while a third group thinks it is an Iraqi-U.S. conspiracy to create pressure in an attempt to enact the long-term security agreement between Iraq and the United States.

Although such scenarios lead to frustration, it is still considered a betrayal if the Iraqi government doesn't take a step toward fixing the situation of the latest violent attacks.