Iraq Press Roundup

Several countries with strong ties to the United States fear getting caught up in the downward spiral of the U.S. economy, Sot al-Iraq news service said Tuesday.

The world economic crisis and its impact on Iraq

It is unclear to what extent the economic crisis will impact Iraqi markets. Most officials are considering how to treat the symptoms of the crisis rather than preventing the causes from resurfacing.

The current global economic crisis has had a serious impact on humanitarian relief for Third World countries, where people lack the infrastructure to solve their own market crises, the newspaper noted.

Some analysts are predicting a third World War could erupt as the financial crisis is bringing outstanding conflicts to the surface.

Third World countries, including Iraq, already are suffering from a spiraling inflation that is fueled by the economic crisis. To avoid these problems, however, these countries need to establish their own policies to prevent an economic collapse that would exacerbate deteriorating national issues.

The Iraqi demographic consists of several minorities. The U.S.-led invasion of 2003 marked the beginning of insufferable hardships on the minority community and brought sectarianism to the surface.

Minorities have fled Iraq when their original homelands have turned into a slaughterhouse for their communities, especially the Christians, the Sunni al-Mashriq newspaper said Tuesday.

Who is behind the killing of the Christians?

Christians have been fleeing Iraq en masse. They had sought refuge in the "city of tolerance," Mosul, but were forced to leave there as well amid continued attacks on their communities.

Extremist groups feel the minority communities, however, are guilty of sin for demonstrating their interest in joining Iraqi Kurdistan, and few parties in Iraq have enjoyed peace for such a grievance.

Al-Qaida is responsible for the killings and forced displacement of minority groups as they find a vulnerable target in Sunnis, who fight for national security forces, and the unbelievers who oppose Islam.

Some outsiders have been bribed into targeting minorities as a way to encourage civil strife. When the extremist goal of dividing Sunnis and Shiites, as well as Arabs and Kurds, fell apart, militants took to attacking minority groups. The people of Iraq must not fall victim to this logic.

Iraqi people continue to suffer from the legacy of the past regime. The policies of Saddam Hussein have offered little to the people except the continuance of his personal agenda. This suffering should have ended with the fall of Baghdad in 2003, but for many, this is not the case, al-Mada newspaper said.

The regime is gone but the laws are still present

The same laws that brought harm to the Iraqi people during the era of Saddam are still in place despite the new constitution.

International policies and the rules for some labor unions, for example, were established in favor of Saddam and never actually supported the ambitions of the people. Five years after the fall of Baghdad, these rules are perpetuated in the activity of these unions.

Meanwhile, the new Iraqi government pays scant attention to institutions such as the writers' guild as, for Baghdad, these institutions matter little.

But, because these unions form the cradle of democratic society, political elites must advocate a stronger organizational structure for these groups as the old laws still have a negative impact on reform.