The killing of 43 people on Sunday outside Baghdad by a suicide bomber is a grisly reminder of the political instability that prevails in Iraq seven years after the illegal and calamitous U.S.-led invasion. The suicide bomber struck when members of the Sahwa or Awakening Councils had queued up to be paid. The group, also called ‘Sons of Iraq,' was once allied with al-Qaeda but was turned against that outfit in 2006 by the United States, which became its chief patron and paymaster. Sunday's attack, symptomatic of the cycle of violence that entraps Iraq, has highlighted the inherent contradictions of the post-invasion process of political reconstruction. American planners of the invasion, deficient in their sense of history, completely missed the point that resistance to their military misadventure in a country that traces its lineage to, and draws inspiration from, the great Mesopotamian civilisation was guaranteed to be deep and unrelenting. There are other structural reasons that explain why violence in Iraq has not abated. The U.S. decision following the invasion to rebuild state security institutions from scratch, after launching a virulent de-Baathification campaign, resulted in the emergence of a dangerous political vacuum in Baghdad. Well-seasoned militias, some of them trained abroad, attempted to fill this vacuum. In the process, they became vehicles for drawing in external influence, especially from neighbouring countries.
De-emphasising Iraqi nationalism and embedding an ethno-sectarian ethos in Iraq's new constitution also played a hugely divisive role, undermining national unity and contributing significantly to the cycle of violence. As though this was not enough, the al-Qaeda, squeezed out of Afghanistan, established sanctuaries of rabid intolerance and violence in Iraq. However, notwithstanding the grave challenges, all is not lost in Iraq. In the March 2010 elections, surprisingly large sections of the Iraqi electorate voted along non-sectarian lines. This resulted in the emergence of the secular Iraqiyaa formation, led by the Iyad Allawi, as a surprise winner. Such an outcome would not have been possible had only Sunni groups, which are in minority in Iraq, backed Iraqiyaa. It would be a real shame if squabbles primarily over the post of Prime Minister stand in the way of the formation of a national unity government. However small the window of opportunity, Iraq must be encouraged to complete its process of political reconstruction and return to normal dealings with the rest of the world. This cannot of course happen unless the U.S-led occupation ends and the people and politicians of Iraq are left free to carve out their own destiny.
