Arab poet Abu Tammam was able to immortalise in verse a relatively inconsequential conquest of a town called Ammuryah in the poem beginning with the famous verse:
“The sword is more reliable than the book
In distinguishing between seriousness and amusement.”
The thought behind this verse makes one wonder how power prevails over the role of the “word” in being a reliable source of truth. This verse in what it represents has always been the source where despots have extracted their ruling methods after realising that power is the best way to deal with those opposing them, who also happen to be men of thought.
Power is still as it was of particular interest to resolve some of the conflicts on the international stage despite the fact that the sword is no longer a symbol of dominance.
However, “truth” has been disengaged from power in this modern era thus becoming closely associated with figures — the language of our time in every nook and cranny — where even human beings have been transformed to a number in a passport or an identity card.
The title of this article ‘Let the numbers speak’ is a “theory” that was used in the theological defence books in the Eastern Church of Christianity in order to address the theory of textual criticism of the New Testament, to demonstrate the validity of the text referring to the full or partial 5,656 manuscripts discovered giving it unlimited historic credibility.
Political reality
We are not about to enter the maze of numbers, charms and other matters that have come down to us from our ancestors, as the subject is huge. However, we would like to focus on one number that changes every month in Iraq — where it goes up or down — because it is the best indicator to the political reality in the country. According to data released by the ministries of health, interior and defence in Iraq, 1,013 people were killed through violence in the past month of January, including 795 civilians, 122 soldiers and 96 policemen. There were also 2,024 that were injured, and among those were 1,633 civilians, 238 soldiers, and 153 policemen. That was the highest number since April 2008 where the number of people killed was 1,073. These statistics issued by official bodies reveal that security forces, the army and the police, are among those that die and suffer injury every month. These figures are of great importance because they reveal the deteriorating reality in Iraq.
Moreover, it is no longer possible to understand what is going on in the country for outside observers if it were not for these statistics that speak about the death toll, the number of injured people, the number of detainees and the number of people executed by death penalty and the number of unemployed people or numbers that refer to the salaries set by the political elites for themselves, rising corruption and amounts stolen.
Officials statements and their miserable speeches are useless in assessing the situation in the country. However, they may convince a few followers and beneficiaries that the situation is liveable albeit its deterioration.
In an accurate assessment of state violence in Iraq after two years of US troops withdrawal, Brett McGurk, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State told the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives, which hosted him on February 6, that “suicide bombings amounted to more than three times that in the past year, and the rate jumped from seven attacks per month in 2012 to nearly 35 suicide attacks per month in 2013.” These numbers mean a lot to relevant authorities of political weight in the US administration, not because these authorities are keen on the lives of Iraqis, but due to their concern regarding the reputation of the United States and the fate of what it has sown in Iraq, especially with the approaching parliamentary elections, in which Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki is aspiring to get a third term. [On Saturday, Al Maliki promised training for allied tribal militia and over $83 million in construction funds for Anbar province to placate Iraq’s broader Sunni Arab minority.]
Figures cited by this official were quickly translated to their political meaning as Ed Royce, the head of the said Committee said: “The actions of Al Maliki helped to fuel the growth of extremist groups such as Al Qaida and the Islamic state of Iraq.” He also stressed that “Al Qaida has become very skilled in exploiting this sectarian rift and Al Maliki’s authoritarian tendency.” Royce in the harshest criticism added that “as head of state, he is not up to his responsibilities and must move to move Iraq to the post- sectarian era.”
This is truly an objective diagnosis where no politician in Iraq will dare to confess publicly. Moreover, none of them has the guts to acknowledge that what is happening in Iraq now is a sectarian war. The statement of the US official is not the first of its kind. It was preceded by other statements by other officials in the same direction. The US no longer sees in Al Maliki a reliable ally in approaching worrisome issues in Iraq, most notably national reconciliation and the Syrian crisis. The US believes that Iraq is not doing enough to prevent smuggling of weapons to the Syrian regime. The only way ahead for Iraq, despite the hurdles, is to move towards a new phase in the political process to restore its well being.
Needless to say that will not happen without the continuation of the current political players of the political process who consolidated the sectarian quota system.
Can the US with its capabilities and the merit of its security agreement with Iraq in 2008 begin to correct what it feels is a situation not to its advantage? Or is the Iraqi citizen the one who should be doing this for his advantage? These are the questions posed to the Iraqi citizen at a time when the nation nears parliamentary elections.
Dr Mohammad Akef Jamal is an Iraqi writer based in Dubai.
