Don't partition Iraq

Al Muhalab Bin Abi Sufra was an Islamic warrior and hero who was born in Debba in 622. Known for his courage, he also was a commander in "Operation Iraqi Freedom" which was called the Battle of Qaddisiya then, during the reign of Caliph Omar Bin Al Khattab.

His famous poem while on his death bed advising his sons not to ever fall apart with each other rings like a golden bell today.

He said:

Spears will not break, bound together

While apart, they are easily broken

I remember the wise words of this "Debba" hero today while unbelievably reading that the US Senate overwhelmingly approved a plan by Senator Joseph Biden which essentially calls for dividing Iraq into three sections: Kurd, Sunni, and Shiite.

While the amendment is non-binding, it is the first measure to pass, (vote was 75-23,) which goes against the US administration's war strategy.

Biden's chief co-sponsor was Senator Sam Brownback. His fellow presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd also supported the plan. Barack Obama and John McCain did not vote.

Biden said his plan is consistent with the Iraqi constitution which calls for Iraq to be made up of "a decentralised capital, regions, and governorates and local administrations". Biden says this plan illustrates how to "end this war in a way that we are able to ultimately bring our troops home and leave a stable Iraq behind... [that] is consistent with the Iraqi constitution". He described it as "pushing on an open door".

The plan also calls for the five members of the UN Security Council to get together and work out a plan for Iraq, which makes sense, but everyone knows that the US, UK, France, Russia and China automatically agree on everything which might take them off the hook.

Workable solution

Partitioning Iraq is not a workable solution, even Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki rejected it saying that the US Senate should stand by Iraq to solidify its unity and sovereignty.

Today we have one Iraq, with one Kurdish autonomous region. The Kurdish region is continuously harassed by Turkey and Iran. And when they are threatened, the Kurds run to the central government, which runs to the Americans, and the Americans take matters into their hands, wave their stick at Turkey and another mission is accomplished.

So can we imagine what will happen if we have three parts of Iraq instead of one? We will have three major headaches instead of one.

Biden assumes his plan will bring the US troops back home and I greatly doubt this assumption.

A full fledged civil war will break out, and one faction will overrule the others, or another Saddam Hussain might emerge, or still, whole areas will fall into the hands of Al Qaida and Baathist insurgents.

Even without this sectarian divide, there are parts of Baghdad today where no one can pass through, such as the Omar Bin Abdul Aziz area, where Al Qaida militants even kill Sunnis if they so much as get near the area.

A partition enforced by military presence will result in the need for more US troops to hold the place together. The Wars of the Roses (1455-1487) will be a shy and timid comparison. None of these outcomes will fix Iraq and all will make the US presence there permanent. All will lead to bloodbaths which will have to be sorted out by General David H. Petraeus and gang.

Then we will have to wait another 50 years or so, for Bush's grandson to tell us again "Mission Accomplished".

I for one totally agree with the opinion which says: this is not an issue to be addressed by the US or any other power on earth. It is an issue that Iraq has to address, and that's going to be an extremely difficult one to resolve indeed with both the Multinational Forces and Al Qaida playing war on Iraqi soil.