Op-Ed: Why Americans should support the new Iraqi Revolution

The Iraqi people want to return their country to its rightful owners.  We should support them in this endeavor.  

In recent years, the Iraqi people have suffered immensely under tyrannical regimes.  But now, the Iraqi people have had enough.  They want free elections and they want democratic change.  Furthermore, they are willing to fight as long as it takes in order to accomplish this goal.  Thus, the Arab Spring has finally arrived in Baghdad.   As Americans, we should do everything possible in order to support their quest for freedom, human rights and democratic governance, especially after the US essentially abandoned our Kurdish allies in Syria.   Now more than ever, America must do everything in order to break up the Shia Crescent in the Middle East, as the Kurdish enclave in Syria could potentially fall either under the Iranian or Turkish axis.   This requires damage control in Iraq, so that Iranian influence won’t be strengthened in the Middle East.  Supporting the Iraqi Revolution meets the criteria of such damage control.  

Just like the Syrian Revolution, this new Iraqi revolution did not come out of thin air.  It erupted after Abdul Wahab Al Saadi, a popular Iraqi general who fought against ISIS, was ousted because he stood up to the Shia militias that are backed by Iran.   They were fueled on by the Iraqi public’s rage over corruption, the lack of energy, the lack of public services, high unemployment and widespread poverty.   However, they have since evolved into being a revolution that is far more than that. 

The National Rally’s Call of Iraq claims that their goals include: “removing all Iranian influence from Iraq, expelling all pro-Iranian political parties in Iraq; changing from a parliamentary system to a presidential republic; holding K-Iranian corrupt officials accountable and respecting women’s rights.”  Presently in Iraq, rapists get let off the hook if they marry their victims.   Between 2003 and 2015, 14,000 Iraqi women were murdered due to gender-based violence.   In addition, one in five Iraqi women are beaten by their husband and there is very little legislation to protect Iraqi women from domestic violence.   To make matters worse, the Shia militias rape women with impunity.   The National Rally’s Call of Iraq seeks to change that.     

In an exclusive interview, Dr. Nakeeb Saadoon, who is the leader of the National Rally’s Call of Iraq, proclaimed that Americans should support his movement because a) Iran has been dominating the Middle East; Iran got involved in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, etc. and got almost 50 percent of Iraqis addicted to drugs as they took over 90 percent of the government b) the US did not lose 5,000 soldiers in order for Iran to dominate 90 percent of the Iraqi government; c) If Iran continues to hold onto Iraq, most of these weapons will be transported to Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and can be used also to attack Saudi Arabia.  

Dr. Saadoon blames former US President Barack Obama for the present situation in Iraq because he permitted Iran to take over his country during his eight years in office: “If the US does not support this demonstration ASAP, it will be a disaster for the US, the Arab world, Israel and the whole world.  It will be a threat to their interests.  America does not want Iraq to be another Syria.  They got a base there.  If the US moves in, they will have 100 percent of the peoples’ support.  All of the people will support the US for Iran kills innocent people, men, women and children.   The US should take advantage of this right now.”

Prominent Middle East scholar Dr. Mordechai Kedar added: “Iran today is extremely encouraged by the fact that nobody in the world did anything against Iran after a long series of attacks on oil carriers and especially after the attack on the Saudi oil facilities three weeks ago.  Iran feels that the world is fatigued, weak and shaking and shivering in front of the Iranian resolution to continue its pressure to remove the sanctions.   Iran is encouraged by the American willingness or begging to speak with the Iranians rather than attacking them because of what they did.  The Iranians know that nothing will happen to them, even if they occupy Iraq entirely.   The only thing which can stop the Iranians expansionism is a credible threat which will be directed from US President Donald J. Trump to the Iranians and their troops, where he will state that the US will devastate Iran unless they stop immediately what they are doing to other countries.  He should give them a very short time to change dramatically their behavior, a week maximum, after which he starts to bomb them and to devastate Iran totally.  Only if they sense a credible threat will they change their behavior.  Anything else like negotiations, talks and concessions will have absolutely no effect on their behavior.  They laugh at everybody who does not know how to threaten them in a credible way.”

In a letter to Senator Ted Cruz and the late Senator John McCain, Dr. Saadoon stated in 2015, “The Iraqi people need new faces and have the ability to lead Iraq.  The Iraqi people need a strong command of the Iraqi government in order to achieve their aspirations.  The current Iraqi leaders cannot address the chronic problems with the same mentality that created those problems.   Most of the leaders of Iraq are under the command of Iran and this should not be acceptable for the US.”  Now, Dr. Saadoon proclaimed: “We are starving.  There is no food.  No water.  No electricity.  No medication.  Most of the hospitals are out of medication.  We have thousands wounded and almost no medicine.  What kind of world is that?  We don’t want to be like Syria.  We don’t want millions dead.  We have a government set up as we speak.  We have every cabinet position filled.  We have political objectives.  We have everything.  All we need is strong support from the US and the international community.  We will take care of everything after that.”