In the wake of the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, Iraq was left in a state of total disarray. Institutions across the country, from the military to the security and service sectors, were dissolved overnight, leaving the country grappling with chaos and anarchy. This sudden vacuum created fertile ground for foreign powers and …
After what has been widely referred to as the “political deadlock,” Iraq’s political process finds itself once again in a dark and suffocating tunnel. A tunnel it has been lost in for the past 19 years. Despite the promises of progress and change, Iraq’s leaders have been unable to pull the country out of its …
The Sad State of Iraq: A Political Theatre of Corruption and Betrayal Read More »
A new day has begun with the rising of the sun. Its rays have been consumed by the dark night’s spirit, causing this sterile circle to revolve around the people of Iraq, encircling their necks and suffocating their breath. In the old days, there was good land that yielded its fruits and bore fruits of …
Ignorance, disease, and poverty are three scourges that destroy civilizations and peoples. You cannot find it together in one place and it is at its highest level except in the country of loss, where the one who enters it is missing and the one who escapes it is born, the poet Maarouf Al-Rusafi says: I …
In the heart of Cairo stands the al-Dhakhira Mosque, a structure built in 516 AH by Dhakhira al-Malik Ja’far, a police officer notorious for his cruelty and oppression. He would forcibly drag people off the streets, bind them, and make them work on the mosque’s construction without pay. The only workers in the mosque were …
The Orphan’s Guardian: Muqtada al-Sadr and the Iranian Wali-Alliance Coordination Read More »
Sixteen years have passed since Angela Merkel took over as president of the German country. Merkel hasn’t quit the German machine until the country is now uncontestedly one of the best nations in the world. During Merkel’s era, Germany became an icon dreamed of by the wretched in the far Middle East, to have a …
Iraq, a country once poised for greatness after the fall of its brutal dictatorship, finds itself once again trapped in a cycle of political failure and stagnation. As you walk through the streets of Baghdad and other cities, the eye is drawn to the cacophony of election banners, each one bearing the weight of grand …
The Political Paradox of Iraq: Sadr’s “Integrity” and the Stagnation of Change Read More »
Iraq’s streets are currently alive with the bustle of religious processions marking Arbaeen, complete with tents, tea and coffee stalls, and political slogans and images of party candidates. Yet amidst these religious observances, the everyday Iraqi citizen struggles, burdened by the disruptions these events cause. Streets in Baghdad, already notorious for traffic congestion, are further …
Written by Arkan Radeef / Translated by Shermeen Yousif We are not free in Mesopotamia, and our democracy is a nothing but a lie; all we can do is choose between a sectarian and a sectarian, or a murderer and a corrupt person. Nobody can deny that Iraq has devolved into a country of corrupt …
Iraq’s political authority is influenced by more than one leadership entity, one of which is the religious reference, represented by the reference of Ali Al-Sistani and all its religious institutions. The political leadership, as represented by the corrupt ruling parties, is divided between loyalty to Sistani and loyalty to Wilayat Al-Faqih. This loyalty ensures sectarian …
Written by Shermeen Yousif Averroes had said once that using religion is the profitable trade in societies where ignorance is widespread. Unfortunately, the Iraqi government is aware that if they want to control the society to guarantee their continuous ruling and prohibit revolutionary thinking, they need to wrap every falsehood with a religious envelope and …
