Iraq’s Shiite population is in the majority. Yet, for the country to survive as a functional state in the future, it is essential that the governing system is not based on sectarian narratives or religious rhetoric.
Take, for instance, Yemen. The country is on the brink of a full-blown civil war, primarily because Shiite militia groups, allegedly backed by Iran, are attempting to reign over Sunni tribes.
The Shiite-Sunni rift is wide across the region, and countries with weak governments are at most risk of being run by sectarian militia groups.
Recently, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Shiite militia groups in Iraq of committing war crimes in Sunni areas, where they have forced residents to flee from their own homes, participated in kidnappings, and in some cases executions.
Since October 2014, Shiite militia groups have forced 3,000 people to flee Diyala province, and prevented them from returning. The director of HRW in the recent report wrote, “Iraqi civilians are being hammered by ISIS and then by pro-government militias in areas they seize from ISIS.”
One problems with Iraq’s government is the lack of an institutionalized mechanism to control the various militia groups operating inside its borders, destroying any notion of accountability.
The United States has attempted to control Iranian influence in the region for over a decade. Still, the lack of US boots on ground in the war against ISIS has led to a resurgence of Tehran’s power.
Iran has supplied the region with an estimated 30,000 trained Shiite militiamen in the war against ISIS.
Even when the ISIS reign of terror in Mosul and elsewhere is curbed, the marginalization of Sunni tribes will lead to similar sectarian divisions, and may eventually render the Iraqi state dysfunctional.
Iran’s opportunism and Iraq’s weak government soon turn the country into a puppet of its Shiite-majority neighbor. Unless the Iraqi government works to equally represent its diverse population - ethnically, religiously and otherwise – this is a very real possibility.
The only solution for Iraq’s long-term prosperity is to control the influence and spread of militia groups.
Iraq’s government should think beyond containing ISIS threat because the risk of militia groups growing more effective than the government is a serious threat.
Ruwayda Mustafah is a Kurdish activist and PhD student at the University of Kingston. Her research focuses on the socio-political aspects of the Kurdistan region.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
