E-Paper
US helped Saddam die a martyr
The video of Saddam's last moments shows him proclaiming that 'the Iraqis should fight the Americans and the Persians', reports Madhur Singh.
The grainy video of Saddam Hussein's last moments shows the deposed dictator proclaiming that "the Iraqis should fight the Americans and the Persians". In all likelihood, this is will be the future of Iraq for some time to come.
After an invasion gone terribly wrong and a trial widely proclaimed as unjust — including by the UN and the EU — the US and the puppet Iraqi regime chose to execute Saddam. And they chose to do so on the day of the beginning of the festival of Eid al-Adha.
All reports suggest that reaction to the execution has been divided entirely along sectarian lines. Among Iraq's Sunnis, the timing has been seen as symbolic of a conscious American effort to put them in place. In the wider region, it is being seen as an effort to reassert American power after the Lebanon crisis that had emboldened Iran and seemed to have eroded the US's control of the region. Moreover, says professor Girijesh Pant from JNU: "The ruling clique in Iraq, which comprises the Shi'as and the Kurds, had realised that if they failed to govern, Saddam would become a rallying point for all dissenters. This would create huge problems of power sharing."
So Saddam was removed from the scene, and quickly. He went to the gallows claiming to offer himself as a sacrifice for Iraq. In a culture that sets great score by martyrdom, and where history continues to have a direct bearing on the present, Saddam will be remembered as a martyr and a leader who ruled over a united and prosperous Iraq, kept its various fractions in control, championed the Palestinians' cause and defeated the Persians.
By provoking a Sunni backlash, Saddam may well turn out to be more intractable in death than he was when alive. Many analysts see a bleak future ahead for Iraq and the region. Iraq expert Qamar Agha believes Saddam's execution will bring more violence to the region, not only in Iraq. "It will further divide the Shia and the Sunni — right from Afghanistan to the Persian Gulf," he says. "Before the occupation, there was no history of communal violence in the Islamic world, except in British India. The current state of affairs is a result of the US's divide and rule tactics. After all, they only care about oil." These differences have been most notable in Lebanon, although they are emerging in other countries like Jordan and Egypt, too.
Most regional powers are involved in the conflict in one way or the other. Iran has been supporting the Shi'a Mahdi Army and the Badr Organisation, which is trying to set up an Islamic Republic of Iraq in southern Iraq. Additionally, it challenges the distant hegemony of the US in the Middle East - and the US's support to Israel, by consequence - by supporting Hezbollah and Hamas.
The Sunni insurgency in Iraq, meanwhile, has been getting support from the likes of al-Qaeda and the Sunni regional powers. Vali R. Nasr from the US think-tank Council on Foreign Relations, writing in the July-August issue of Foreign Affairs, says Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have supplied the majority of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's suicide bombers. Al-Zarqawi leads the main Sunni insurgent organisation in Iraq. Pant points out that Saudi Arabia had recently offered to intervene in Iraq. "The Saudis see themselves as the custodian of the holy mosques and the protectors of all Sunnis. They may yet intervene, which will further sharpen communal cleavages," he says. "In that event, the only viable option will be to fragment Iraq."
The report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group released last month also warns: "Neighbouring countries could intervene. Sunni-Shia clashes could spread. Al Qaeda could win a propaganda victory and expand its base of operations." Most experts agree with the recommendations of the report, which include holding diplomatic dialogue with all the regional powers, including Iran and Syria, and arranging a phased pullout of American troops while preparing the Iraqi army for a takeover.
However, given the current stalemate between the key players — the US and Iran — the likelihood of their coming to a table to hold talks is remote.
Perhaps it is time for the international community — especially the EU, India, Russia and China — to take the initiative to bring about a US-Iran dialogue to reach a regional settlement of the problem.
