Legacy of Government in Iraq. Human Rights v. Corporate Rights

By. Beth Goodsell

  As both people and sovereign nations scramble to gain power in the empty void left by former Baathist leader Saddam Hussein, there is a fear that a U.S. backed constitution will fail to provide adequate rights or represent minorities or may be impossible to implement.

   Currently Shiite parties as well as Kurdish rebel factions have the majority in the interim governing council.  Not represented within the council but perhaps having the most political effect on the outcome of the constitution, is the United States.  The U.S., which invaded in March 2003, has provided the military power and, more importantly, the cash necessary to overthrowing Saddam’s regime and maintaining a semblance of order in the power vacuum that followed the campaign.

   Past events have torn the country apart along various religious and ethnic lines.  During the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam used chemical weapons against the Kurds, an ethnic minority based mainly in the north, to prevent them from trying to break off and form their own small country.  During the Gulf War, when Saddam’s forces annexed Kuwait many Sunni Muslims were killed by Shiites fighting for freedom from Sunni rule. 

    Governments in Iraq have been notoriously hard to implement and to maintain.  The variety of factions within the country, each with different economic, social and religious interests complicates the matter.  British colonization, as well as a variety of imposed governments, resulted in the instability of the region by not allowing the area to develop at its own pace.  Also the discovery of oil, which has since caused the various factions within the country, as well as foreign powers, to exert pressure or all out military force to preserve or tap into these resources.  Foreign tinkering and internal dispute have made Iraqi’s hesitant to support a change in the status quo, especially when that change is enacted by foreigners. 

   Needless to say, all of these factions have different interests and are ready to defend them.  This makes drafting a constitution, as well as putting a certain person or group in power a delicate issue.

    Another question in the minds of many Iraqis is the role of the U.S. in post-war Iraq.   Before the beginning of the war many protested what seemed like bogus claims made to justify way in Iraq.  Now that the fighting has ended the world is waiting to see what step the U.S. takes next.

    Many worry that the U.S. will approve a constitution which does not benefit the people, or, even worse, benefits some people at the expense of others.

      Poorly controlled U.S. action in Iraq, both in the Gulf War and now in the Iraq War have caused Iraqi support of the U.S. invasion to plummet.  During and after the Gulf War, U.S. punishment of the people of Iraq, through sanctions and imprecise air campaigns caused widespread civilian deaths and promoted anti-U.S. sentiment in the region.  Add to that the United States’ unflagging support of Israel and  you can see the reason Iraqis are not thrilled with the prospect of a U.S. tailormade constitution.