1. Are Events in Iraq after the Occupation an Ordinary Security Problem?
- Author:
- Nihat Ali Özcan
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Abstract:
- The US carried out the Iraqi occupation quickly, easily and with few casualties. It put an end to the security bureaucracy in the name of building new Iraq after the war. After a short while it faced unexpected resistance in the regions where Sunnite Arabs live. Insurgents have proved by their choice of targets and use of methods that they have a long-term and systematical resistance strategy. The insurgents could organize quickly because of effective tribal order, power of old security bureaucracy which kept its integrity after the war and refusal of foreign occupation. Insurgents want to control the public in order to get rid of weakness. Therefore, the keypoint of contention is who will control the public. While insurgents commonly use "terror" and "violence", occupiers try on the one hand to make insurgents ineffective, on the other, to win the "heart and brain" of the public. Security questions may spread to whole country in Iraq where there are ethnic and religious struggles. Iraqi Shiites may be involved in the conflict. Kurdish claims on Kirkuk may bring an ethnic conflict to the agenda. If the US administration can't provide stability in Iraq as soon as possible, Iraq may drift into a civil war.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, Arabia, and Kirkuk