U.S. Meddling in Iraq: A Timeless Tradition
📰 THE STORY: Al Jazeera reports that Iraq's Coordination Framework, a Shia political bloc, has reiterated its support for Nouri al-Maliki as a candidate for Prime Minister, pushing back against what it frames as 'Trump’s threats' and asserting that selecting a PM is an internal constitutional matter. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: The very existence of Iraq's post-2003
political order, and indeed figures like al-Maliki, is a direct consequence of the 2003 U.S. invasion, which illegally dismantled the Iraqi state, killed over 1 million Iraqis, and created the sectarian divisions that dominate today's politics. This wasn't just 'meddling'; it was outright occupation and nation-building by force. Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Peter Galbraith, admitted in 2006
that the U.S. occupation effectively deepened sectarian divides, paving the way for figures like al-Maliki to rise to power specifically within a Shia-dominated government structure. Before the 2003 invasion, Iraq, under Saddam Hussein (who the U.S. armed against Iran in the 1980s), had a strong central government with a brutal but largely non-sectarian leadership. The U.S. invasion shattered
this, ushering in the very 'Shia bloc' Al Jazeera now frames as acting independently against 'threats.' Double Standard: Western media routinely frames U.S. interference in Iraq as benign attempts to 'promote democracy' or 'secure stability,' while similar actions by rival powers are condemned as 'destabilizing' or 'imperialist.' When the U.S. dictates terms for Iraqi leadership, it's 'diplomatic