Answering Iraq-Related question

Saw the thread about Iran and thought some of you are curious/interested in my country whose been on the world stage for a while.

Your opinion of Gaddafi?
Your opinion on American intervention?
Your opinion on being a puppet of the U.S. now?

I mean Sadam
Sorry i'm not the smartest pickle in the footlocker

How much of a connection do Iraqis feel for the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia?

I could write an essay about my thoughts on Saddam but I'll summarize. He was a person who knew the people he was ruling (arabs atleast) and ruled them the way they were supposed to be ruled, this meant that his supporters enjoyed his reign while enemies were crushed in ways the west would disagree with. He made huge mistakes by going to war with Iran and Kuwait.

I know you asked about ghadafi by accident but he is actually very similar to Saddam in that he knew his people but made mistakes that broke apart his country (cant be more specific sorry).

The American invasion itself wasn't the worst thing for Iraq, it was swift and didnt actually result in great loss of life. It's the American strategy after that failed and landed Iraq in the place it is now. Without American intervention I would've had the same opportunities I have now. It also surprisingly made Iraq rich, wealth that is now being consumed by corrupt politicians or criminals for the most part.

As for the puppet of US. I disagree, sadly we are now a puppet of Iran... Iraq will only take help from US but wont do anything in return while Iran basically controls Iraq.

All Iraqis like the fact that they are continuing the civilization which was the cradle of human kind but thats as far as it goes. Arabic (which is mainly Islamic) culture is very different from that of ancient empires that rules Iraq before the 7th century.

I'm the Iranian who made that thread.

I personally don't like these types of questions, but what do you think is the average view of Iran held by Iraqis? It probably differs based on religion and ethnicity, right?

Would you rather be under Russia's protection or America's? Is democracy nice?

You are right in terms of it varying from person to person since there are so many ideologies and cultures in Iraq. As for me personally I hold nothing against the Irani people whatso ever. I have plenty of Persian friends in fact (Im a sunni). What I do have a problem with is Irani government since I feel like they use Islam as a way to justify ruling with an Iron fist. In the end those who suffered from Iran probably hate them currently especially since you guys are taking over, while those who are getting rich love you.

If I HAD to make a choice then probably America due to the countries stability and the fact that checks and balances exist. But above all I would like to see Iraq being able to defend itself by itself. What happened with the ISIS invasion a couple of years ago was embarrassing and showed how pathetic of a nation we have become.

As for democracy, my view on it is controversial because I think that it dosnt work for arabs. Americans and Europeans might find it nice to think that they are impacting the political process by checking a few X's every few years but Arabs just want someone to get the job done. Just look at what people like Maliki did when they were given "democratically elected" powers as prime minister.

why didn't Iraq conquer Africa? did they fear the black warrior?

Not him but, from those two groups you mention in the last paragraph, which one do you believe is more numerous? I'm not asking you if you consider the iranian hard influence good or bad (although you can awnser that as well) since it's obvious that nobody likes another government meddling in his country's affairs. But do you think that iranian intervention has been benefical to most iraqi people or the contrary? Do you think your opinion is held by the majority?

>I think that it dosnt work for arabs.
Do you think after a couple generations it would?

As a sunni, what do you think about Sistani? Do the rest think the same?

See you have to understand that what the majority of Iraq wants is to make sure they get the nice paycheck at the end of the month. They could care less about the impact of other governments on ours since I would say the majority of Iraqis dont believe in our current government at all. The majority does side with Iran for the moment since their involvement has crushed ISIS and has given shias (the majority) more control/power which is a shift from the Saddam days. So to summarize yes, at the moment the majority welcome Iran.

As long as our currently elected democratic government is useless and corrupt (for the most part), no I do not believe people will approve. People just want a person who has a cabinet that will fix the rotten structure that is now Iraq but a person of that description would get assassinated before he gets a chance to put a campaign poster up.

From my life and experience, fighting others because of their religious beliefs never leads to a good outcome. Sistani never impacted my life very much. As a man I think hes good since he teaches people that peace is important and that fighting degenerates like ISIS is a must, etc. But some of his followers do not share his qualities and so they make the country a worse place.

What is your stance on homosexual/women/atheist rights

Thanks. Your awnser made me come with another question. Media CONSTANTLY talks about the sunni-shia struggle in your country. What can you tell us about it? Is it really so dividing and such a problem or has it been exaggerated? Does one group see the other as "iraqi but religiously wrong" or as "religiously wrong, even if he's iraqi"? (Hope I'm being clear).

Also, is the sunni-shia thing actually religious for day to day people or is it more "cultural"?

Anybody should be able to practice what they want as long as it dosnt hurt others is how I simply think of things. If you kill a gay man what will that achieve? If you dont allow women to drive or get an education or vote how is that beneficial? If you would rather someone act like a believer when deep inside someone isnt how is that any better? People should do what they want as long as it dosnt have a negative impact. This said I am a heterosexual man who strongly believe in God and the Islamic faith so keep that in mind.

How come the US allowed such a corrupt an incompetent leader be in charge?

I am a sunni, my father is sunni, my mother is shia. Take that into perspective as you read my answer. Sunni-shia issues only occur when a TINY minority creates issues like bombing mosques or starting small neighborhood massacres (which my dad was almost a victim of actually). When these events are broadcast into the media they are seen by the other side like a cause for WAR and so blood is shed merely because one side feels threatened rather than that side actually having anything against the other. Sunnis and Shias have peacefully coexisted for centuries at a time but the relations can be turned sour over a single event that is seen by one side as a declaration of war. I hope my wording wasnt too confusing since the issue is pretty hard to explain.

>allowed

What were they going to do, invade Iraq again? He's a step up from Maliki and that was all that was needed given the situation.

Not him but I think I can awnser that. If Iraq is like other arab countries, there aren't non-corrupt leaders. Specially in an arab "democracy".

Because they are not a threat to america or its allies in any way. Why should bush care if Maliki is one of the richest men in the world (secretly of course)? As long as there isnt another Saddam, America wont care just because a handful of Iraqis are dying or because millions are being stolen from under the Iraqi people.

OP here, I agree with both of these statements. Even the best modern arab leaders are corrupt in some ways. If a good leader is ever found in arab countries he would be allowed to rule for life or assassinated by criminals because he's doing such a good job.

I actually understood it pretty well, thanks.

How normal is a sunni-shia marriage, by the way? Would you say it would be more scandalous if one or both of the couple comes from a region where the other group is uncommon?

Glad you understood it. As for the marriage, my parents families knew each other before my parents marries so it was completely normal. Those types of marriages werent even uncommon back in the day. But every since Saddam cracked down on shia protests up until now they have become more and more rare. Region wise its not very common even for a sunni from mosul to marry a sunni from Baghdad since they dont even live in the same place. But if they live in the same place and their families originate from those places it wouldn't be a deal breaker. My fathers family originates in Mosul while my mothers is from Baghdad.

I see. Now a last one. Please understand that I'm not trying to be rude, but in western media it's pretty common to read that "ISIS gets along well with sunnis" although the claims are often more subtle in their wording. Now, it's obviously ridiculous to believe that the whole community has sympathy towards them, but the claim has to come from somewhere and it is true that their strongholds were on sunni territory. Do you think you can shed some light on this delicate issue?

Also I take for granted that sincere sympathizers amongst common people, if they ever existed in great numbers, dropped like flies when those guys started to rule like medieval retards in Mosul and other cities.

>Also I take for granted that sincere sympathizers amongst common people, if they ever existed in great numbers, dropped like flies when those guys started to rule like medieval retards in Mosul and other cities.

This is basically my answer to you lol. Once ISIS took so much land by storm, Sunnis who were living a shit life because of Maliki were optimistic that these guys were gonna get rid of corruption and set Islamic values as the countries law (which would end corruption and violence) But as we got to see more of those degenerates it proved clear that they were doing the opposite. In the last year even people who were a part of ISIS were trying to get out en mass. That is not to say that the media claims about early sympathizers are untrue. They existed mainly because the government was so bad to Sunnis at the time that anything seemed better.

Where do you think Iraq will be in 10 years? What do you think of Kurdish secession?

Thats a tough question, the arab spring hasnt really had as major of an effect on Iraq as it has other countries. As much as I hate the current government I think that Abadi (the PM) is trying, and is actually a good person. But with the new "Democratic" system he isnt ruling alone, there are those who dont want Iraq to change because they benefit too much from the chaos and division.

As for Kurdish secession its been tried before many times so this time wont be anything new, they do however have peshmerga on the "borders" of the so called Kurdish state but I still think thats just a show of force. The split dosnt go well with the agendas of Iraq, America, or Iran which are the ones in control so I dont think it'll happen. Most of the kurds I know also dont have the same mind set, alot of Kurdistan decisions are barzanis and his policy is what goes in there.

How do you feel about Kuwait independence being guaranteed (and forced?) by the big world powers?
How do you feel about an autonomous kurdish state, including giving them land currently part of Iraq?
How do you feel about islamic fighters destroying Assyrian/Babylonian ruins and heritage?
How do you feel about the negative (at least today and in the last 20 years) influence of islam on the country and its international status?

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