Shiite awakening in Iraq targets Iran regime
Fox News, June 19, 2008
Over the weekend — while the EU foreign policy chief Javier
Solana was in Tehran making headlines with yet another
incentive package offered by China, France, Germany, Britain
and Russia and the United States — three million Shiites in
Iraq were making another, more important "Iran headline."
United Press International reported from Baghdad that "More
than 3 million Iraqi Shiites signed a petition sponsored by
the leaders of the People's Mujahedin [MEK(PMOI)] of Iran
opposing Iranian influence in Iraqi affairs."
"Expulsion of all members and agents of the Iranian regime's
IRGC, Intelligence, and the terrorist Qods Force from all
governmental or non-governmental institutions of Iraq,
especially the security systems and the police," the
declaration demanded.
UPI added that "The declaration, which also called for the
lifting of a measure curtailing the activity of the MEK in
Ashraf City in eastern Iraq, was announced at the fourth
conference for the Solidarity Congress of the Iraqi People"
held in Ashraf City, Iraq. The Congress was attended by
"Several Iraqi politicians from the Sunni Islamic Party of
Iraq of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, the Islamic Unity
Party and several other blocs, including the Iraqi
Accordance Front," according to UPI.
The development has wide-ranging implications for Iraq and
for the volatile debate over Iran policy in Washington and
other western capitals.
For a long time, a myth essentially manufactured in Tehran
has been making the rounds in policy circles on both sides
of the Atlantic, according to which the situation in Iraq
must be viewed in the framework of Sunni vs. Shiite. More
specifically, it is argued that Iran has the ultimate sway
over Iraq's Shiites, and any firm countermeasure against
Tehran's meddling risks prodding the ayatollahs into
unleashing the Shiite population and plunging Iraq into
bloody civil war for years to come. In support of this
misguided argument, some pundits are saying if you think
things are bad now, just imagine the mayhem if Iran brings
its army of Iraqi Shiites to the streets.
This is a false prophecy. It has nevertheless hampered the
formulation of an effective policy or plan to neutralize
Tehran's inroads in Iraq. That failure has dire consequences
as it will enable Tehran to make further inroads in Iraq and
consolidate its domination of that country.
The reality is that Tehran's sway over Iraqi Shiites is
limited to its proxies, who have infiltrated all spheres of
the Iraqi government and Southern provinces. They are
augmented by an army of well paid mercenaries, operating
within and without the government in various terrorist
groups which are financed, trained, and armed by the Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps' Qods Force. In the streets of
the Shiite cities and neighborhoods, ordinary Iraqis
describe the ayatollahs' meddling as the "poison from the
East."
True, Tehran spends tens of billions of dollars annually in
its bid to "Lebanonize" Shiite areas. It has financed the
construction of mosques, clinics, schools and social service
centers which, in addition to serving as fronts for its
recruiting and training of would-be terrorists, are intended
to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Shiites. Apparently,
this has been a total failure — just ask the 3 million Iraqi
Shiites, who have openly (and despite enormous risks)
demanded an end to Tehran's meddling and voiced support for
Iran's main opposition. Observers believe that the MEK
presence in Iraq, as the main Iranian opposition with
three-decade-long experience of countering Islamic
extremism, has significantly contributed to the Shiite
awakening in Iraq. On many occasions, Iraqis and American
commanders of the Multi-National Force-Iraq have publicly
acknowledged and praised this contribution.
The scope of the Shiite opposition goes far beyond the 3
million signatories, because unlike petitions signed on the
corners of K Street in Washington, these Iraqis and their
families could very well pay with their blood for such a
public and emphatic rebuke of Tehran.
Last April in an opinion piece in the Boston Globe, Dr.
Saleh al-Mutlaq, the head of the influential Iraqi Front for
National Dialogue, and a member of the Iraqi Parliament,
charged the al-Maliki government "was caving in to pressure
from Iran to make life difficult for the MEK." He wrote that
"the MEK people enjoy popular support inside Iraq,
particularly in Diyala province, where they have worked to
promote reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite
communities."
The landmark declaration signed by three million Shiites
also has a clear message for Washington: Iraqi Shiites
reject the false assertions of those who have been speaking
on their behalf. They are telling Washington to stand firm
and confront Iran's meddling, without fear of a Shiite
backlash.
Alireza Jafarzadeh is a FOX News Channel Foreign Affairs
Analyst and the author of "The
Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear
Crisis" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).
Jafarzadeh has revealed Iran's terrorist network in Iraq and
its terror training camps since 2003. He first disclosed the
existence of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility and the
Arak heavy water facility in August 2002.
