Three to One?

Are we making too much of the ethnic breakdown in Iraq? I know I have been a little guilty of not really believing that Iraqi’s considered themselves, well, Iraqi.

I have not been so naïve to believe that the Iraqi Shiites were enamored with Iran. Iranians are Persians and Iraqis are Arabs. They have been fighting each other for thousands of years; there is no danger of Shiite Iraq willingly turning into a potentate of Iran.

The Kurds do long for a greater Kurdistan, but it looks like they are willing to give Iraq a shot. I think they know Turkey won’t stand for an independent Kurdish state and the Iraqi Kurds have built themselves a pretty decent life (by the local standards) under protection of the No-Fly Zones.

But those are realist positions, rational choices.

What is in the Iraqi heart?

Iraq has a long and illustrious past, from Sumer, Babylon, to the Caliphate. Do the Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites all connect with this history? Do they share enough common values and history to ignite a nation? The recent vote overwhelmingly shows that both the Shiites and Kurds are willing to give it a try. Recently some Sunni clerics that opposed the vote are grudgingly climbing aboard.

Can the Iraqi people come together and reach for a new glory?

I sure hope so, for all our sakes.