Make Walls, Not War

Make Walls, Not War

Peter W. Galbraith writing for The New York Times:

Iraq’s minimalist Constitution is a reflection of a country without a common identity. The Shiites believe their majority entitles them to rule, and a vast majority of them support religious parties that would define Iraq as a Shiite state. Iraq’s Sunni Arabs cannot accept their country being defined by a rival branch of Islam and ruled by parties they see as aligned with Iran. And the Kurdish vision of Iraq is of a country that does not include them.

…Let’s face it: partition is a better outcome than a Sunni-Shiite civil war. There is, in any event, little alternative to partition. Iraq cannot be reconstructed as a unitary state, and the sooner we face up to this reality, the better.

In some respects I agree with this provocative nationalities policy, but on the other hand it seems likely that it would lead to ethnic cleansing, whether by murder or deportation. Maybe I’ll write up a longer article when I have a chance to think about it.