Iraq: The World’s Next Failed State?

U.S. and Kuwaiti troops unite to close the gate between Kuwait and Iraq after the last military convoys passed through, Dec. 18, 2011, signaling the end of Operation New Dawn. U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Jordan Johnson

The Iraq We Left Behind -- Ned Parker, Foreign Affairs

Welcome to the World’s Next Failed State

Nine years after U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein and just a few months after the last U.S. soldier left Iraq, the country has become something close to a failed state. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki presides over a system rife with corruption and brutality, in which political leaders use security forces and militias to repress enemies and intimidate the general population. The law exists as a weapon to be wielded against rivals and to hide the misdeeds of allies. The dream of an Iraq governed by elected leaders answerable to the people is rapidly fading away.

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Update: Not Too Late for Active Role in Iraq -- Max Boot, Commentary

My Comment: Both Ned Parker and Max Boot believe that we should still re-engage with Iraq, while I for one am relieved that we are out of that messy soup. The sad fact is that Iraq was a failed state under Saddam Hussein, and will remain a failed state for the foreseeable future. History has produced two sectarian religious groups that are diametrically opposed towards each other (Sunni and Shiite), and no amount of U.S. pressure and influence can ever change that.