Essay

Now came the struggle for oil. During the rule of the ottoman empire, the Turkish Petroleum Company had the rights to all the oil in Mosul. In 1923, the british and iraqi governments began discussing a new distribution in oil. There was however a major obstacle, in that iraq was being stubborn and wanted to own over 20% of the company. Due to this, the league of nations took matters into their own hands. Since the british had lots of power in the league of nations, Iraq asked them to help in fear that turkey would win rights to the oil. The british pulled through and the land was now considered part of Iraq. This favor now resulted in more debt to the british, which gave them an advantage to manipulate

“The expansion of Islam in the eighth century transferred the seat of the Islamic caliphate from Damascus to Baghdad . . . it became the most powerful state west of China”. The rule of Iraq transferred many times, from the Mongols in the 13th century to the Prussians who held power until the 16th century and then resting with the Ottoman Empire up into the 20th century. “The Ottomans divided Iraq into three vilayets centered on Mosul, in the Kurdish north; Baghdad, a largely Sunni city in the centre; and Basra, in the Shi’ite south”. The fall of the Ottoman Empire brought British occupation to Iraq during World War I; subsequently Iraq received authorization from the League of Nations to establish a responsible government. Incrementally Iraq gained its independence and throughout the next seventy-five years, military strongmen ruled the country, resting finally with Saddam Hussein during the U.S. invasion. While attending the university in Bagdad he joined the Ba’ath party and rising through the ranks, assumed the position of head of state of Iraq in 1979. The ethnic divide in the population of Iraq dates back as far as the 16th century and has devolved even further with the

Throughout history, many nations have undergone the laborious task of nation building. Whether it was the Egyptians during the ancient period or the Germans during the modern period, many nations that exist today are the result of nation building. However, Iraq has faced many obstacles that has averted its valiant efforts in nation building. Some of the main obstacles include the extension of ethnonational and sectarian borders beyond the nation state, U.S. intervention in Iraq and the presence of ISIS. In any event, the situation in Iraq is still unstable and must be looked at with close

US support and agendas within the Middle East have been extremely complicated in the last century. Starting with the backing of the Shah of Iran in the early 1950s to the present-day conflict in Syria, there appears to be no decision without adverse secondary and tertiary effects. Since the Persian Gulf War, US policy has been fully supportive of the Arabs and Turks while limiting official support for the Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. Nevertheless, unofficially, the US has fully supported the Kurds militarily through the establishment of long-term partnerships between military forces. While always a point of contention with Turkey and the Government of Iraq (GOI), the recent increase in support for Kurdish forces in Syria to oppose the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) brought the issue to the forefront. The time for US policy to withhold support for the Kurds is past due to their critical role in the campaign against ISIL. The US attempted to establish a coalition amongst the Turks and the Arabs but this has largely failed to turn the tide of ISIL’s advance. However, following the consistent successes of the Kurds advance wresting control of northeastern Syria away from ISIL, it is a foregone conclusion that the US requires an alliance with the Kurds if they wish to establish some semblance of stability in the Middle East. In the end, can the US ethically and morally provide support to the Kurds, ignoring requests from US allies in the region?

Hussein knew that there was a possibility that the Shi’a population in Iraq could rise against him, but he also knew there was a chance that he could get the Arabs in the southwest regions or Iran to rally behind him. Iran publicly supported Shi’a and Kurdish rebellion in Iraq and due to tense relationships and continued border clashes over territorial disputes, tensions increased.

As stated, "From the very day after the Armistice I found you an enemy of France" the French prime minister accused Lloyd Georges. "Well", his British counterpart volleyed "was it not always our traditional policy?" (p. 78), truly the after war years led to even more back stabbing on both parts. Getting settled with Syria was one of the difficulties that the French went through, after the spread of the nationalist movements in hopes of reviving the promised Arab Nation and had even established a short lived government which Faisal headed. Revolutions filled with blood had started in Iraq against the British rule which led to the "election" of Faisal, who had recently been evicted from Syria by the French, as head of Iraq, and the French were furious as they thought Faisal’s reign would stir even more nationalist revolts in Syria.

They endure near daily causalities and recently Ankara has undertaken a bifurcated anti-terror program against the PKK and the IS. Frequent attacks in Turkey by the IS and the PKK has driven Turkey to kill 260 Kurdish militants as of August 1, 2015. The reasoning for these death tolls within a week-long air raid in northern Iraq is due to nine civilian causalities in Turkey and Iraq. "For the peace and security of our people, the fight against terror organi[z]ations will continue without interruption,” as stated by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The PKK’s rebellion for rights and power for Turkey’s Kurdish minority has been ongoing for the past thirty years and has left tens of thousands dead. Though a ceasefire was issued in 2013, Turkey’s Kurdish militants have sought refuge in northern Iraq where the PKK has been tolerated and continue to dodge such attacks. The PKK has been instructed to terminate fire in populated areas. Turkey’s president Erdogan hopes to shut down this “fascist” organization by the end of the year. Turkey’s and Iraq’s goals are to see the Kurds and their parties purged from their

The area of the Middle East is a conglomerate of many different religious groups. In these religions there are various factions, and these factions have often led to violence, revolts, and war. For the Islamic people, they split after the death of Muhammad, when they differed on who should take the place of the Prophet. Shia Muslims believe that the rightly predecessor was Ali, who was Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law. On the other hand, Sunni Muslims believe that the leadership rightly belonged to Abu Bakr (Lecture.08.31). While today most Muslims identify as Sunni Muslims, including the Kurds, another highly active group in the area, there continues to be tight tensions between the two groups. In countries such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt the split between Shias and Sunnis is toxic. Western intervention in the area has not helped quell these pressures, but rather, it has further increased the tensions, by

Today, the Turkish authorities will push back the curfew for the kurdish town of Diyarbakir from 5 to 7:30 P.M. The officials claim the curfew is necessary to stamp out the Kurdish Workers Party or PKK. The PKK is infamous for its battles against The Turkish government in hopes to establish an independent Kurdistan. Turkey claims the PKK is a terrorist organisation in hopes to gather support from NATO and the European Union against Kurdish Nationalism. Yet, the PKK is only one of many Kurdish militant groups fighting for autonomy and self determination. The Kurds have gained some autonomy in Northern Iraq under the Kurdish Regional Government. Granted the Kurdish autonomy is limited, it gives a glance of hope to the 30 million

A huge moral and ideological vacuum had emerged in Iraq after Saddam Hussein, and Islam was ideal to provide a new moral compass to the people. Neighboring states were already moving quickly where possible to establish centers of influence within Iraq to prepare for the day when U.S. power departs. Iran supported Islamist movements among the Shia while Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States sought bolster Sunni forces in Iraq.

Between 1980 and 1988, the Iran-Iraq War raged between the two neighboring countries over territorial disputes. Many Kurds in northern Iraq actually sided with Iran during the war, hoping to gain the independence they had long sought. Iraqi president--or, more appropriately, Iraqi dictator--Saddam Hussein wanted to keep the Kurds from stirring up any trouble during the war. So, Hussein decided to fight the Kurds just as harshly as he was fighting Iran. The systematic extermination of the Kurds was the effect of a war, an extremist ideology, and the brutal tactics of a dictator drives a government to take such brutal actions against its own people in the al-Anfal campaign.

In April of 1920, Allied Nations coming out of World War I met at the San Remo Peace Conference. It was here that a mandate involving France’s desire to hold Syria and Lebanon and Great Britain’s desire to hold the lands of Palestine, Transjordan, and Mesopotamia was born. Britain’s holdings were renamed Iraq, which was created out of the Ottoman provinces of Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra. In October of 1932, Iraq gained formal independence under Faysal I and through the League of Nations becoming its own separate country. In the years to follow, the Iraqi Oil industry flourished providing the country with its main source of income and making the Middle East as a whole the richest source of petroleum on earth. Iraq would continue with its

The unabating conflict that led to the Iran-Iraq War has its origins in tensions dating back to the ancient conflicts between the Persian and Ottoman empires for territories and power in the Middle East. These conflicts were concentrated about the Shatt al-Arab, a waterway that was often used to separate the two territories (Rajaee 17). Based on this pretense that the original ownership

On November 11, 1920, Iraq became a League of Nations mandate under British control with the name the State of Iraq. The British established a monarchy in Iraq and chose the Hashemite king, Faisal I of Iraq, who had been forced out of Syria by the French, as their client ruler. King Faisal was a good ruler. He worked to create a unity and defuse tensions between the Sunni and Shite Muslims. He also wanted to create an Arab state that would include all ethnic and religious groups in the Fertile Crescent. At his urging, Britain granted independence to the Kingdom of Iraq in 1932. While Britain did maintain on military camp in the country, Iraq was now free to rule under its own monarchy with King

Then came the First World War and with it the defeat of the German army and their allies, including Turkey. As a result in 1919, Iraq, as well as Palestine, came under the control of Great Britain who proceeded to draw out the borders and establish a government that would best suit them. The years which followed were filled with revolutions, jihad, and unrest, as the British sought to maintain control of a nation with which they knew very little about.