No matter what anyone thinks about the regime in Iran, Iran had probably the biggest role in defeating ISIS in Iraq and Syria by mainly having boots on the ground and having people who were willing to fight on the front lines with ISIS. They saved Baghdad and Erbil from ISIS at the outset and led the fight against it. However, you will not hear about it from the EU and US leaders. Probably, they'll give more credit to Saudi Arabia, the main supporter of Islamist terrorists such as ISIS, AQ, and Taliban.
Is this the same ISIS that the Republican Party and The New York Times claim is already dead, defeated by Donald Trump? How confusing for all of us.
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The Middle Eastern countries are not organized around the idea of common citizenship as the glue of society but religion and ethnicity. All of them from Turkey through Iran are artificial constructs in which one group dominates for a time. Iran is something of an exception as it has an ancient culture and the dominate group have a sense of self. Too bad it was damaged by Islam, a religion many ditch as anti-Persian after a moving abroad.
Seems the US and NYTimes wants to see 'democracy' in Iraq. We wring our hands - Iran is making some in Iraq mad, Shiite likes Shiite, except when they don't. The Sunnis are in the minority of the population and certainly in the minority in government. Not atypical in a democracy. But, democracy by our definition is not the same. The middle east is not really a democracy as it seeks to use Islam as it's rule of law. While Muslims read from the same book, their interpretation is wildly different. Sects = tribes = no democracy. We cannot begin to understand, and certainly not control. However, we must work with our allies and the Kurds have been at our side. Does that mean that they are not a sect or tribe? Nope? Is there really a good guy? Perhaps Mr. Abadi is, but given the tribal nature, who knows what the outcome will be.
Not too different, sadly, with what is going on in the US. We've become divided. Not over a religion or religious sect, but just as bad - identity politics. We've become tribal? If so, we are not capable of maintaining a democracy. PLEASE, don't let identity politics and biased political reporting drive your sense of what it means to be an American. Defend fellow Americans for their right to speak, even if you don't like what they say.
It was Iran that stopped daesh on its way to Baghdad as Iraqi military and police crumbled, the US and the rest came in after the fact, had Iran not stepped in when it did we would be looking at a whole different Iraq these days.
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Sorry authors Coker and Hassan.
But being a "hero" is NOT in any way the same as being Abraham Lincoln.
Comparing the Iraqi president to the giant of a man, who was also deeply flawed, but who ended slavery in America against all odds, is an insult, not because one is an Iraqi and one is an American, but because Lincoln's achievements, which he paid for with his life, DWARF anything that the Iraqi president has done so far.
In fact, it would be difficult to find many leaders EVER from ANY country who are heroes in the way that Lincoln was a hero...in spite of the fact that most white southerners refer to the war that freed the slaves as "the War of Northern Aggression."
Seriously without massive horrific military assistance ISIS would have taken the country for sure. Now what is left is a totally destroyed country which reminds one of our policy in Vietnam which was 'we'll destroy the village in order to save it".
Is this the leader the one that Iraq really needs? While I can understand that Mr. Abadi has a number of achievements under his belt for helping Iraq rebuild, his leadership is no longer quite as necessary. At this point Abadi is just serving as the weight to hold down Iran, not the rebuilder these good people need. He has proved himself to be adequate as a ruler, but he just isn’t quite on the same page as all of the people who live in his country. These people need a ruler to unite them all, a ruler who can jump start the economy, bring in new jobs, and improve infrastructure. While Abadi could be capable of this, it isn’t a huge concern if he does not win the election. In a nation that needs to be totally rebuilt from the ground up, I say out with the old and in with the new.
What's up with the "THUG" thing for Sadr? After all,he fought against invaders of his country, which every patriotic American would do if another country invades America.
Between the lines, the article shows this guy is an American idea of an Iraqi hero, not the idea of a vast number of Iraqis, Sunni, Kurd, and even many Shiites like Sadr.
The article mentions little that he will do for Iraq's future, except act as a counterweight to Iran. That is an American priority, not so much an Iraqi need.
Iraq needs rebuilding. What are the plans? The need is mentioned, but no plans.
Iraq needs a more generally accepted government legitimacy. What are the plans? The need is mentioned, but only a gross failure in one attempt is discussed.
This article is American-centric, about an Iraqi problem which is fundamentally Iraqi, not at all about America.
I wish reporters would avoid characterizations like "Iraqi Abe Lincoln."
Are they too young to remember when Hamid Karzai was repeatedly touted and reported as the "Afghani Abe Lincoln?"
Such characterizations are not helpful, can be very misleading and, in the case of Karzai, prove dead wrong.
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"Tricky political system"??
You mean gerrymandering? Unrestricted money from lobbyists and vested interests?
Gee. Glad we're spared all that!
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President Obama Ignored and Snubbed Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi at G7 Summit in Germany, 2015 - that much for the Middle East Abe Lincoln. Hopefully Trump has more foresight.
This makes Iraq sound like a functioning democracy with competing parties, open flow of information/criticism, and a Supreme Court with oversight.
I originally supported the Iraq War as a way to replace an evil tyrant with a democracy that would serve its citizens. Then I opposed it, because it seemed clear that nothing good had come of our very expensive nation-building effort.
Maybe I was right the first time, but just too impatient for the results. Maybe the neocon globalist policies actually do/did work, though at an exorbitant cost.
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"Iraq" was created by West after WWI and WWII. Iraq has never been a functioning nation in the western sense because it was not formed by the way that nations typically form. Iraq has always been a piece of land surrounded by lines on a map. This is not the fault of Iraqis. But Iraq has never anything more than a banana-less "banana republic" for the West since it was created, until Saddam took over. At this time Iraq did become more like a nation...at a terrible cost to many of its citizens. So the US tore Iraq down...and now Iraq is back to being a Western-influenced banana republic with a twist...Iran.