Deeper than that

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi is putting his and his country’s political future on the line by sponsoring and pushing for a parliamentary and judicial move to hold former prime minister Nouri Al Maliki and dozens of top officials accountable for the loss of the Iraqi city of Mosul to the Daesh terror group in June last year.

After Mosul, another major Iraqi city, Ramadi, also fell to the advancing Daesh militias, which are now in control of one-third of Iraq.

The decision, combined with Abadi’s campaign to reduce the patronage system in his country, is expected to further polarise Iraqi politics; the country is already embroiled in deep ethnic and religious rivalries.

Abadi is Shiite; the fact that he is being viewed as a moderate Shiite trying desperately to unite Sunnis and Shiites in the fight against Daesh may go either way: spill more fuel on the raging fire in the country or succeed in unifying the people and salvaging Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Iraqi government is somehow gambling, but the state of disarray the country finds itself in does not leave much room to manoeuvre.

Abadi’s success in holding former Iraqi officials and military leaders accountable in court on charges of treason risks igniting even more ethnic and religious fires. But it could also reinstate much-needed central authority, sorely missed so far.

However, the crisis in Iraq goes deeper than the reason Mosul or Ramadi were lost to the enemy.

Iraqis are deeply divided along sectarian lines due to bad policies instated by the US after occupying the country that were perpetuated by corrupt Iraqi leaders.

The wounds are deep and healing will take a long time even if the country is set on the right course.

To start with, a national reconciliation campaign could be launched, and given enough time to deal effectively with the crisis that has reached incredible proportions, threatening to have the country divided.