Restore peace to the Fertile Crescent
With the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham gaining another foothold in Iraq, Iraqi leaders need to affirm the country's unity.
In general, the Arabs have always described Syria and Iraq as the Fertile Crescent. Sadly, this description is no longer viable or applicable.
With the fall of Mosul — Iraq's second largest city after Baghdad — and ISIS's thrust toward Baghdad, the sudden crumbling of the Iraqi army took Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government and others by total surprise.
Maliki called for volunteers from Shiite areas, thus accelerating the Shiite-Sunni divide. Maliki never sought to affirm or enhance the common citizenship of Iraqis with his government’s continued discrimination and, at times, violence against Sunni towns and provinces. He has helped accelerate the threat of a Sunni-Shiite divide.
While ISIS is a fringe group, it has tapped into the deep frustration of the broad Sunni population, which has long been marginalized — apparently, deliberately so — by Maliki’s regime.
