01-20-2020, 09:42 AM
(01-20-2020, 08:09 AM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: ** 20-Jan-2020 World View: Confessional government
(01-18-2020, 11:42 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: > The confessional form of government has worked fairly well in both
> Iraq and Lebanon, because it's prevented the kind of massive
> violence that's been occurring in Iran and Syria.
(01-19-2020, 07:11 PM)Warren Dew Wrote: > I wouldn't say this: sectarian issues were responsible for the
> rise of the Islamic State, which was nothing if not violent. Iraq
> just happened to be able to con the US into taking care of that
> issue for them.
It would be hard to justify blaming the rise of ISIS in Iraq on the
confessional form of government, since ISIS rose first in Syria which
is non-confessional.
Not correct. The Islamic State started as the Islamic State in Iraq in 2006, and both Abu Omar Al Baghdadi, its first leader, and Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, its late leader, were Iraqis. When the Syrian civil war resulted in large numbers of Sunni militias being formed, the Islamic State absorbed some of them, but that was recruitment, not the foundation of the state.
That said, I don't think Iraq actually has a confessional form of government; its democratic government doesn't guarantee any power for the Sunnis.
