Should US Give More Arms to Iraqi Government to End Violence?

The call of Iraqi PM Nouri Al Maliki to the USA to provide Iraqi army with more US weapons should be seen as another underlying level of differences between the Iraqi government and the White House. The US invaded Iraq in the first place because of allegedly possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It wanted to make of it a safe country for its interests and for the whole region. Ironically and metaphorically, Iraq is daily under the curse of WMD through the daily violence which up to now has claimed hundreds of thousands of people. The weapons used are simple in constructions but with devastating effects.

For the US, it will be a risk to arm the Iraqi forces as now it feels dissatisfied with the performance of the Iraqi government which has failed to unite sections of the Iraqi society. The Iraqi forces are still viewed as representing a section of society along religious grouping rather than a national force. In comparison the US forces are made of soldiers of different races and religion but they seemingly have allegiance to their country or at least act professionally.

The Americans are somewhat in control of the situation, suffering far less casualties in comparison to the Iraqi population. 600,000 are estimated to have died in violence compared to about 3,000 soldiers. Which means there is one American casualty for every 200 Iraqis. Such figures are possible because they possess key weapons. A scenario will be in case of arming the Iraqi forces as wished by PM Al Maliki, they can turn against the American forces, either because they don’t want to be under their command or they can be instigated to do so by a foreign country like Iran.

As there were warnings of a civil war in Iraq, more weapons will mean laying the basis for such a war. At anytime the forces can break up since there were instances of the forces deserting or acting in the name of their sectarian grouping. The US still needs to have a firm grip on Iraq. An Iraqi force with adequate and sufficient arms will be the last stage before a planned and final withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq is put in effect.

More weapons for the Iraqi forces has to do with the level of trust the Americans have in them. But as the Iraqi are still disunited, turning their guns and explosives at one another, for the US the safest way is to equip the Iraqi forces to the minimum. But what can bring security to Iraq is that the Iraqis as a nation should arm themselves with the will to solve their problems democratically. Continuous killing can’t be stopped as long as there is deep feud, simple ingredients for explosives and suicide bombers.

The help the Iraqis can get from the international community is that they should be given a chance to solve their problems without too much interference. Iraq shouldn’t continue to be a battleground between the US and those opposed to its wide presence in the Middle East. Iraqis once united should have the power to choose their path and not to be dictated what to do under the threat of no abating violence as a pressure to do what they are told from one side or another.