Two countries Iraq & Syria should unite for stability

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - To what extent do the problems of Syria and Iraq result from the imposition of their boundaries by the French and the British after World War I? How many of these problems would be solved if the two countries could unite?The united country would need a new capital, somewhere between Damascus and Baghdad. It would have a population of some 53 million about 23 million Sunni Muslims, about the same number of Shia Muslims, about three million Christians, and about four million others.Both countries have suffered from nearly a century of minority rule Iraq under the Sunnis, a mere 34 per cent of its population, Syria under the Shia Alawites, a mere 12 per cent. Democracy has given Iraq Shia majority rule but has made it impossible for the Sunnis to form government again, while in Syria the Shia minority is locked in battle with the 60 per cent Sunni majority.A united country, with roughly equal numbers of Shia and Sunni, could well prove more stable than either country alone./129