The United States is trying to implement the old imperialist strategy of “divide and conquer” in Iraq, says an American political commentator.
Joe Iosbaker, a leader of the United National Antiwar Coalition, made the remarks in a phone interview on Monday, commenting on the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s recent statement about Iraq.
Addressing a meeting in Tehran on Sunday, the Leader expressed Iran’s strong opposition to the US interference in Iraq, saying that arrogant Western powers led by the US are behind the Iraq sedition.
Ayatollah Khamenei said that hegemonic Western powers, particularly the US, are seeking to capitalize on the ignorance and prejudice of some "mercenary elements," referring to the militants of the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who have taken over several cities in Iraq.
The Leader stated that the conflict in Iraq is not between Shia and Sunni Muslims, rather the arrogant powers are using Takfiri militants and the remnants of the ousted regime of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to destabilize the country and threaten its territorial integrity.
Iosbaker said, “Iraq was invaded by the US-backed, Saudi and Qatari-funded organization, called ISIS -- the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (another name for the ISIL).”
“For many decades, Iraq was a prosperous country where Sunni and Shia and Kurd lived together and the Sunni and Shia and the other peoples they not only lived side by side but they married [with each other]. Every tribal grouping in Iraq has both Sunni and Shia members,” he added.
“The divisions were created first by the United States when it invaded [the country] in 2003 — divide and conquer, that is a strategy that is older than the US imperialism, it has always been used by occupying armies. They [the US officials] have used it and it appears that now they are trying to use it again,” the activist noted.
“What has to happen in my opinion is [that] the Iraqi people have to unite to oppose US intervention, to reject the Saudi and Qatari-backed ISIS invasion [of their country]. And Iraq once again takes its place, along with other forces, in the axis of resistance against imperialism and Zionism in the Middle East,” Iosbaker concluded.
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