To the Editor
The Observer

The Fallacy of 'Iraq Cobbled Together'

By Dr Ismail Jalili, UK

I write to commend John Gray excellent article “Monarchy is the key to our liberty”, 29 July 2007 which highlights many of the mistakes made in the name of democracy and the situation in Iraq.  However there are a few points from that which I believe need comment. 

1.                  Your presumption that Iraq was ‘cobbled together’ by the British from provinces of the Ottoman Empire fails to highlight that these provinces (or Wilayat) were interlinked politically, historically and socio-economically not only since the Ottomans but since antiquity.  

2.                  Iraq had a secular parliamentary democracy which was undermined by the ongoing interference of successive British governments until it was dismantled following the 1958 coup.  This parliamentary democracy, whilst rudimentary, was working towards a fuller form and would probably have succeeded had it not been for that interference.

3.                  In terms of present day Iraq, had the US and British introduced secular democracy without the total dissolution of the State of Iraq and the civil, military and economic infrastructure, and puts its reliance on the secular middle classes, then democracy would have stood a greater chance of success.  Instead, reliance was placed on extreme religious, sectarian and ethnic groupings, together with groups of exiles who had left Iraq many years previously. 

Prior to the war, the rate of mixed marriages between Sunni, Shiite and Kurd was approximately 30% showing that, despite the much talked about tensions and differences, there was a slow progress towards a greater integration. 

Had the correct path been followed post-invasion, then there would have been a chance for the three groups to live together harmoniously, all contributing to the progress of Iraq.

Dr Ismail Jalili
UK