The Case For Dividing Iraq

(5 of 6)

American administrations are instinctively committed to existing lines on the map. But not all breakups are a disaster. Although President Bush's father tried to hold the Soviet Union together, few mourned its ultimate demise. Trying to put back together Iraq, a state that has brought nonstop misery to most of its people for its entire 80-year history and is not desired by a substantial part of its citizens, will only bring about more pain and blood for Americans and Iraqis. If the country's people are to be saved, the only choice is to end Iraq. [This article contains maps and diagrams. Please see hardcopy of magazine.] THE GREAT DIVIDE

Iraq is checkered by different religions and ethnicities, its history marked by forced relocations and bloody conflict. The current Sunni-Shi'ite war has once again changed the demographic map of Iraq, leading some to call for the country to be split into three states. But carving up Iraq could displace millions, provoke struggles for the control of territory and make the bloodshed even worse. Shi'ite Arabs 60% Sunni Arabs 20% Kurds 17% Others 3%

Area by ethnic and religious groups

Kurd Sh'ite Arab Sunni Arab Shi'ite/Sunni-Arab mix Sunni Arab/Kurd mix Sunni Turkoman Christian Mixed area Sparsely populated Population density

0 10 1,000 100,000 Per sq. mi. (2.6 sq km) 5 miles 5 km BAGHDAD AIRPORT RASHEED AIR BASE SADR CITY ADHAMIYA WASHASH MANSUR Green Zone Tigris River IRAQ Turkey • Neighboring Turkey worries that an Iraqi Kurdistan would incite its Kurdish population and that access to the area's oil would be lost. Along with Iran and Syria, Turkey might be tempted to exploit internal Kurdish divisions Baghdad With Sunni and Shi'ite living cheek by jowl, partition could lead to widespread sectarian cleansing and more violence for its 6 million residents

Kurdistan • The Kurdish-dominated north already enjoys wide autonomy and relative peace, but Kurds want oil-rich Kirkuk to be part of an independent Kurdistan--something the country's Arabs fiercely oppose

Central Iraq • Iraq's Sunni Arabs have resisted partition. With no significant oil fields and thus no real oil revenues, Sunnis might try to fight for oil-rich areas like Baghdad, Kirkuk and Mosul

Southern Iraq • The Shi'ite-dominated south would probably form a government based on Islamic law and modeled on Iran's. It has the lion's share of the country's oil resources Oil Supergiant oil field (5 billion bbl. in reserve) Other oil field Pipeline

60 miles 60 km

DAHUK NINEVEH ARBIL SULAYMANIYAH TA'MIM NAJAF WASIT DIYALA MUTHANNA SALAHADDIN ANBAR QADISYAH KARBALA BABIL MAYSAN DHIQAR BASRA Kirkuk Mosul Arbil Nasiriyah Baqubah Najaf Sulaymaniyah Karbala Hillah Samarra Diwaniyah Fallujah Ramadi Tikrit Tall 'Afar Kut Samawah Faisaliya Basra Amarah

Tigris River Euphrates River

SAUDI ARABIA IRAN SYRIA TURKEY JORDAN KUWAIT

BEFORE IT WAS IRAQ