A ray of light

Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq in the first week of March caused much flurry in the country, and justifiably so, for him being the first ¬ever pontiff to visit Iraq where over 95% of the population is thought to be Muslim. Christians — though their presence is almost as old as the religion itself — make up an ever-decreasing minority. According to the US State Department, before 2003, there were almost 1.4 million Christians living in Iraq. This number has reduced to a mere 250,000 today. In his opening speech, the pontiff indicated the need for cessation of violence and extremism. For a Christian populace for whom death, rape and enslavement has become the norm, the Pope’s visit offered hope. However, little more than a week after the Pope’s momentous visit had concluded, all hallucinations for peace and stability fizzled and violence with increased extremist underpinnings resumed.

March 20 marked 18 years to the American invasion of Iraq. The once beautiful, blustering Baghdad was an acclaimed hub of diversity — both cultural and religious. This has now been almost erased. Foreign interference, regional tussles and proxy wars — all assembled under an umbrella of corruption — still continue to plague the country. It is safe to say that Iraq is now one of the trigger points which could decimate the entire region into complete annihilation.

Since the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani in January 2020, Iraq has been suffering continuous setbacks. Decades of conflict amalgamated with neglect has left public services in a dire situation. The Covid pandemic did little to dissuade protesters from coming onto the streets. Indiscriminate arrests, forced disappearances, non-judicial killings by security forces towards the end of 2019, led to resignations and a new prime minister in May 2020. Though Mustafa Al Kadhimi’s government brought with it promises to curb violence, the bloodshed did not pause. Any similar expectation from a new US administration was also crushed the day after Biden was sworn in when two suicide bombers hit Baghdad, killing more than 30 and wounding over a 100 people.

The Covid pandemic, accompanied by an oil price slump, only made matters worse. In 2020, Iraq’s GDP contracted at an estimated 12.1%. Currently, one in four children in Iraq live in poverty while approximately four million are in need of assistance. Access to water, electricity and fuel is inadequate. The unemployment rate is very high — according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), youth employment stands at 25%. Based on a World Bank report, 12 million of Iraq’s populace could soon become vulnerable to poverty. The country has a monthly budget deficit of around $4.5 billion and debt in excess of $80 billion.

Needless to say, change will not come in a day. However, Pope Francis’ historic trip to Iraq portends expectation that this visit can develop from mere symbolism to something that would put the country back on the road to recovery and help curb hostility and mutual distrust that exists in every dimension, be it in ethnicity, religion or politics. All this is of course subject to the fact that powers that be will let reconciliation take its due course. Even though the mirage has been dented, the visit can still act as a rallying point on which to build upon.

There will always be extremist groups who will want to use violence to get their demands across. More so if the country’s leadership is not clear on the priorities of the positions they hold. Hence, it is high time that for the Iraqi leadership to start focusing on improving accountability and transparency in all spheres and work towards eradicating patronage networks.

If corrective measures are not taken, it will only drive the average person — whose only goal is to fulfil their basic needs — to seek refuge with extremists, further propagating an already existing vicious cycle.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2021.

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