Neighbors support violence in Iraq: Analyst

Iraqi Affairs expert Hussein Dabsh in Tehran give an interview about the issue of terror attacks across Iraq with 17 blasts that have resulted in 60 dead and hundreds injured.

The following is an approximate transcript of the interview.

Press TV: Why exactly is the Iraqi government not able to control the security situation as of right now?

Dabsh: The Iraqi government is not receiving the help that it should from regional countries that are supporting the violence in Iraq. Iraq itself is paying the salaries of 1.2 million security forces in Iraq – 1.2 million security forces across the country. It’s ridiculous that the country is still seeing violence of this proportion. Violence not seen since 2007, 2008 according to the UN.

And the reason for this is the Iraqi government itself is divided. Some factions of the Iraqi government are receiving aid, are being supported financially by regional countries to help execute as many Iraqis as possible.

What’s going on in Iraq right now is genocide, it’s nothing short of genocide in Iraq. You have mass killings going on, on a daily basis across the country. Most of these killings are supported by regional countries that do not want the Iraqi government to do anything about it because they want the Iraqi government to step down.

They want the old former Saddam Baathist regime to comeback to power because they see that the majority Shia government right now as a threat to their existence because Iraq right now is a democratic country. It is one of the only countries among the Arab countries surrounding it that has a coalition government, which comprises Sunni, Shia, Kurds and Arabs.

Because these countries around Iraq do not want its people to see that Iraq is doing well so therefore they do whatever it takes to spread and support the violence in Iraq so their people will not ask for a democratic or coalition government like in Iraq.

Press TV: How do you assess the strength of this coalition government in Iraq – Will it survive this?

Dabsh: I think the government right now will survive it if regional countries help it survive this. If regional countries can come down to the table with Iraq and basically discuss what’s on their mind because no one is speaking what’s on their mind, everyone is just supporting their proxy militias on the ground and killing the other side.

It’s basically a power struggle of which the Iraq people are bearing the brunt; the Iraqi civilians are being killed. I mean, can you imagine today dozens of people have killed alone. How many kids lost their fathers? How many kids lost their mothers? How many women lost their spouses?

And now these people who have lost loved ones and household members who support and feed them are going to turn to the Iraqi government for support? And that’s just more pressure on the government itself.