The More Things Change, the More Iraq Stays the Same

The More Things Change, the More Iraq Stays the Same

The United States will come and go, but Iraq's divisions will remain.

This isn’t back to square one in Iraq in terms of what the military and Washington, DC has learned. But it may be back to square one in terms of what Iraq has learned. The United States will come and go, leaving a small footprint behind, but Iraqis will remain, and the divisions in the country have only grown. Kurdistan wants a referendum on independence, Shia militia flags will likely stay in Mosul and Sunni extremists will creep back into civilian areas.

Seth J. Frantzman is a Jerusalem-based journalist and a research associate at the Rubin Center for Research in International Affairs at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. 

Image: Flickr