Map for Aram Nahrain / Mesopotamia: the Key to Peace in Iraq

In the next few months, Americans will have the last chance to achieve peace in Mesopotamia. The only way for Peace in 'Iraq' is a real national name, Aram Nahrain / Mesopotamia, and the division of the country into five great regions - cantons for separate settlement of the Christian Aramaeans, the Turkmens, the Kurds, the Shia, and the Sunnis. Deportations must necessarily take place; it will be either this or chaos.

By Prof. Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis, Orientalist

(http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/1-16-2005-64338.asp?viewPage=3)

An Old New Name: Aram/Nahrain - Mesopotamia

The name of a country is extremely important since it has to function as a correct mirror of the cultural and behavioural background of an entire people (or more) in order to let the educational, the intellectual, the social and the political levels be properly and accordingly deployed on the aforementioned foundation: the name.

Can you imagine how different modern Greece would have been, if the name choice in the late 1820s had been ‘Romios’ and not ‘Hellen’ as many correctly insisted at those days. The entire Greek anti-Turkish and pro-French attitude would not have existed, and the country would have been closer to its Byzantine – Roman – past than to its pre-Christian Antiquity.

What about Greeks choosing (or the French and the British imposing on them) ‘Levant’ as name, a name that was and is widely used among Italians and French with regard to the Eastern Mediterranean? Wouldn’t that mean a complete de-personification for the new Greek state, since the term, although known among Greeks, meant nothing to them?

This is the reality of that bogus-Iraq country: nobody called that area like this before 150 years. It existed as a vague geographical connotation that was (and still is) totally deprived of any historical reference, any cultural background, any national/ethnic dimension. Iraq Arabi and Iraq Adjami were not even properly institutionalized within Arabic geographers!

Iraq is ‘nothing’. As ‘nothing’ it was planed to function, as it truly did, and thus modern Mesopotamia was plunged into the misery of the historical de-personification of the Pan-Arabic falsehood that became the proper tool for the ultimate worsening of the deterioration process of the cultural – intellectual environment of the local Muslims in decay. Finally, it led to the Islamic Terrorism that we all attest.

It is however true that throughout History meaningless names were given to – and have ever since stuck with – various Third World states. What are states like Colombia, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, Mauritania or Eritrea? Their names bear an extreme minimal of historicity. But most of these states have been developed on soil that was not earlier home to great civilizations. Mexico keeps an important ancient name. Iran does so. Of course, there will always be a discussion among followers of different approaches, those who prefer a recent name (Albania) and those who prefer an ancient name (Illyria). But this is of secondary importance, at least in politics.

However, the situation in Iraq has to do with the introduction of a meaningless, non historical term that fits the colonial plans of France and the criminal schemes of the extremist sheikhs of the Hanbal - Ibn Taimiya – Wahhabist false version of Islam, all those who currently diffuse an a-historical (and therefore wrong) version of Islam among their followers, contributing thus greatly to their radicalization.

And at the same time, the existing historical continuity of three millennia of Aram – Nahrain / Mesopotamia shows the criminality of the colonial work. The imposition of the useless name of Iraq is actually a provocative and criminal act of the colonial powers in their – hidden until now – scheme to generate and feed the Islamic terrorism.

Add to all this the historical importance of Mesopotamia; even from the beginning of the Western colonization, the history of the falsely called ‘Arab’ world (there is nothing to be called like that) turned around Mesopotamia, Iraq and Syria. Mauritania, Egypt and Yemen were never the focal point.

You understand that other countries deprived of such historicity do not face today a problem of ethnic/national/cultural identity as gravely as Iraq does.

And, politically speaking, for 88 years of the post-Ottoman period, Iraq truly did not ‘exist’. Existence means cohesiveness, social interconnectedness, educational development, industrialization, political stability and Democracy, Human Rights. ‘Existence’ can truly be attested in Turkey, Greece, Israel, but not in entities like Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, etc. I would rather call the latter cases ‘ephemeral’ creatures.

A Map for the Mesopotamian Cantons

It is obvious that Iraq is not sustainable as such anymore. If the Americans did not interfere, the colonial powers would manage to keep it for another 50 years, and perhaps even more, always to the prejudice of the local people. ‘Iraq’ can exist only as a colonial entity, and with the arrival of a non-colonial power, namely the US, the lid was off the Mesopotamian cooker!

As a genuinely non – colonial power, the US cannot and does act in a way the French and the British do. The Americans face a reaction that cannot be dealt with through military answers and tight security controls. These days, the best American journalists publish articles on the current radicalization of the situation, on Iraq becoming the terrorist breeding land, and the like. If the American answer does not destroy the dreams and the targets, the agenda and the guilty back thoughts of the extremist sheikhs, the failure will be guaranteed.

You cannot have in front of you a criminal like Muqtada Sadr, who prays to meet ‘martyrdom’ while waiting his false Islamic Messiah (a very wrong version of the Islamic sources’ Al Mahdi), and still believe that if you catch him and ten of his commanders, if you torture them, if you kill them, you solve the problem.

You can win only if your daily action is a full corroboration of total crash caused to the dreams and the expectations of such criminals. To say it very explicitly, you must show to these guys, day by day, what they lose.

Regions – Cantons must be delimitated, and movements must be totally prohibited from and to some of these regions, at least for some time. Americans do not need significant presence on Kurdish, Turkmen, and Aramaic territories. Add to the latter Armenians, Mandaeans and other Christians. So, this measure will help Americans concentrate their forces on two regions – cantons, namely the Arabic speaking Shia realm and the Arabic speaking Sunni circumference.

Through the aforementioned, I suggest explicitly the delineation of five large regions in Iraq. To do so, Americans must work hard, and first – immediately – close the borders to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria by using electric wire. Logistics cannot matter when the entire world is at stake.

And of course, masses have to be deported to the designated regions. People cannot live together in Mesopotamia, this is the reality, so at least admit it, and work to set up a viable situation in the future; it is not possible now, so let’s make it possible in the future, this is what I am saying.

The Kurdish Region will be delineated at the East of Tigris river, from the Turkish border down to the Little Zab estuary to Tigris, then the demarcation line will follow that affluent river’s flow up to the middle of the distance between Kirkuk and Qalat Dizah, and from that point it will go straight down to Khanekin until reaching the Iranian border. The Turkmen region will be demarcated between the Kurdish line in the North (Little Zab flow) and the East, the Dicle (Tigris) flow in the West, and the demarcation line will follow Tigris and Diyala until the points from where the two rivers start a parallel flow towards the south.

The Aramaic region will be delineated at the West of Tigris, from the Turkish border down to the northern suburbs of Baghdad, and then the demarcation line will leave the greater Baghdad area in the east, and will continue down the Tigris river until almost the middle of the distance between Baghdad and Al Kut. From that point it will turn towards the West, will encompass Hillah and Hindiyah, will leave Karbala in the south, and will continue until the Saudi Arabian border at the south of Nukhayb.

It is essential that a UN - USA call to all the Aramaeans, who left their homes over the past 88 years, be solemnly made to welcome them and their children back, whereas all properties lost must be declared as reimbursable.

The Shia region will be delineated at the South of the Aramaic area, and at the South of Al Kut.

The Sunni area will be delineated in the triangle between Khanekin, Baghdad and Kut, so the Sunnis are the population that will be worst exposed to deportation.

Baghdad will cease to be capital, will be temporary center of the American administration, but after the Americans leave Baghdad will not be the capital anymore. Baghdad will be divided into two sectors, Shia and Sunni, and the transportation between the Shia sector and the Shia region will be effectuated by means of one (permanently under inspection) highway crossing the Aramaic region. Similar highway will be linking the Shia sector of Baghdad with the holy places at Samarra.

Mosul will have two sectors, Kurdish and Aramaic.

All the ‘classical’ Sunni triangle, Ramadi – Tikrit – Baghdad (including Falluja) will have to be evacuated by the Sunni population, and all land properties will be considered as lost for these people. Land lots will be given to them at the east of Baghdad from the present inhabitants will be removed.

The present approach to a new map of Iraq will help Americans establish peace, and will allow at the same time the various oppressed communities of the long tyrannized Mesopotamia live fearlessly and see to their affairs and progress.
 

If one wants to avoid the worse in Iraq, one must proceed through this now.

Tomorrow, it may be too late.