Iraqi Current Events
Despite political unrest, Iraq has had it’s ups and downs over the year of 2014 and here are some of the events that took place.
Surprisingly Peaceful 2014 Elections
Iraq held elections for parliament this year and they were surprisingly peaceful despite widespread threats against voters. ISIS demanded that nobody vote in the 2014 elections, threatening bombings and mass murders. However, it seems as though the Iraqi nation largely ignored those threats, since 60 percent of the population made it to the polls. Though some areas around the polls experienced bombing, Iraqi government increased security, and the election was a success.
The Current Iraqi Government
With the elections came a new government. The current president is Fouad Massoum. The current prime minister is Haider al-Abadi, who found a rise in power when the United States government and Massoum forced the previous prime minister, Maliki, to step down. Abadi was successful in forming alliances with some of the rebel groups and potentially stopped the attempted separation of that group.
Religious Contentions
Though 95 percent of Iraq is Muslim, Iraq cannot be simply categorized as a Muslim nation. In fact, the religious groups of Iraq are broken down into several religious groups, including the Shi’a and Sunni sects. The contentions between these groups is one of the largest factors of the current civil war and ISIS has come out of the Sunni sect. These contentions continue to rise today.
UN Airstrikes on ISIS
In September of 2014, President Obama declared that there would be an airstrike on ISIS, though no foot soldiers would be put into that dangerous region. Both France and Great Britain agreed with Obama’s logic and several airstrikes have been led in the country’s northern region.
The Oil Fields
Iraq is one of the World’s largest sources of oil, but because of the wars, nearly 90 percent of the oil has not been drilled. This subject is one of debate among the United Nations. They believe that if the oil in Iraq was drilled, it would help to stabilize the economy.