Iraq

Situated in southwestern Asia on the Persian Gulf with a coastline measuring less than 37 miles, Iraq has a population of almost 30 million people. The history of Iraq is characterized by strong social networks based on family, ethnic, and religious ties. Between 75 and 80 percent of Iraqis describe themselves as Arab, while the Kurdish minority accounts for 15 to 20 percent and Assyrian and Turcoman for about 5 percent. Islam is overwhelmingly the faith with the most followers (97 percent), but there is a small Christian community totaling 3 percent of the population. The Muslim group, however, is divided between Shiite and Sunni. Although the Shiite are the majority (60–65 percent), the large Sunni minority (32–37 percent) have often held key governmental positions. Within these groups, the most important networks are the 150 major tribes, subdivided into about 2,000 smaller clans, of which the majority of Iraqis are members. These ethnic and religious networks have contributed to the country's bloody massacres after the second Gulf War as, in certain cases, they sought dominance and control over each other. Particularly throughout the 20th century, ethnic affiliation has gained importance for Iraqis also as a reaction against the American-organized multinational forces that entered the country following the second war. The Iraq War has also affected international digital social networks as the Internet has become a virtual site for debate between those who supported military intervention and those who rejected it. Iraq is one country where control of the Internet is at its most repressive.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq by a multinational force led by the United States, the United Kingdom, and other coalition allies in search of weapons of mass destruction and the upset of Saddam Hussein contributed to the upset of the balance between Sunni and Shiite that had held throughout the years of Hussein's long dictatorship. Although Hussein was a cruel autocrat who did not hesitate to eliminate political opponents, his single-party regime, centered on the Ba'ath Party, was not characterized by religious ideology in spite of having Sunni in key government posts. Yet, the years of the dictatorship were tragic for the country's ethnic minorities, especially the Kurds. Living in the northern region, Kurdish people were actively persecuted by the regime, whose military offensives in the late 1980s such as the Al-Anfal Campaign were officially directed against the Peshmerga. The word pershmerga literally means “those who face death,” and thus identifies Kurdish fighters in general, but often specifically refers to the military wings of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). In reality, Hussein's campaigns were aimed against the entire Kurdish people and led to mass summary executions of Kurdish civilians and the destruction of entire villages. Assyrians and Turcomans were also targeted during these campaigns. Human rights activists have also denounced that during these campaigns, the Iraqi army made extensive use of chemical weapons. It is partly on these incidents that the coalition forces built their case for a second Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Yet, the weapons of mass destruction that coalition forces claimed to have been hidden by Hussein's orders were never found.

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