Iran is playing a divisive, underhand game with the future of the entire Middle East, writes Osama Saraya* The Arabs live at the fault lines of history, geography, and politics. Theirs is a region that has been crisscrossed by imperial armies for centuries: Persians and Greeks, Mongols and Ottomans, Europeans and finally this. Everyone had something to look for, oil now, trade routes in the past. This complex history spawned two parallel realities: one embedded in the machinations of politicians, the other more subtle and perverse. In this part of the world, it is often true that truth is unfathomable, for you can only dig for it in the rubble of conjecture. Take the US invasion of Iraq. How many lies were told? How many falsehoods were uttered in brazen confidence? One reality is superimposed on another; one mistake is piled upon another. Iraq is a case in point. The US presence in Iraq has created new problems and revived older ones. Let's face it. The Americans didn't invent Arab-Persian rivalry. They didn't instigate the Sunni-Shia rift. Nor did they create the Muslim-Christian divide. But they have rubbed salt in all those old wounds, allowing ancient grievances to resurface, encouraging old ailments to fester. The Americans thought they'd walk in, overthrow Saddam, and start away on a clean slate. What they did, instead, was open a Pandora's box of turmoil and venom, from Somalia to Lebanon and from Syria to Iran. Now the best they can hope for is a decent exit, and even this isn't going to be easy. The US president has just come up with a new strategy for Iraq, but his critics outnumber his supporters, even in Washington. The new strategy has some good points though. It calls for an end to sectarian strife, disarmament of Shia militia, national reconciliation, and a new Iraqi constitution. But in America, the mood is averse to sending more troops to Iraq. And in the Arab world, people want a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops. The US president wants to limit the damage to US interests in Iraq, but how about the damage his invasion of Iraq has caused? Who will heal the wounds? This is a task that has fallen on the shoulders of Arab forces of moderation. The moderates need to help Iraq maintain its unity and remain faithful to its stance of pan-Arabism. And the moderates need to do something about the Iranian-US conflict. The Iranian-US debacle can easily spill across borders. It can affect Gulf countries in the same way it has wreaked havoc upon Iraq. Many Arabs and Europeans are worried about the confrontation between the US and Iran. The Arabs, however, are worried about Iran's growing influence in the region, know that a military confrontation would be nothing short of disastrous. If cornered, they are likely to do a crazy thing or two, especially in the Gulf. Thousands of Iranians are in Iraq, some of whom are active in the ranks of the Shia militia. Others are training the Iraqis to engage in acts of violence. Iran is not particularly interested in keeping Iraq stable, and neither in one piece. Iran has been using Hizbullah to undermine the government of Fouad Al-Siniora. It has actively undermined all efforts for mediation and reconciliation in Lebanon. Should the Lebanese opposition succeed in bringing down the government, Lebanon would be ruined, with no prospects for outside help or domestic revival. Iran has been obstructing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas every step of the way, simply because it doesn't want to see an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict, a conflict it is using to manipulate the entire region. Because of Iran, Egypt has been having trouble mediating in Palestine. Because of Iran, the Syrians are becoming more hard- line than before. Iran wants to spread the Shia doctrine in Sunni countries. This is not religion; this is politics. Iran doesn't care for the consequences of its actions. It only wants to be number one. Are Iran and the US in cahoots? The claim is preposterous, but their policies seem to be heading in the same direction: that of "uncreative" chaos. Some say that the Iranians have no ill intentions towards the region. I doubt it. Iran is not just reacting to the Americans. It has always been disruptive in its methods and aims. And yet, a US-Iranian confrontation is the last thing this region needs. * The writer is editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram.
