A Conflict Overseas

What was once a prosperous home to regal kings and vocatious merchants is now the primary battlefield in the war against terror.. The continued fighting between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims, as well as an ongoing war between the United States and remnants of Saddam Hussein's Iraq has taken a heavy toll on the country. But is all the news coming out of Iraq bad? Is the situation constantly getting worse? Or are there signs of hope beginning to emerge from the rubble?

Iraq: Pre-Colonial

Iraq has had its troubles between its two major religious groups since history has been recorded. During Iraq's pre-colonial ages there were constant disputes between Sunni's and Shi'ites over land and general rule. These battles continued through the entire pre-colonial era of Iraq. In the late 9th and 10th centuries, Iraq was the last remnant of a caliph state that at one time ruled the entire middle-eastern provinces as one. In the year 945, Iraq entered the dynasty known as the Buyids, its residents were identified Shi'ites. "The line was founded by the three sons of Buyeh (or Buwayh), 'Ali, Hasan, and Ahmad. This dynasty lasted until the Turkish Conquest."

Iraq and its Struggles as a Colony

From the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries, the course of Iraqi history was affected by the continuing conflicts between the Safavid Empire in Iran and the Ottoman Turks. The Safavids, who were the first to declare Shia Islam the official religion of Iran, sought to control Iraq both because of the Shia holy places at An Najaf and Karbala and because Baghdad, the seat of the old Abbasid Empire, had great symbolic value. The Ottomans, fearing that Shia Islam would spread to Anatolia (Asia Minor), sought to maintain Iraq as a Sunni-controlled buffer state. In 1509 the Safavids, led by Ismail Shah (1502-24), conquered Iraq, thereby initiating a series of protracted battles with the Ottomans. In 1514 Sultan Selim the Grim attacked Ismail's forces and in 1535 the Ottomans, led by Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-66), conquered Baghdad from the Safavids. The Safavids reconquered Baghdad in 1623 under the leadership of Shah Abbas (1587-1629), but they were expelled in 1638 after a series of brilliant military maneuvers by the dynamic Ottoman sultan, Murad IV. The introduction of Western disciplines in the schools accompanied a greater Western political and economic presence in Iraq. The British had established a consulate at Baghdad in 1802, and a French consulate followed shortly thereafter. European interest in modernizing Iraq to facilitate Western commercial interests coincided with the Ottoman reforms. Steamboats appeared on the rivers in 1836, the telegraph was introduced in 1861, and the Suez Canal was opened in 1869, providing Iraq with greater access