Ralph Peters

Iraq was created after World War I out of three provinces of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. In the following viewpoint, written shortly after the removal of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, Ralph Peters argues that it may be impossible for Iraq to remain a single, unified state because of divisions between its main ethnic groups. Iraq’s Shiites and Kurds, who have suffered under the rule of Iraq’s Sunni Arabs, may long for their own nations, he argues, regardless of practical difficulties. While the United States should continue to aim for a democratic and unified Iraq, it should not stand in the way of Iraq’s dissolution if that is what its people want, he concludes. Peters, a retired military officer, is a columnist and author of Beyond...