Between Iraq and a Hard Place

THE DEEPENING CRISIS gripping Iraq is a clear and present danger to global security. The crisis is fundamentally political in nature, however, not military. It cannot be resolved through the use of force, least of all by external military action from the United States. In the past, U.S. intervention has been the problem in Iraq, not the solution. Indeed many of Iraq’s current problems can be traced to the consequences of the U.S. invasion and occupation.

The United States now has a responsibility to help the Iraqi people, having contributed so much to their current travails, but our involvement should be diplomatic and humanitarian, not military. We should work through the United Nations to exert pressure on the violent extremists who are threatening the region and to mobilize international support for political and diplomatic solutions to the conflicts.

A major center of concern today is the extremist group called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, now identifying as the Islamic State. This group led the military takeover of Mosul and other Iraqi cities. It is a direct offshoot of the al Qaeda forces that emerged during the armed resistance to the U.S. invasion, but is now a rival to, and even more extreme than, al Qaeda.

Prior to 2003, al Qaeda did not exist in Iraq. It was only after the U.S. invasion, which shattered the state and sparked widespread violence and insurgency, that Islamist extremist groups were able to gain a foothold in Iraq. American actions fostered staggering levels of corruption and exacerbated growing Sunni-Shia sectarian tensions.

Islamic State extremists now control major cities and stretches of territory in Iraq and Syria. In recent months many hundreds have died in the fighting, hundreds of thousands have fled their homes, and sectarian violence has spread. Yet to date no coordinated international action has been taken to counter the growing danger or to save Iraq and Syria from further disintegration.

This crisis in Iraq poses a threat not only to the region but to the world. The battle-hardened forces of the Islamic State include hundreds of fighters from Europe and Chechnya and even some from the United States. Some of these fighters will likely take their warped ideology and violent skills with them when they return home. The Islamic State is building a de facto terrorist state across northern Iraq and Syria and destabilizing the region. It poses a greater and more cohesive danger than al Qaeda.

Rather than taking unilateral military action, the United States should take this crisis to the U.N. and work with other nations to seek a global response. Among the actions the U.N. could adopt are the following:

• Impose an arms embargo and targeted financial and travel sanctions against the leaders of the Islamic State and their supporters. Prohibit any form of assistance for the terrorist organization and its operations.
   
• Join with neighboring states in convening an international conference for Iraq, to assess the current security and political challenges facing the country and the region and to develop appropriate diplomatic, political, and security responses.
   
• Reconvene the Geneva diplomatic process on Syria, with the full participation of Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other neighboring states, to renew the search for a negotiated solution to the Syrian civil war and enhanced security for neighboring states.
   
• Increase humanitarian assistance for the millions of refugees who have fled the war in Syria and the spreading conflict in Iraq.

The proposed actions are no panacea for peace. U.N. engagement will not magically resolve the deep crises afflicting Iraq, Syria, and the region. More concerted multilateral action can help, however, and at a minimum can heighten global involvement and help to broaden the global alliance against the Islamic State.

There is nothing to lose, and perhaps much to be gained, by bringing this crisis to the U.N. The time to act is now, before the fire becomes a regional conflagration.