A supporter of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr carries the Iraqi flag as he walks down a road blocked by burning tires during a demonstration in Iraq's southern city of Basra on August 29, 2022. Dozens of angry supporters of the powerful cleric stormed the Republican Palace, a ceremonial building in the fortified Green Zone, a security source said, shortly after Sadr said he was quitting politics. Photo: AFP

Despite denial from the White House over reports that it had ordered personnel to evacuate from Baghdad, capital of Iraq, video clips and pictures which appear to show US Embassy employees in Baghdad being evacuated by a military helicopter still went viral on the internet. Some netizens say that after "Saigon moment" and "Kabul moment," the US military seems to be facing a new defining point - "Baghdad moment."

Iraq has once again felt the brunt of "democracy" - "democracy" wrapped as a "gift" from the US. Reports about deadly violence, erupted in Baghdad, after Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr announced on Monday that he was quitting political life and closing his political offices, suddenly became the spotlight of the international community. Al-Sadr's supporters stormed Iraq's presidential palace the same day, and some fired rocket-propelled grenades into Green Zone, Baghdad, the resulting clashes with security forces left at least 30 people dead as of press time. Also on Monday, the White House called for "dialogue" to ease the country's political problems.

On the surface, the unrest broke out because of a political deadlock since October last year, when Al-Sadr was confirmed the winner of the parliamentary election, yet has failed to form a new government until now. And the US is the hidden hand that explains why the political struggle of this country comes to where it is today.

The US, which marched straight into Iraq as a "savior," left only a mess in the country. Washington first launched a war to almost destroy Iraq, then rebuilt the latter's political system with the so-called democracy. Yet instead of having peace and stability, Iraq today is still very much at war, with rising terrorism and sectarian violence. 

According to a report by National Public Radio in 2021, after the 2003 invasion, the US-backed Iraqi Governing Council established a system of sectarian apportionment and "this quota system divides cabinet roles and ministries and their resources between ethno-sectarian parties."

Yet this only led to escalating restraints and opposition among different forces, and more chaotic situation in the country. 

Since then, Iraq has to face the rise of fierce confrontation among different ethnic, religious groups and political forces after each and every election, resulting in frequent difficult births of new governments. The clash on Monday was not the first one, and definitely not the last.

The scenario is not limited to Iraq, but occurs in many countries to which the US has delivered "democracy," Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times. Observers generally believe that the Western system has made sectarian divisions and struggles in the Middle East much worse. 

While the end of the Ukraine crisis is not yet in sight, a new conflict is emerging in Iraq. Both are "masterpieces" of the US. The causes of the two cases are different, yet both Ukraine and Iraq are suffering from consequences thanks to US strategic mistakes and its strong interference.

Both face huge amounts of property damages, massive displacement of people and national decay. As early as March this year, over 6.5 million people are displaced inside Ukraine and 3.7 million people have been forced to flee the country, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. And the number is still rising. Now a similar trend is taking place in Iraq. This mirrors the hardship the US brings wherever the US sticks its hands to, and even the instability the US caused to the world order. 

Unfortunately, no power is holding the US accountable for all the chaos it created, be it in Iraq, or in other parts of the Middle East. In terms of security risks that Washington has brought to the region, all it knows is targeted military strikes, without ever considering local economic and social development. Granted, there is no Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri, but al-Qaeda still exist, hidden security dangers are thus far from being eliminated. All those lead to one conclusion - the failure of US-led global governance, said Liu.