Summary: Arabs never forget that Iraq is a firm pillar of the greater Arab state and a meeting point for its people of various creeds and ideas, and it is a source of brilliance and support for its siblings in these difficult international circumstances and highly sensitive, extremely complex regional conditions.

Iraq is a major Arab country and guardian of the eastern gateway to its Arab world, and God has endowed it with natural abundance in water and oil, as well as fertile soil and land rich in agricultural and mineral production resources. Iraq is the land of blackness (Sawad) as a testament to fertility and an indication of abundance. But that ancient Arab country, with its civilization, beloved for its status, bold in its policy, has been exposed to violent storms and angry winds. It has known continuous wars, perpetual conflicts, and a long siege, and adventurers and bloodshedders have succeeded one another.

Everyone recalls that the Iraqi people faced tyrants and oppressors in the darkest and most obscure periods of history. They knew the Mongol invasion and the Tatar onslaught, yet they remained steadfast, bold, clinging to their Arabism and holding fast to their nationalism. For all these reasons together, the news of the new Iraq—which seeks to emerge from the ordeals of wars, crimes of corruption, suffocating crises, and deep-rooted problems—caught my attention.

What is wonderful about the Iraqi people is that they are tough and strong-willed. It is the Iraq of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Iraq of Islam: Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds. It is the Iraq of al-A'zamiyya, al-Kazimiyya, the holy shrines and sanctuaries, especially for followers of the Shia sect, and the connection of events between the dawn of Islam and its midday. Therefore, as we write today about Iraq, because it is always present in the Arab mind and has its unwavering status, despite being a country that stirs greed, invites crises, and is capable of confrontation in various circumstances, it is also the Iraq of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf and Saddam Hussein. But it is an ancient people who review their past and criticize their present, even if some major events in its history are stained with blood, as happened with the fall of the monarchy and the birth of the Republic of Iraq, which possesses an army that derives its cohesion from a popular resilience that is admirable, whether Arab or Kurdish, with its nationalism and reconciliation with its identity.

I recall what one senior Arab diplomat narrated to me about the Arab League's opinion during the drafting of the clause referring to Iraq's Arabism in the preamble of its new constitution, and how Kurdish politicians were behind affirming Iraq's Arabism while committing to its other obligations acceptable to all parties, in the context of an impressive coexistence. It matters to me in these circumstances to point out a number of pivotal observations, the most important of which are:

First, the Arab countries in the Levant, the Peninsula, Iraq, and the borderlands are similar in composition and follow a fixed pattern. What happens in one is reflected in its neighbors by the logic of geography and by virtue of close historical ties and shared culture. Iraq appears as a model country in this regard, having an Asian neighbor to the east and north and an Arab neighbor to the west and south. If we review the social history of the Arab Mashreq, we find it highly similar, almost reflecting the concept of regional unity enjoyed by the countries of that region. Iraq in particular is a country of national neighborhood, surrounded by peoples not all Arab, and therefore it became a window to other cultures that gave it a degree of diversity and a level of pluralism. Iraq is a civilizational meeting point and an Arab-Kurdish amalgam that brings together many identities whose importance we do not dispute. Pluralism is a blessing, not a curse, as some imagine.

Second, when the Islamic state arose during Abbasid rule, we witnessed a unique model of the stable state in that distant history. But just as pluralism attracts a special allure for some, it also attracts greed and evils like those that Iraq has gone through. And if Iraqis are Arabs and Kurds, Sunnis and Shia, that diversity has historically given it roles it is proud of. And if followers of Imam al-A'zam Abu Hanifa al-Nu'man and the Shia, who exalt the stature of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib since the dawn and rise of Islam—I say that each side proceeds on the same path in deep faith, because Iraq is for everyone without discrimination or distinction. I was often amazed throughout the Iran-Iraq war at the stance of Arab Shia, especially those from Iraq: whether they were in a dilemma or whether their Arabism was dominant and superior to others, except for the teachings of true Islam?

When I was Egypt's ambassador in Vienna, my colleague from Iraq was a distinguished ambassador and a dear friend. One day I asked him, "What about the stance of Iraqi Shia toward that war?" He said, "They are an integral part of the national population fabric." He gave me clear examples in this context, then added, "You have known me for years and know that I was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iraqi army during that war, but what you do not know is which sect of Islam I belong to." So everyone is equal before the teachings of his religion and his respect for others. That ambassador friend surprised me when I discovered that he was from an ancient Iraqi Shia household. Historical experience confirms that despite its multiplicity of religions and sects, Iraq is ultimately homogeneous in population, comprising a mixture of religious groups and political sects. Likewise, it is no secret that during the monarchical era, Iraq was Hashemite under the leadership of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jama'a, then after the fall of Saddam it became a model of pluralism in ruling the country and managing its affairs on the Lebanese model in form, not substance, due to the different circumstances between the two cases.

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Third, over the recent decades, Iraq has been subjected to fierce attacks that drove it into a tragic situation. It has suffered economic pressures and financial deficits that were not expected before. Baghdad and its prosperous banks experienced a state of organized robbery and systematic plundering of the potential of that rich country, which possesses both wealth and heritage simultaneously. Financial corruption reached figures that the new Iraqi government under Mr. Ali al-Zaidi speaks about, until we are faced with a scene of astonishment from rational Iraqi parties searching, reviewing, asking, and interrogating: where did the money of the Iraqi people go, who stand on the threshold of a comprehensive developmental vision and a new economic thought? We salute the Iraq of awakening and the recovery of rights, and we see that the model of the Saudi Crown Prince in recovering funds has become repeatable with those who have, in the face of those who have not.

Fourth, the Iraqi-Iranian neighborhood appears as a point of contact between divergent forces, including an army that is recovering quickly and a popular mobilization that played an influential role in cleansing the country of the filth of terrorism and the tyranny of its proponents. By the way, I personally do not deny Persian influences on Iraq's Arabism, nor Arab influences on Iran's Safavid character. What I am keen on, with full awareness, is Iraq's Arabism, which stands as an impenetrable dam against those who doubt it.