Both my parents are Iraqi Arabs from Baghdad. They escaped Iraq in the early 90s during Saddam's infamous Faith Campaign, where both my relatively leftist dad and my shia mother both fell under some prosecution. They left to Syria and then got resettled in the US thanks to a UN program. I speak fluent Arabic and meet up every year with my extended family in Jordan or Turkey, as both countries are relatively safe for Iraqis.
AMA about Iraqi politics, Iraqi society and the general cultural and political state of the Arab World. I will answer a few questions directly, but I'll keep the rest for late night today as I will go on a long ass drive in an hour.
Whats your opinion on the current iraqi gov, do you see them as progress for your country after saddam, and what do you think about the iranian influence in iraq, is it good or a bad thing
That's a very difficult question that millions of Iraqis struggle with, and the general answer is both yes and no. Iraqis today are a little freer, they travel a little more and especially Shias are way more free to practice their version of Islam. On the other hand, thanks to the American-installed structures, the "socialist" aspects of Baathism have been almost entierly stripped away and sold off in insanely corrupt deals. No more quality free healthcare, no more quality free education, no more deliveries of high quality essentials like rice and sugar to poor families. In summary, the current government is more corrupt and provides generally worse services, but at the same time you can at least call your local politician a dumbass without getting sent to a secret prison. So no progress, but more of a sidestep imo.
This is also a very sensitive subject, as it can examined through multiple lenses. From a general standpoint, it's good that Iraq is resisting further American imperialism through Iran, but sometimes you have to look deeper to see a different perspective. Despite "critical anti-imperialist support" for Iran, we still have to remember that Iran is a deeply religious fundamentalist country with a long-lasting historical interest for Iraq. It's very sad to see, but for most of the Iraqi working class, Iran represents a right-wing movement that intends to further militarize the country and directly attack personal freedoms. The massive youth protests last year were definitely American-backed in many ways, but those protests had youth that genuinely believed in women's rights, sexual liberation and LGBT rights, which is all unprecedented in Iraq. I think a good way to summarize the Iran problem is that most Iraqis want Iranian religious fundamentalism out, but would still support Iran if a US-led war against Iran started