Some might mistakenly believe this is a rational classification between an idealistic side and a realistic side. But that is not the case, given the international entanglements in which Iraq remains one of the key axes. Iraq, which the United States has not abandoned—even if it seemed to have handed it over to Iran after the withdrawal of its forces in 2011—still constitutes an American concern. It is not a meaningless state for the United States, because, at the very least, it represents one of the most important lines of confrontation with, or openings to, Iran. That is not everything, of course. Here, I do not refer only to the American oil companies operating in Iraq, but also to the American embassy in Baghdad, which is one of the largest American embassies in the world.

If Iraqis view their country’s future in terms of black and white—that is, good and evil—then others, whether American or Iranian, see countless colors, each representing a specific state. They are not in a hurry, unlike the Iraqis, who pick fruits before they ripen. Much water has flowed under the bridges without their realizing it.

The sectarian quota system, invented by the Americans, was the trap that paved the way for transforming political sectarianism into social sectarianism. Iraq became a double victim: the occupying authority sought to erase its centrality, which Iran exploited by dominating the state through its proxies. Iraqis, however, are supposed to know their country better than others and care about the future of their generations. Yet that assumption becomes theoretical rhetoric against the wave of doctrinal deception, which replaced sectarian ideology—a theoretical concept—with citizenship, an expression of tangible reality. Due to the collapse of the Iraqi education system, Iraqis lost one of their most important national compasses, as their view of the republican past was reduced to a relic of the Baath era. This served as a prologue to their impoverished imagination, which emptied their collective memory of history.

When it comes to the question of Iraqis separating from their state’s contemporary history, the issue can be unraveled by looking back over the past three decades, which form the historical background of the current political and social scenes. Adding 13 years of sanctions to the 23 years that followed the American-imposed system on the wreckage of the Baath regime gives us 36 years of Iraqis living detached from the true meaning of life. This means that generations have grown up amid a successive series of deprivation and deception operations.

From this perspective, one can understand the reasons that led to the sectarian language replacing the national language. It is not unrelated to what the new political system did when it removed civic education from the curricula. The religious parties empowered by the Americans to rule were fully aware of their actions, relying on the sectarian isolation plan implemented by the American occupying authority. Consequently, the ruling political class today—most of whom are young—sees in nationalism nothing but a call to return to Baath rule, which they have only come to know through deceptive stories.

Iraq's current problem lies in its people. This is an approach that cannot be dismissed simply because, as some may assume, it is offensive to peoples. It is true that peoples are generally right, while systems bear the cost of their mistakes. The sectarian parties achieved their historical grudge by tearing the Iraqi people apart and turning them into warring sects. That is true, but it is also true that the Iraqi people bear responsibility for the chaos resulting from their passive stance and lack of resistance when they were divided into warring sects, after previously enjoying a common life in which Iraqi citizenship prevailed.

Modern Iraqi state history has not witnessed a single incident confirming the arrest of a Shiite for being Shiite, or a Kurd for being Kurdish alone. Politics was always the reason. When Iraq was a strong state, its people did not focus on their secondary affiliations, as citizenship served as their unifying foundation. But today, those placing their fate on a sectarian scale face a destiny that will almost certainly be grim. This is their responsibility, which cannot be absolved by the consequences of the war into which they were dragged by a regressive sectarian tendency.