Defeat for a national football team is not enjoyable for any country. It goes without saying, then, that the 1-0 defeat inflicted on the Saudi team by Iraq in the Asia Cup final in Jakarta is deeply disappointing. There is, however, a remarkable silver lining to this particular cloud. The sight of Iraqis — Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds; Muslims and Christians; in Basra, Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk; in exiled communities around the world — all rooting for the same team, cheering together, ecstatic together in victory, embracing each other without the slightest interest in who belongs to which community is wonderfully encouraging. It sends an inspirational message, forgotten amidst all the carnage that has plagued Iraq since the 2004 invasion. It says that despite all the killing, maiming and hatred, ordinary Iraqis still retain a deep and abiding attachment to their country. There is a sense of national unity that goes deeper than anything that divides.
The way in which football fever and national pride at winning the Asia Cup have transcended the Iraqi political and sectarian divide is a slap in the face for all those bigots who want a Shiite-controlled or a Sunni-controlled Iraq or a separate Kurdistan. How they must have hated seeing Iraqis, side by side, celebrating national victory on the streets. Likewise, it should be a wake-up call for Iraq’s squabbling politicians. Where they have failed, football has succeeded. It is time they realized that there is so much more to gain from championing unity rather than division, both for the country and their own careers. The message too needs to be heard abroad — in Washington, in London, in the UN and elsewhere. All those who had increasingly begun to conclude that Iraqi national unity was dead and that the country should be allowed to split into three parts will have to drop that idea. It has been proved conclusively wrong in just one football competition.
And it needs to be heard regionally. Arab governments want a united Iraq; the very idea that it could split apart is wholly unacceptable. They should, therefore, respond with ardor and urgency to this spontaneous demonstration of Iraqi national unity — by coordinated political action to help end the country’s divisions.
The carnage would be considerably reduced if the flow of arms and militants into Iraq were stopped. Any outside country, Arab or non-Arab, that interferes in Iraq, that stirs up the political tensions there or sends in arms and men to continue the violence should be put on warning by the Arab League that such actions will not be tolerated. Any Arab government that violates that warning should have its membership suspended. Suspension is not a policy that has been much used in the past; too often inaction has been preferred in the name of Arab consensus. But effectiveness comes only from decisiveness. Iraqis have shown — with wild enthusiasm — their wish to remain united. Here is the chance for fellow Arabs to respond. Why not, likewise, with equally wild enthusiasm?
