Jump to content

Talk:Iraq

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bloddyfriday (talk | contribs) at 13:56, 30 March 2007 (asked for opinions). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:FAOL

WikiProject iconIraq B‑class Top‑importance
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Iraq, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Iraq on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.IraqWikipedia:WikiProject IraqTemplate:WikiProject IraqIraq articles
BThis article has been rated as B-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
TopThis article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.
WikiProject iconAssyria Unassessed (inactive)
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Assyria, a project which is currently considered to be inactive.AssyriaWikipedia:WikiProject AssyriaTemplate:WikiProject AssyriaAssyria articles
???This article has not yet received a rating on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.

Template:V0.5

WikiProject iconWestern Asia B‑class
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of the WikiProject Western Asia, which collaborates on articles related to Western Asia. To participate, you can edit this article or visit the project page for more details.Western AsiaWikipedia:WikiProject Western AsiaTemplate:WikiProject Western AsiaWestern Asia articles
BThis article has been rated as B-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
???This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.
"WP:WPC" redirects here. For the WikiProject on WikiProjects, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Council. For the editing tool, see Wikipedia:WPCleaner. See also Wikipedia:WikiProject Categories and Wikipedia:WikiProject China.
Project Countries main pageTalkParticipantsTemplatesArticlesPicturesTo doArticle assessmentCountries portal

This WikiProject helps develop country-related pages (of all types) and works toward standardizing the formats of sets and types of country-related pages. For example, the sets of Culture of x, Administrative divisions of x, and Demographics of x articles, etc. – (where "x" is a country name) – and the various types of pages, like stubs, categories, etc.

WikiProject Countries articles as of April 5, 2024

What's new?

Articles for deletion

Categories for discussion

(10 more...)

Redirects for discussion

Good article nominees

Featured article reviews

Requests for comments

Peer reviews

Requested moves

Articles to be merged

Articles to be split

Articles for creation

To do list

Scope

This WikiProject is focused on country coverage (content/gaps) and presentation (navigation, page naming, layout, formatting) on Wikipedia, especially country articles (articles with countries as their titles), country outlines, and articles with a country in their name (such as Demographics of Germany), but also all other country-related articles, stubs, categories, and lists pertaining to countries.

Navigation

This WikiProject helps Wikipedia's navigation-related WikiProjects (Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge, WikiProject Categories, WikiProject Portals, etc.) develop and maintain the navigation structures (menus, outlines, lists, templates, and categories) pertaining to countries. And since most countries share the same subtopics ("Cities of", "Cuisine of", "Religion in", "Prostitution in", etc.), it is advantageous to standardize their naming, and their order of presentation in Wikipedia's indexes and table-of-contents-like pages.

Categories

Click on "►" below to display subcategories:
Countries
Click on "►" below to display subcategories:
WikiProject Countries

Subpages

Formatting

Many country and country-related articles have been extensively developed, but much systematic or similar information about many countries is not presented in a consistent way. Inconsistencies are rampant in article naming, headings, data presented, types of things covered, order of coverage, etc. This WikiProject works towards standardizing page layouts of country-related articles of the same type ("Geography of", "Government of", "Politics of", "Wildlife of", etc.).

We are also involved with the standardization of country-related stubs, standardizing the structure of country-related lists and categories (the category trees for countries should be identical for the most part, as most countries share the same subcategories – though there will be some differences of course).

Goals

  1. Provide a centralized resource guide of all related topics in Wikipedia, as well as spearhead the effort to improve and develop them.
  2. Create uniform templates that serve to identify all related articles as part of this project, as well as stub templates to englobe all related stubs under specific categories.
  3. Standardize articles about different nations, cultures, holidays, and geography.
  4. Verify historical accuracy and neutrality of all articles within the scope of the project.
  5. Create, expand and cleanup related articles.

Structure and guidelines

Although referenced during FA and GA reviews, this structure guide is advisory only, and should not be enforced against the wishes of those actually working on the article in question. Articles may be best modeled on the layout of an existing article of appropriate structure and topic (See: Canada, Japan and Australia)

Lead section

Shortcut
See also: WP:Lead section

Opening paragraphs

The article should start with a good simple introduction, giving name of the country, general location in the world, bordering countries, seas and the like. Also give other names by which the country may still be known (for example Holland, Persia). Also, add a few facts about the country, the things that it is known for (for example the mentioning of windmills in the Netherlands article).

The etymology of a country's name, if worth noting, may be dealt with in the Etymology or History section. Naming disputes may also belong in the Etymology or History section.

Overly detailed information or infobox data duplication such as listing random examples, numbered statistics or naming individuals should be reserved for the infobox or body of the article.

Example: . Canada and Japan as below .

checkY A developed country, Canada has a high nominal per capita income globally and its advanced economy ranks among the largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Recognized as a middle power, Canada's strong support for multilateralism and internationalism has been closely related to its foreign relations policies of peacekeeping and aid for developing countries. Canada is part of multiple international organizations and forums.
☒N A highly developed country, Canada has the seventeenth-highest nominal per-capita income globally and the sixteenth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index. Its advanced economy is the tenth-largest in the world and the 14th for military expenditure by country, Canada is part of several major international institutions including the United Nations, NATO, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the Organization of American States.
checkY Japan is a highly developed country and a great power, with one of the largest economies by nominal GDP. Japan has renounced its right to declare war, though it maintains a self-defense force that ranks as one of the world's strongest militaries. A global leader in the automotive, robotics, and electronics industries, the country has made significant contributions to science and technology, and is one of the world's largest exporters and importers. It is part of multiple major international and intergovernmental institutions.
☒N Japan is a member of numerous international organizations, including the United Nations (since 1956), the OECD, and the Group of Seven. Although it has renounced its right to declare war, the country maintains Self-Defense Forces that rank as 10th for military expenditure by country, After World War II, Japan experienced record growth in an economic miracle, becoming the second-largest economy in the world by 1990. As of 2021, the country's economy is the third-largest by nominal GDP, the fourth-largest by PPP and ranked "very high" on the Human Development Index.

Infobox

There is a table with quick facts about the country called an infobox. A template for the table can be found at the bottom of this page.

Although the table can be moved out to the template namespace (to e.g. [[Template:CountryName Infobox]]) and thus easen the look of the edit page, most Wikipedians still disapprove as of now, see the talk page.

The contents are as follows:

  • The official long-form name of the country in the local language is to go on top as the caption. If there are several official names (languages), list all (if reasonably feasible). The conventional long-form name (in English), if it differs from the local long-form name, should follow the local name(s). This is not a parameter to list every recognized language of a country, but rather for listing officially recognize national languages.
  • The conventional short-form name of the country, recognised by the majority of the English-speaking world; ideally, this should also be used for the name of the article.
  • A picture of the national flag. You can find flags at the List of flags. A smaller version should be included in the table itself, a larger-sized version in a page titled Flag of <country>, linked to via the "In Detail" cell. Instead of two different images, use the autothumbnail function that wiki offers.
  • A picture of the national coat of arms. A good source is required for this, but not yet available. It should be no more than 125 pixels in width.
  • Below the flag and coat of arms is room for the national motto, often displayed on the coat of arms (with translation, if necessary).
  • The official language(s) of the country. (rot the place to list every recognized or used language)
  • The political status. Specify if it is a sovereign state or a dependent territory.
  • The capital city, or cities. Explain the differences if there are multiple capital cities using a footnote (see example at the Netherlands).
  • If the data on the population is recent and reliable, add the largest city of the country.
  • Land area: The area of the country in square kilometres (km²) and square miles (sq mi) with the world-ranking of this country. Also add the % of water, which can be calculated from the data in the Geography article (make it negligible if ~0%).
  • Population: The number of inhabitants and the world-ranking; also include a year for this estimate (should be 2000 for now, as that is the date of the ranking). For the population density you can use the numbers now available.
  • GDP: The amount of the gross domestic product on ppp base and the world ranking. also include the amount total and per head.
  • HDI: Information pertaining to the UN Human Development Index – the value, year (of value), rank (with ordinal), and category (colourised as per the HDI country list).
  • Currency; the name of the local currency. Use the pipe if the currency name is also used in other countries: [[Australian dollar|dollar]].
  • Time zone(s); the time zone or zones in which the country is relative to UTC
  • National anthem; the name of the National anthem and a link to the article about it.
  • Internet TLD; the top-level domain code for this country.
  • Calling Code; the international Calling Code used for dialing this country.
Lead map

There is a long-standing practice that areas out of a state's control should be depicted differently on introductory maps, to not give the impression the powers of a state extend somewhere they do not. This is for various types of a lack of control, be it another state (eg. Crimea, bits of Kashmir) or a separatist body (eg. DPR, TRNC).

Sections

Further information: Wikipedia:Summary style and Wikipedia:Too much detail
Shortcut

A section should be written in summary style, containing just the important facts. Undue weight can be given in several ways, including but not limited to the depth of detail, the quantity of text, prominence of placement, the juxtaposition of statements, and the use of imagery. Main article fixation is an observed effect that editors are likely to encounter in county articles. If a section it is too large, information should be transferred to the sub-article. Avoid sections focusing on criticisms or controversies. Try to achieve a more neutral text by folding debates into the narrative, rather than isolating them into sections.

Articles may consist of the following sections:

  • Etymology sections are often placed first (sometimes called name depending on the information in the article). Include only if due information is available.
  • History – An outline of the major events in the country's history (about 4 to 6 paragraphs, depending on complexity of history), including some detail on current events. Sub-article: "History of X"
  • Politics – Overview of the current governmental system, possibly previous forms, some short notes on the parliament. Sub-article: "Politics of X"
  • Administrative divisions – Overview of the administrative subdivisions of the country. Name the section after the first level of subdivisions (and subsequent levels, if available) (e.g. provinces, states, departments, districts, etc.) and give the English equivalent name, when available. Also include overseas possessions. This section should also include an overview map of the country and subdivisions, if available. The CIA World Factbook Maps can be used as a basis for the map, but plenty of other sources are available.
  • Geography – Details of the country's main geographic features and climate. Historical weather boxes should be reserved for sub articles. Sub-article: "Geography of X"
  • Economy – Details on the country's economy, major industries, bit of economic history, major trade partners, a tad comparison etc. Sub-article: "Economy of X"
  • Demographics – Mention the languages spoken, the major religions, some well known properties of the people of X, by which they are known. Uncontextualized data should be avoided. (See WP:NOTSTATS) Sub-article: "Demographics of X".
  • Culture – Summary of the country's specific forms of art (anything from painting to film) and its best known cultural contributions. Caution should be taken to ensure that the sections are not simply a listing of names or mini biographies of individuals accomplishments. Good example Canada#Sports. Sub-article: "Culture of X".
  • See also – Aim to include relevant information within the article and reduce the See also section See WP:See also. ('See also" sections of country articles normally only contain links to "Index of country" and "Outline of country" articles, alongside the main portal(s)).
  • References – Sums up "Notes", "References", and all "Further Reading" or "Bibliography"
  • External links – Links to official websites about the country. See WP:External links

Size

Shortcut
See also: Wikipedia:Summary style § Article size

See Wikipedia:Article size and MOS:LEADLENGTH for recommendations on the size of an article summary.

FA level articles generally consists of approximately 8,000 to 10,000 words, with a lead usually four paragraphs. See WP:SIZERULE
  • Australia = Prose size (text only): 60 kB (9304 words) "readable prose size"
  • Bulgaria = Prose size (text only): 56 kB (8847 words) "readable prose size"
  • Canada = Prose size (text only): 67 kB (10115 words) "readable prose size"
  • Germany = Prose size (text only): 54 kB (8456 words) "readable prose size"
  • Japan = Prose size (text only): 51 kB (8104 words) "readable prose size"

Hatnote

The link should be shown as below: Avoid link clutter of multiple child articles in a hierarchical setup as hatnotes. For example, Canada#Economy is a summary section with a hatnote to Economy of Canada that summarizes the history with a hatnote to Economic history of Canada. See WP:SUMMARYHATNOTE for more recommended hatnote usages. 

== Politics ==
{{main|Politics of the Netherlands}}

Charts

Shortcut

As prose text is preferred, overly detailed statistical charts and diagrams such as economic trends, weather boxes, historical population charts, and past elections results, etc, should be reserved for main sub articles on the topic as per WP:DETAIL as outlined at WP:NOTSTATS.

Galleries

Shortcut

Galleries or clusters of images are generally discouraged as they may cause undue weight to one particular section of a summary article and may cause accessibility problems, such as sand­wich­ing of text or fragmented image display for some readers. See WP:GALLERY for more information.

Footers

As noted at Wikipedia:Categories, lists, and series boxes the number of templates at the bottom of any article should be kept to a minimum. Country pages generally have footers that link to pages for countries in their geographic region. Footers for international organizations are not added to country pages, but they rather can go on subpages such as "Economy of..." and "Foreign relations of..." Categories for some of these organizations are also sometimes added. Templates for supranational organizations like the European Union and CARICOM are permitted. A list of the footers that have been created can be found at Wikipedia:WikiProject Countries/Templates/Navboxes, however note that many of these are not currently in use.

Transclusions

Transclusions are generally discouraged in country articles for reasons outlined below.

This section is transcluded from Help:Transclusion. (edit | history)
Shortcut
Further information: Wikipedia:Transclusion costs and benefits

Like many software technologies, transclusion comes with a number of drawbacks. The most obvious one being the cost in terms of increased machine resources needed; to mitigate this to some extent, template limits are imposed by the software to reduce the complexity of pages. Some further drawbacks are listed below.

Lists of countries

To determine which entities should be considered separate "countries" or included on lists, use the entries in ISO 3166-1 plus the list of states with limited recognition, except:

  • Lists based on only a single source should follow that source.
  • Specific lists might need more logical criteria. For example, list of sovereign states omits non-sovereign entities listed by ISO-3166-1. Lists of sports teams list whichever entities that have teams, regardless of sovereignty. Lists of laws might follow jurisdiction boundaries (for example, England and Wales is a single jurisdiction).

For consistency with other Wikipedia articles, the names of entities do not need to follow sources or ISO-3166-1. The names used as the titles of English Wikipedia articles are a safe choice for those that are disputed.

Resources

Sisterlinks

Related WikiProjects

Popular pages



Archives: 1 (April 2006), 2 (January 2007)

Mark Ammiano

The only reputable study of deaths caused by the conflict was The Lancet study. This places the mid-point estimate of deaths at 655,000. Another study, the Iraq Body Count project puts the death toll at less than 10% of this however, this uses reports from media sources and has no proven basis for this as a valid methodology.

This is astonishingly biased. The IBC project is by far the most respected and relied upon source of casualty figures. The Lancet Report is EXTREMELY controversial, and is usually not quoted excepted in highly "political" contexts.

So Tony Blair's statement that Britain was at risk of attack within 45 minutes means that the weapons program was still under (very rapid) development? Please do not try and put your lies into this article. 74.103.34.126 12:05, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think article should be marked as non-neutral until it is thoroughly reviewed and fixed. {{editprotected}} Erikmartin 18:14, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

☒N This is not an appropriate subject of a protected page edit request. Please wait four days for your account to become autoconfirmed, then you can edit the article for yourself. Try and seek consensus for these changes on this page in the meantime. Sandstein 06:12, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Plagiarism is a sign of weak mind. Please people - write your own words. It is not THAT hard!

Sign in the Green Zone (IZ) in Baghdad, Iraq (April 2004).

Plagiarism is so pervasive online, and sadly on wikipedia as well. Often when I run into the exact same words on wikipedia and elsewhere I am rather sure the other sites stole from wikipedia. However, here I find whole sentences lifted right from the CIA world factbook entry on Iraq! Now, don't get me wrong... I am certain the CIA is quite willing to stoop to plagiarism (hell, they TORTURE people, after all, so what do they care if they piss off English teachers like myself?) but I rather doubt they did in THIS case.

One quick example: 1st sentence in this article's section on economy and 1st sentence in equivalent cia factbook section. It greatly reduces the credibility of the site when you do this, so just don't. If you can't manage to use your OWN words then please don't use any. When you plagiarize you are hurting, not helping, the site. Really there is no excuse, not when you can so easily get help with your writing from others devoting time and effort to improve wikipedia. --Fitzhugh 03:17, 11 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

First Civilization?

iraq has first civilization? sumer? this should be deleted and corrected very soon. so what about the sind civilization in pakistan and civilizations such as burned city and jiroft in IRAN? if iraq had the first civilization, so why today they are too uncivilized?

The issue of the first civilization is speculative and doubtful. How about China?

agreed -- "first civilization" should be changed to "one of the earliest known civilizations". Similarly, in the Ancient History section "these civilizations produced the earliest writing" should be changed to "these civilizations produced some of the earliest known writing." I believe we definitely know of earlier writing, such as the Indus Valley Script. As for the location of truely the first civilization, that is an unknown. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Erikmartin (talk • contribs) 18:40, 27 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

The effect of the US invasion on reconstruction

What is the statement in Iraq#Reconstruction that

Reconstruction of Iraq has been difficult [...] due to [...] the influx of the US invasion

supposed to mean? The US invasion caused the damage and once it was complete, then reconstruction began, so the invasion which is no longer in progress can't be really getting in the way, can it?--Rudjek 22:28, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Category:Territories under military occupation

I see that the article was recently categorized as Territories under military occupation. Since, according to the article Multinational force in Iraq, the occupation formally ended on June 28, 2004, and there appears to be a status of forces agreement with the sovereign government, this would not appear to be NPOV. I propose reversion. --Boson 01:15, 22 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Is the government of Iraq sovereign? --- Safemariner 01:19, 22 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Category:Alleged puppet states

The categorization under "Alleged puppet states" carries the risk of spreading allegations without indicating by whom the allegations are made. I propose reversion. Perhaps the whole category should be deleted. At the very least, it should only be used for articles that detail such allegations and state the source of the allegations. Puppet state: "The term is partisan and prone to semantic disputes, used almost exclusively by detractors of such governments, whether or not the majority of citizens affected acknowledge the characterization, or object to that kind of government. Often a proclaimed puppet government faces a rival government which uses the puppet government term to weaken the legitimacy of that government. Also usually implied is the government's lack of legitimacy, in the view of those using the term."--Boson 07:28, 26 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I know, all the top leaders of the Iraqi government are 'guarded' directly by American troops or indirectly by American security companies paid by the American government. Do any of the leaders so guarded have the freedom to oppose American guidance and so risk being labelled a terrorist sympathizer and being arrested (or worse) by the very persons who guard them? --- Safemariner 22:23, 26 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
There are doubtless a number of arguments that one could adduce to support the POV that Iraq is a puppet state (of the USA or Iran), but that is not the point, in my opinion. Categorizing Country X as an alleged puppet state is equivalent to stating that unnamed entities have alleged that Country X is a puppet of another unnamed entity. Such a category merely encorages making unverified, pejorative POV statements that are probably too vague even to be falsified. There are also a number of implied assumptions, for instance that it is sensible to classify states into alleged puppet states and others, and that states not so categorized have not been alleged to be puppet states. In fact many states have been alleged to be puppet states:
  • Israel is allegedly a puppet state of the USA
  • The USA is allegedly a puppet state of the Zionists.
  • Palestine is allegedly a puppet state created by the Arab nations to destabilize the Zionist Entity.
  • Syria, the Lebanon, and Iraq allegedly are (or were or will be) puppet states of Iran.
  • Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, North Korea, . . . .
  • etc. etc. --Boson 18:29, 27 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You may want to propose that the category be deleted as it is inherently a POV category. This page is not the forum to discuss if a category is a POV category. You can propose this category's deletion at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion. I will even support its deletion. However, as long as the category exists, Iraq would be a good candidate for it. --- Safemariner 20:57, 27 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Safemariner, I'm just curious, do you consider Japan a pupet state of the U.S.? --Erikmartin 18:27, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

category Mistake on page I do not know how to edit on Wiki, but in the Iraq article there is a reference to the Iraq-Iran war being fought with water guns... I guess that is an abuse...

Temporary governments

So let me get this straight...first there was the CPA, then the IGC, then the IIG and then the ITG? Any more transitional governments in the history of this obviously very provisional country? I mean, come on, how much care can a government take? VolatileChemical 01:00, 30 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

under the Ottoman empire section

I noticed the date of 1509 doesn't fit, is it supposed to be 1609?

Finwar 09:18, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Saddam Hussein

The word "preventitive" should be "preemptive". The Israelis made a preemptive strike on the nuclear facility to prevent Iraq from making weapons grade fissionable material. 64.16.131.2 21:32, 13 February 2007 (UTC) Jon_Low 16:32, 13 February 2007[reply]

US DOD usage (DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms)
"preemptive attack (DOD) An attack initiated on the basis of incontrovertible evidence that an enemy attack is imminent."
"preventive war (DOD) A war initiated in the belief that military conflict, while not imminent, is inevitable, and that to delay would involve greater risk."
I think "preventive" is closer. --Boson 21:52, 13 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Firstly, bombing A facility is hardly a war. Second, the first description is better if a proper description of what 'imminent' is refering to can be shown. 218.215.136.203 16:05, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The point is that "pre-emptive" is much more short-term. I am not suggesting replacing "attack" by "war".--Boson 21:18, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Population

I changed the population and if the old numbers are correct of 28 million that means the population of Iraq has dropped by 2 million in one yearPotaaatos 16:19, 19 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

2 million in one year seems slightly on the high side. This source has about 2 milllion since 2003.

"The United Nations High Commission for Refugees estimates that some 2 million people out of a population of 26 million have left Iraq since the US-led war in 2003 . . . ."

--Boson 21:00, 19 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A couple million fled from the country and one million killed since the U.S. invasion.

-G

Name

Another version of the origin of the name widely accepted:

The word عراق is the Arabic version (معرٌب) of the word Arak. Arak was the name of an area as well as a small river (that does not exist anymore) in the middle of the ancient Iran, literally meaning “the middle of Iran”. After the invasion of Arabs in the 7th century A.D., the area in the middle of Iran was called عراق عجم (Iraq of Iran) for this same reason. Today, the city Arak in that area receives her name from the same root. The area currently known as Iraq worldwide was named Iraq of Arab (عراق عرب) to distinguish it from Iraq of Iran and at the time to proudly announce that Arabia is so big that this area is in the middle of it. Later the name was given to this country.

The name Uruk (Uruq) does mean "two rivers" in Arabic/Aramaic but is very unlikely to be the origin as it is used for small rather than large rivers.

Your article suggests that the country was called Iraq of Arab under the Sasanid Empire. That’s incorrect. The word Iraq of Arab appears in the literature much later than the Sasanids.

Does anyone even pay attention to the discussions? The Name section of this article has serious flaws and should be revised!

The Motto

Is not it "God is One" ?

'Regime' change

'Regime' is a very negative word for government, and using it, at least in my opinion, breaches NPOV. Plenty of undemocratic governments are referred to as, indeed, governments, so the use of the word 'regime' pushes a certain value. I'm tempted to rectify all of it's instances in this article, as I am in other articles, but I'd like some consensus and debate on it first. Black-Velvet 04:47, 10 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I share some of your NPOV concerns about the use of "regime" for a government but I think the use in this article is OK. I see the following legitimate uses of "regime":
  • To refer to the time that a single person is in power. For monarchies, the term "rule" or "reign" would be appropriate. For dictatorships or one-party systems these words are not appropriate, but a similar word is necessary. I think "regime" fills this gap as an objective way of referring to the period.
  • It can refer to the system of running a country, whereas "government" refers to a particular, constitutionally legitimized part of that system (and is used differently in parliamentary and presidential systems). In democratic republics, the distinction may not be very important, but a separate word may be necessary in dictatorships or systems where actual practice differs significantly from the written constitutional order and power is wielded by bodies loyal to a dictator or other leader but not part of the government. This use may be perceived as disparaging in the United States, but this itself may be POV, in the same way as "communist" or "dictator" might be seen as insults in the USA but would be objective descriptions in openly communist or dictatorial regimes.
  • Particularly when referring to abuses, "government", rather than "regime", might imply that the abuses were legitimately sanctioned by the government.
I found the following uses of "regime" in the article. I don't think "government" is appropriate in any of them. I would, personally, tend to leave them, but have tentatively suggested alternatives (in parentheses) in case "regime" is considered disparaging.
  • "There have been many large-scale waves of emigration from Iraq, beginning early in the regime (rule) of Saddam Hussein (or: shortly after Saddam Hussein came to power) and continuing through 2007."
  • "This period is notorious for the regime's (omit "the regime's) human rights abuses, such as those during the Al-Anfal campaign."
  • "It was crippled by Israeli aircraft in 1981 in a preventive strike to prevent the regime of Saddam Hussein (Iraq) from using the reactor for the creation of nuclear weapons."
  • "There have been many large-scale waves of emigration from Iraq, beginning early in the regime of Saddam Hussein (after Saddam Hussein came to power) and continuing through 2007."
  • "The ongoing violence in Iraq has been incited by an amalgam of religious extremists that believe an Islamic Caliphate should rule, old sectarian regime members that had ruled under Saddam (people who had held positions of power under Saddam Hussein) that want back the power they had, and Iraqi nationalists that are fighting the U.S. military presence." --Boson 18:57, 10 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The End Of Iraq ? (an invented country)

As the beginning of the article says Iraq is in the midst of a Civil War. It seems likely if not inevitable that the country will be partitioned three ways with the Sunnis to the left of the Euphrates, the Shia to the right and an independent Kurdistan coming into existence in the North. Should the article have some mention of this? Also the borders of present day Iraq are invented and the political entity is artificial. The article does not make that clear. SmokeyTheCat 10:56, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Breaking up Iraq into sectarian micro-nations may be the intent of American strategy, but it is not what the majority of Iraqi people themselves seem to want. BBC report on Iraqi opinion Dabbler 11:35, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I would have strongly thought that US strategy is to keep Iraq together. However the only thing that unites the Sunni and Shia groupings is their mutual antagonism to the US/UK occupation. SmokeyTheCat 10:36, 28 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Abdul Rahman Arif

Is he still alive or what? Hes either 88 or 90 but i havent heard anything about him in iraq.Vital Component

Yanquis fuera de Irak

Por cierto. ¿A nadie le interesa saber por qué estoy en contra de que el Ejército Americano esté en Iraq?. Bueno, pues si es así, me callo. A eso se llama dialogar...

Civil war?

From the opening paragraph: "Today, it is a developing nation in the midst of a civil war." Is that the consensus? Wasn't there just a poll of Iraqis where 60% said it was not a civil war?--Daveswagon 19:02, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

==Biased?++ This seems all biased and untrue. Please include some real facts.

Excuse me, but, do you need a majority of the Iraqi population to agree about if there is or not a civil war? This same Wikipedia has a definition for civil war you probably should consult and see if it fits the case of Iraq's current situation. Gabrielx 11:57, 24 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

As the article on civil war points out, there is no consensus definition. Some of the definitions are intended to differentiate a civil war from other wars, but it also has to be a war, not just terrorism, semi-organized murder, or skirmishes between religious or political groups. It comes down to what definition is most useful, from a neutral point of view, for an international English-language encyclopaedia. I find the definition at http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2006/060728-iraq-civil-war.htm helpful:
"A civil war is a war between factions of the same country. There are five criteria for international recognition of this status: The contestants must control territory, have a functioning government, enjoy some foreign recognition, have identifiable regular armed forces and engage in major military operations."
So I would ask:
  • Do the insurgents control territory?
  • Do the insurgents have a functioning government?
  • Do the insurgents have "identifiable regular armed forces?"
  • Do the insurgents engage in major military operations?
--Boson 18:49, 24 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Should the U.S. pull out?

(This is just to see what you think, don't get worked up about it.)

I think America has made their point in Iraq, I think that the terrorists now know America will fight if they attack. Every Nation involved has lost people, Plus Iraq's economy is being damaged. The people in Iraq don't want the United States there anyways. Saddam is dead so shouldn't the war be over if America got what they went there for? What do you think, Again don't get upset by other peoples Opinions I just wanted to give people something else to talk about. Bloddyfriday 13:56, 30 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Iraq&oldid=119035165"