{"id":97551,"date":"2026-05-04T17:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T17:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/97551\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T17:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T17:45:14","slug":"politics-in-a-parallel-universe-iraqs-leadership-crisis-and-the-iran-war-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/97551\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics in a Parallel Universe: Iraq\u2019s Leadership Crisis and the Iran War"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/Hanania.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"75\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Courageous-Thought-Banner-5.jpeg\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Courageous-Thought-Banner-5.jpeg\" width=\"600\" height=\"75\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Click here to subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania&#8217;s Columns<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>By Harith Hasan<\/p>\n<p class=\"first before-p\">The Iraqi government and the leaders of the country\u2019s ruling political factions have every reason for alarm. The US\u2013Israeli war on Iran\u2014and its profound consequences for Iraq\u2019s security, political stability, and economy\u2014has produced a national crisis. <\/p>\n<p class=\"first before-p\">Yet in Baghdad, political debate is still fixated on who will occupy which positions, what authority and resources they will control, and how to manage factional and personal rivalries through shifting, short-term bargains. Iraq\u2019s political factions seem to be living in a parallel universe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first before-p\"> Their discussions do not seriously engage with how Iraq can navigate the current crisis with minimal losses. <\/p>\n<p class=\"first before-p\">Most important, Iraq\u2019s ruling political elite\u2014long accustomed to calibrating its choices to maintain a degree of balance between Iranian and US interests\u2014did not adequately prepare itself for a wartime scenario in which even minimal common ground between Washington and Tehran became difficult to sustain.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-52755\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"Harith Hasan interviews Iraqi official\" width=\"605\" height=\"339\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Harith-Hasan-interviews-Iraqi-official-300x168.jpeg\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-52755\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Harith-Hasan-interviews-Iraqi-official-300x168.jpeg\" alt=\"Harith Hasan interviews Iraqi official\" width=\"605\" height=\"339\"  \/>Harith Hasan interviews Iraqi official. Photo courtesy of the Arab Center of Washington DC<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/arabcenterdc.org\/resource\/politics-in-a-parallel-universe-iraqs-leadership-crisis-and-the-iran-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE STORY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/ArabNews.com\/rayradioshow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">&#13;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/arabnews-com-rayradioshow-image-V2.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/arabnews-com-rayradioshow-image-V2.jpg\"\/><\/a>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/Hanania.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"75\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Courageous-Thought-Banner-5.jpeg\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Courageous-Thought-Banner-5.jpeg\" width=\"600\" height=\"75\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Click here to subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania&#8217;s Columns<\/p>\n<p>                         <a href=\"https:\/\/hanania.com\" class=\"url\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Ray Hanania\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ray Hanania\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" data-lazy- class=\"avatar avatar-250 photo\" height=\"250\" width=\"250\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a2fbfeb0338a829caaf4817ac7c817d26ec12701ddc9f80435aeaae9aa22eeaf.jpeg\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ray Hanania\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a2fbfeb0338a829caaf4817ac7c817d26ec12701ddc9f80435aeaae9aa22eeaf.jpeg\"  class=\"avatar avatar-250 photo\" height=\"250\" width=\"250\"\/><\/a> Syndicated columnist, radio host, writer at <a href=\"https:\/\/hanania.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ray Hanania<\/a>Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author &amp; former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ\u00a0Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American &amp; Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and\u00a0Suburban Chicagoland.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His award winning columns can be found at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.Hanania.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">www.HANANIA.COM<\/a> Subscribe FREE today<\/p>\n<p>Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ArabNews.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Arab News<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.TheArabDailyNews.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Arab Daily News<\/a>\u00a0criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. <\/p>\n<p>Hanania was named &#8220;Best Ethnic American Columnist&#8221; by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.<\/p>\n<p>Email Ray Hanania at <a href=\"http:\/\/thearabdailynews.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#95e7f2fdf4fbf4fbfcf4d5f2f8f4fcf9bbf6faf8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">[email\u00a0protected].<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow RayHanania at <a href=\"https:\/\/Twitter.com\/rayhanania\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a><a\/><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/hanania.com\" class=\"url\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Ray Hanania\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ray Hanania\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" data-lazy- class=\"avatar avatar-250 photo\" height=\"250\" width=\"250\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a2fbfeb0338a829caaf4817ac7c817d26ec12701ddc9f80435aeaae9aa22eeaf.jpeg\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ray Hanania\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a2fbfeb0338a829caaf4817ac7c817d26ec12701ddc9f80435aeaae9aa22eeaf.jpeg\"  class=\"avatar avatar-250 photo\" height=\"250\" width=\"250\"\/><\/a>Latest posts by Ray Hanania (<a href=\"https:\/\/thearabdailynews.com\/author\/rayhananiaadmin\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">see all<\/a>)  <\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t NVP: 8&#13;\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; &#13; &#13; &#13; Click here to subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania&#8217;s Columns &#13; By Harith Hasan&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[34146,34147,1607,196,94,34148,3272,18093,34149,34150],"class_list":{"0":"post-97551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iraq","8":"tag-arab-center-washington-dc","9":"tag-harith-hasan","10":"tag-interview","11":"tag-iran-war","12":"tag-iraq","13":"tag-iraqs-leadership-crisis","14":"tag-iraqi-government","15":"tag-iraqi-leaders","16":"tag-link","17":"tag-may-article"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116517557323325875","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}