After Green Zone Protests, Can Iraq Be Salvaged?

The scene of hundreds of protesters storming Baghdad’s U.S. installed “Green Zone” and parliament building this past weekend underscored the political challenges facing Iraq, and how the country’s internal turmoil must be resolved in order to defeat the Islamic State, or ISIS, terrorist group.

Supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather in the courtyard of celebrations after breaking into Baghdad's heavily fortified "Green Zone" on April 30, 2016. Thousands of angry protesters broke into Baghdad's Green Zone and stormed the parliament building after lawmakers again failed to approve new ministers. Jubilant supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr invaded the main session hall, shouting slogans glorifying their leader and claiming that they had rooted out corruption. Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images

The scene of hundreds of protesters storming Baghdad’s U.S. installed “Green Zone” and parliament building this past weekend underscored the political challenges facing Iraq, and how the country’s internal turmoil must be resolved in order to defeat the Islamic State, or ISIS, terrorist group.

The protests, carried out by influential Shia Muslim cleric Moktada al-Sadr’s loyalists, were designed to push parliamentary opponents of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, also a Shia, to approve a cabinet filled with technocrats rather than one dictated by party affiliation and religious sect.

Even though they are busy working on a military campaign against ISIS, the Americans have sort of lost focus on one-half of the challenge of Iraq—the political problems.

— Robert Ford, former U.S. ambassador to Syria (2011-2014), senior fellow, Middle East Institute