AFTER SAVAYA’S MESSAGE… WILL 2026 OPEN A NEW CHAPTER FOR IRAQ?
Political analyst Ghazi Faisal commented on the recent message from Mark Savaya, the envoy of US President Donald Trump, to the Iraqi people, in which he called for the beginning of a new era based on respect for the constitution, building an independent state that is not subject to Iranian hegemony, and confronting political and financial corruption, the plundering of wealth, and the failure to develop industry, agriculture, and services.
Faisal said in a statement followed by “Al-Sa’a” that “the American message, despite continuing within the policy of containment, carried a different language that reflects the need for comprehensive radical reforms that restore the true sovereignty of the Iraqi people and allow them to confront poverty, backwardness, unemployment and economic chaos.”
He explained that “these imbalances did not arise spontaneously, but rather came as a result of an Iranian strategic dominance over Iraq, in which the Iraqi economy, security and society were exploited to pay the price for Iran’s internal crises.”
Regarding the possibility of the United States imposing a new equation that would make the Iraqi state the sole entity monopolizing weapons and decision-making, he pointed out that “the central challenge lies in correcting the course of a political system that began in 2003, which violated the constitution and produced parties that failed to build a modern state and an open economy.”
He stressed that “Iran has succeeded in creating more than 34 armed factions linked to the Revolutionary Guard, using Iraq as an arena for its regional influence at the expense of the country’s security and stability.”
He added that “the American message was directed directly to the Iraqi people in an attempt to reshape political legitimacy outside the traditional frameworks,” considering that “the current crisis is a deep legitimacy crisis, and that the Iraqi parliament has often become a formal facade, while the constitution stipulates that the people are the source of sovereignty.”
Faisal concluded by saying: “The year 2026 holds the potential for transformation, if a new national leadership and a clear strategic vision are available, capable of rebuilding a modern state based on democracy, a free economy, and stability, benefiting from Iraq’s wealth, estimated at more than $15 trillion, while moving away from the corrupt rentier system and engaging in a new regional project based on peace and sustainable development.”
