Iraqi Prime Minister Slams US Army Chief's Partition Remark

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi rejected comments by departing U.S. army Chief Ray Odierno when he said Thursday that the “only solution” to Iraq's current conflict was to partition the country according to sectarian divisions.

Odierno's comment was "an irresponsible statement and reflects an ignorance of the Iraqi reality," Abadi's media office said.

Odierno, at his last Pentagon news conference on Wednesday, said that the economic and political problems in the country and the increasing hostilities between Shiites and Sunnis would continue to exist even if the Islamic State group is defeated.  

PM: Odierno comments on possibility of Iraq partition, stalemate with daesh, US boots on ground are 'irresponsible' https://t.co/hInJwCHeNC

— Sajad Jiyad سجاد (@SajadJiyad) August 13, 201

In order to resolve the conflict, the general proposed that Iraq be partitioned according to its sectarian divisions. “[Partition] is something that could happen and might be the only solution, but I am not ready to say that,” he said.

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Odierno called the situation in Iraq “frustrating,” blaming Iraq’s political parties for the current crisis. “The political factions simply could not work together and, based on that, people became frustrated and when people become frustrated, they tend to turn to violence,” he said.

Odierno also suggested deploying U.S. troops to Iraq to aide Iraqi forces fighting against the Islamic State group.

The U.S. formally withdrew from Iraq in 2011, however, there are approximately 3,500 U.S. military advisers and trainers in central Iraq and the Kurdistan region.

In Iraq, Kurds dominate the country's north and Shiites the south, while the Sunni Arab population is distributed across western, northern and central Iraq.

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While there are deep divides among Iraq's three main communities, Shiites Sunnis, and the Kurds, analysts disagree with partitioning Iraq and argue that the different ethnic groups could continue living under the same flag once the Islamic State group is defeated.

Why Partitioning Iraq is a Terrible Idea - http://t.co/GvYw0CdpnK pic.twitter.com/0it7gXFJuo

— Juan Cole (@jricole) August 13, 201

“In the case of Iraq, Odierno is not thinking straight,” Juan Cole, wrote in an article for his website Informed Comment on Thursday. “If Daesh [the Islamic State group] is defeated by the Iraqi army, the Sunni Arab regions will be re-incorporated into the Iraqi state.”

Cole added that partitions can often lead to more conflict. “The newly seceded state may witness power struggles among rising new local elites no longer under the control of the old metropole,” he said. “The British partitioned both India and Palestine, and both regions went on to see many subsequent wars.”

Partition of #India. Partition of #Palestine. Now, de facto partition of #Iraq, #Libya, #Syria, #Yemen. Trauma of refugees 4 decades 2 come

— Rana Kabbani (@RanaKabbani54) July 21, 201