نص رسالة آية الله الشيخ الركابي الى الرئيس الأمريكي باراك أوباما

His Excellency Mr. Barack Obama, President of the United States of America

Allow me to introduce myself; I am Ayatollah Al-Sheikh Al-Rikabi, the son of the late chieftain, Al-Sheikh Ibrahim Ben Al-Sheikh Fashakh of the tribe of Beni Rekab (Al Bu Hamza) from the southern province of Nassiryia, Iraq. I am also the founder of the Liberal Democratic Party of Iraq (LDPI) and one of the foremost visionaries and theorists of liberal democracy in the Middle-East. Moreover, I have written extensively in the fields of philosophy, epistemology, theology and politics. Therefore, I would like to congratulate you, your family and the American people for your election as the President of the United States of America. Moreover, this is an extraordinary moment in history, where the United States of America will face the international community with a record of objectives and paradigms that will facilitate the progress of change and reform around the world in order to re-establish a stable and progressive economy on a global scale.
Your Excellency, the international community has endured and experienced an increasingly critical phase in its history where we perceived a shift in political power, the abuse and exploitation of the rule-of-law and the international law, the abandonment of the societal institutions and the negligence of the rights of the citizens. Moreover, the Middle East has suffered the greatest of such devastations where it has been subjected to sectarian violence, terrorism, and radicalism which resulted from the weak political forces that have marginalized the expansion of plurality and liberal democratic principles in the political and socio-economical fields.

Since the liberation of Iraq and its people from the hands of tyranny, the people of Iraq have utilized all their potential to establish a country and society based on the rule-of-law and a novel culture based on life. Furthermore, they strived for the inculcation of a democratic nation based on the fundamental principles of democracy where the foundations of justice, freedom and peace thrive in. However, this sacrifice was temporal since the rise of sectarian radicalism and terrorism.

Your Excellency, the LDPI participated in the first electoral event and in subsequent elections on the municipal scale and the party was entirely funded from the expenses and incomes of its own members. Fortunately, we were able to establish local appeal in the south, predominately in the province of Nassiryia; however we were unsuccessful in obtaining a set number of votes not because of lack of effort and appeal but primarily due to lack of funding, unlike the main parties that received funding from abroad. Moreover, we participated in the national liberation of Iraq and we whole-heartedly supported the global initiative of liberating Iraq and emancipating its people from the shackles of tyranny, corruption and radicalism and this further bestowed a feeling or sense of contentment and gratification for those nations who participated in the liberation of Iraq and its people. However, it is quite distressing to witness the decline of such a grateful feeling when those same shackles are being brought to existence but with different labels and hence this succeeded in spreading sectarian hate amongst the civilians. Furthermore, this elicited a decisive division within Iraq’s diverse population on the basis of ethnicity, sect, and religion and this has only increased the acts of terror and the resurgence of terrorist groups who find interest in this destructive ploy.

Your Excellency, after five years since the freedom of Iraq, the LDPI aspires to become active partners and collaborators in establishing change and reform in Iraq where it resumes its strength through a novel road map in order to achieve the complete unification and sovereignty of Iraq and its people. Consequently, acting on such frontiers will facilitate the eradication of corruption, radicalism and the culture of death and hence this will empower the people to demand for a positive and progressive change that embodies democracy and where it exhibits itself as the solitary source for the preservation of the dignity and virtue of man. Unfortunately, due to an incoherent political agenda in Iraq, democracy has been contaminated by sectarian and racial interests, which has emerged as an altered paradigm that the United States and the international community intended for Iraq and its people. Therefore, we are confident that your Presidency and your urge for change in the political spectrum of Iraq and the Middle-East will impart a new understanding on the importance for the triumph of democracy. In addition, we believe it is important in accelerating and establishing peace in the region, primarily between the Arab nations and the State of Israel. Moreover, we utterly endorse and share your objectives and vision of creating a Palestinian State alongside the State of Israel. We are enthusiastic and passionate that during your Presidency, the international community will surely witness an enlightened and progressive era for the Middle-East as we have indicated and summoned numerously.

Therefore, as the founder of the LDPI together with its members, we are prepared to become your active partners in urging this universal change, primarily in Iraq and the region. I absolutely understand that you will face an enormous task, and I strongly believe you will succeed in it.

I present my profound respect and gratitude to you, Your Excellency,

Respectfully yours,

Ayatollah Al-Sheikh Al-Rikabi