KurdistanObserver.com

Building An Iraq Of Equals

By: Dr Nazhad Khasraw Hawramany

nhawramany@yahoo.com

 Mar 5, 2005

The Kurdistani parties which came with 77 seats as the the  second strongest parliamentary block in the new Iraqi National Assembly, trailing after the Shiite block( so-called Sistani block) which won 140 seats  of the 275 seats of the assembly,in the aftermath of the historic and  milestone Iraqi elections of January 30 2005.

The Shiite Alliance is a mix of several religious and secular parties, mostly Arab Shiites, was involved in bitter internal bickering to chose their candidate for the influential post of prime minister, this internal bickering and rivalry between Ibrahim Aljaafari ( Da`Awa Party), Ahmad Alchalabi ( Iraqi National Congress), Adil Abdulmahdi ( Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq), Hussein Alsharistani a technocrat with close association to Ayatuaalah Sistani has nearly caused a rift in the ranks of the alliance with threats of dissolution of the alliance.

At the end the Shiite block did nominate Dr Ibrahim Aljaafari for the post of prime minister and he was given the task of trying to forge an alliance with either the Kurdish block or  Mr Allawi, the interim prime minister  which won only 40 seats.

 According to TAL ( Transitional Administrative Law of Iraq), a two thirds majority is needed to appoint a president and two deputies which in turn will nominate a prime minister and cabinet. This simply means that the whole process needs a consensus and agreement between those different factions.

Taking into consideration the rivalry and bitter exchange of accusations between the Sistani block and Allawi block, the Kurdistani block has emerged as the kingmakers of the politics in the new post-Saddam Iraq. The Kurds have a clear vision and a concrete set of demands, which represents the cutoff value for Kurdish demands, beyond which an alliance with the Shiites is impossible.

These demands include:

1. the recognition of the federal solution for the region of Iraqi Kurdistan (including Kirkuk) as the model of relation of Iraqi Kurdistan with the rest of Arab Iraq, this federation must hat have wide authority and a loose connection with the central federal government in Baghdad. This agreement must be clearly enshrined in the permanent constitution that will be drafted by the new national assembly and must be backed by international guaranties similar to the model of  South Sudan agreement with Sudan government. There should be a clear understanding of the division of wealth in Iraq and also of authorities of federal regions and central federal government

2. The problems of ethnic cleansing and Arabisation in Kurdistani cities like Kirkuk, Shekhan, Shangar, Makhmour and Khanaquin, during decades of chauvinistic Baath rule must be addressed immediately according to article 58 of TAL, and not postponed till the writing of the new constitution as the Shiites point out. The deported Kurds must be allowed back to their ancestral cities without delay and  compensated for their material and emotional suffering. All the Arab settlers which were brought in by the successive Arab central governments in a deliberate action to abolish the Kurdish majority in those Kurdistani oil rich and agricultural rich areas must be given incentives to go back to their original places in South and Central Iraq. The municipalities of Kirkuk which were dismembered and forcibly annexed to other governorates only to dissolute the Kurdish majority like Chamchamal, Kifri, Kalar and Tuzkhurmatu must be rejoined to Kirkuk and the future of Kirkuk decided through a referendum of the population in Kirkuk and other areas. The Shiite block is clearly trying to cheat the Kurds on this issue, especially that the majority of those Arab settlers are Shiites. The Kurds can't accept this injustice to be enforced on them, especially if one takes into consideration that all the internal wars with the successive Arab Iraqi governments including that of Saddam was about Kirkuk and Autonomy. Failing to reach a compromise on this issue is a recipe for further stability and chaos in Iraq and alienation of Kurds.

3. The Kurds are the most experienced and veteran political factions in the new Iraq. The Kurds see democracy and secularism as the only way which keeps Iraq away from disintegration and chaos. They are not ready to compromise in any way on the issue of separation of religion from state and are vehemently against building an Islamic state in Iraq. The Kurds do acknowledge that the majority of Iraqis are Muslims and that Islam can be acknowledged as a source of legislation in Iraq but certainly not as the only or the dominant source. The Shiites have been deliberately vague on this issue but several signals and hints showed their covert efforts to impose an Islamic system with close links to Iran in Iraq. Again Kurds are not ready to compromise on this issue taking into consideration the horrible Islamic experiments of Iran, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.

4. The Kurds have a very traumatic experience with Iraqi Army and Iraqi intelligence agencies during the successive Arab governments which ruled Iraq since the establishment of Iraqi state in 1921. The main bulk of the Iraqi army which perpetrated all the heinous atrocities in Kurdistan including the burning and demolition of 4500 villages and hamlets, gassing of Halabja 1988, Anfal genocide campaigns 1986-1988 , were Arab Sunnis and  Arab Shiites alike. The Kurds have struggled against the Arab chauvinistic mentality in Iraq irrespective of the facts that their adversaries were Sunnis ore Shiites. The Kurds are not ready to repeat the same atrocities again , only this time on the hands of Islamic Arab Shiites. Taking into consideration this tragic experience with the Arab Iraqi army, the Kurds are adamant that they keep their army of well trained and well disciplined Peshmerga forces and change them to security forces and border units that protects the borders of Iraqi Kurdistan. It is this force which is keeping Kurdistan as a safe haven amidst the wave of killings and suicidal explosions in the rest of Iraq. The Peshmerga forces enjoy the respect and love of the Kurdish population and they should be converted to an Iraqi army that is stationed only in Kurdistan. No Arab Iraqi troops are welcome in Iraqi Kurdistan without prior agreement with the regional government of Kurdistan.

The Arab hegemonies and chauvinistic mentality is the same regardless if they were Sunni Arabs or Shiite Arabs and the Kurds are seeking legislative and international guarantees that will safeguard their rights ant they will be treated as equals in Iraq, otherwise why should the Kurds try to build a new chauvinistic state which at the end will turn against the very basic rights of Kurds. Our American friends and international community should have open eyes and ears about what is going on in Iraq. There should be no sell out of Kurds ever again.

nhawramany@yahoo.com

Dr Nazhad Khasraw Hawramany

Switzerland