In a
Circle of Ignorance
Almost all the nations who
could not come up with a constitution that would allow them to change the
administration of all their social, economical, and political affairs would go
through periods of unrest to solve power disputes. And the unrest will continue
in those nations who would not evolved to a point to realize that a political
system which guarantees the people’s rights to choose their own destiny is an
essential step towards freedom, and such system must be obeyed and respected by
all to hold a nation together in peace.
Unfortunately, in countries
where people are deprived from basic freedom and rights, movements are very
poorly planned and essential details are left out before conflicts erupt. The
neglected details will come back later as factors for other rounds of violence
and unrest. Nations who face such problems will continue to loop in a circle of
ignorance and violence. This phenomenon could be due to lack of knowledge and
experience by rebelling parties, or it could be intentionally planned by certain
persons or groups to gain power for their own benefits.
Revolution is very
romantic. People who fight invaders and oppressors are held as heroes, and many
of them are true heroes who are willing to sacrifice their own lives to make the
lives of their fellow man a better one. These are people who have genuine
believe in their cause, and they trust those who are leading them in the
struggle. But poorly planned revolts have little chance of long-term success,
and seldom has it made the dreams of its grassroots members come true. At its
best a poorly planned revolution will bring about new leaders, and on its normal
path it creates chaos and devastation for a country. We Iraqis Kurds and Arabs
don't have to go far to see these ugly picture.
Since its creation Iraq has
been in turmoil because the boundaries of Iraq do not reflect the natural growth
of a nation or a power. The boundaries of Iraq and other neighboring countries
reflects the mentality and long term plans of the victorious European armies who
defeated Ottoman Empire and disassembled it into numerous states. Although
certain tribal and religious leaders had plans to grab something for themselves
and their followers in the after mass of that power shift in the middle east,
but unfortunately, at the time most of the people in that domain were not
sophisticated enough to assemble themselves effectively and defeat the conning
and powerful European forces and create countries the way they wanted
to.
After the creation of Iraq
there have been numerous revolts or so called revolutions which in 1958-changed
Iraq from monarchy to a republic. And after 1958 revolution every new government
had came to power by force and has been removed by force because Iraqis were not
able to create a political system that will allow growth and peaceful change of
leaders and political parties.
One can’t help but ask: why
a nation with these much experience would continue to make the same mistakes
over and over? Why Iraqis can’t find a lasting solution for their country’s
political problems? Why are they doomed to follow dictators and narrow-minded
leaders?
I
believe there are two conditions in which a nation can reach greatness and
prosperity: In the first condition, the whole nation or the vast majority of
them are well informed individuals who know exactly what kind of government is
best suited for them and would work together to create that government. And in
the second condition, there are insightful and visionary leaders among a nation
who can influence their people and come up with a plan to create a government
that puts the country on a right path and allow peaceful change in power
whenever it is required or requested by the citizens. At least one of these
conditions must exist in a nation in order to solve a country’s political
problems. Unfortunately, none of these conditions have evolved to an effective
stage in Iraq. Iraqis do have well informed people, but their numbers are minute
and they are not organized in any particular group. There might even be some
insightful and visionary leaders, but until now they haven’t been able to
convince people to listen to them.
There are different reasons
for uprising and revolutions, and there are different people who instigate and
participate in them. But basically they all boil down to one thing, and that is
power. Power is at the core of all conflicts.
Who is going to have power
over my life and me, and who am I going to have power over? Although, as human
we don’t wakeup every morning to ask ourselves these questions, but all our
decisions in life in one way or another are responds to them. Nevertheless, we
like to be free and independent, but we have not evolved to a point yet to grant
ourselves these rights. At this stage of civilization we desperately need each
other to survive. Thus far, around the world, controlled territories that have
strict rules and regulations inside them and in between them is the highest
stage of government that we have reached and are comfortable with. However, in
some of these territories certain individual freedoms are accommodated to make
the inhabitants in that territory happy and content or in other words a step
closer to our ultimate goal of being free and independent. There are problems
with this system: it has not been consolidated yet, and it does not follow a
fair rule. The powerful decides where to draw the boundaries of the territories,
and who will be inside each one of them. These will continue to recycle the
factors of conflict and prevent the system from reaching equilibrium of
power.
Although western societies
after two major wars in the twentieth century have attempted to come up with
certain guidelines to solve problems between the territories peacefully, but
they have not been able to be very effective because of hypocrisy and conflict
of interest between those who controls the organizations such as UN that are
designed for that purpose.
No
matter how we look at our political problems in Iraq, it is a part of the above
phenomenon. As a country Iraq has not resolved its power issue yet. The people
do not choose the ruler of Iraq, but it is imposed on the country by force. And
the Iraqis do not appreciate the rules of this imposed ruler. The different
ethnic and religious groups who are forced to live inside the boundaries of Iraq
by an outside force are not happy about the way power is shared in the country.
These are all reasons for conflict in our country, and we are forced to find
solutions for them. And since there is no room in the totalitarian regime such
as Iraqi regime to work peacefully for a change, often the solutions requires
armed struggle, or an outside scheme to topple the regime.
Although ordinary citizens
are the ones who are most affected by the brutality of a regime, but they seldom
can on their own change a regime and replace it with a better one because such
act requires enormous resources and planning. Without proper planning the
situation would change into anarchy and power struggle even if an uprising did
occur. Political parties, religious and tribal leaders take it upon themselves
to provide the planning in exchange for leadership and power. There would have
been nothing wrong with these if promises were kept; if clear objectives and
demands were declared, so people would know exactly what they are getting
themselves into, and what they can expect at the end. But during uprisings or
armed revolts especially in disadvantaged nations slogans play a major role. And
desperate people would believe anything to develop a hope for a better future.
They will convince themselves that once they got rid of their enemies everything
magically will be fine, so there is no need for too many questions and details.
Slogans are designed to
evoke and manipulate emotions of those who are involved or sympathies with
either side of a conflict. And the simpler the nation the easer it is to bring
them into a conflict. Words such as: freedom, equality, unity, democracy, peace,
nationalism, socialism, independence etc. are often used and abused by groups
and individuals who are in power struggle. Not only there are no authorities to
hold a party liable for their promises, but also the words no longer even have
any clear definitions. There is hardly a nation on this planet that doesn’t call
itself democratic, but democracy has different meaning for each one of them.
Current Iraqi dictator even has a small booklet written about democracy. Roughly
translated the title of the booklet is “Democracy Is The Source Of Power
For Individuals And The Society.”
No one could stop the booklet from publishing, or prosecute its writer
for being a hypocrite since in the democracy that the Iraqi dictator have
created for Iraq, people get tortured and killed because a relative of their
neighbor was suspected to dislike his majesty.
In
the creation of Iraq, Britain sliced a piece of Kurdistan from the Ottoman
Empire as will and joined it with the new state. Of course they must have thought that
over very well and had several reasons to do so. Naturally, whatever reasons the
British Empire had were for her own benefits, and they were based on their
vision and long-term plan for that region.
Invading armies look upon
people in an occupied territory as objects that have been won in battle. The
people do not have any human value for the invaders. A decision about an
occupied land does not involve any consideration for the emotions and the rights
of those who live on that land. Decisions, in an occupied land are solely based
on the strategy of the invaders. It is up to the oppressed people to organize
themselves and force the events to change in their favor.
Since our separation from
the Turks and our forge with Arabs in Iraq, We Kurds had a lot of armed revolts
against those who have violated our territories and oppressed us. But
politically and logistically we had never been able to plot a successful revolt
that would resolve our power dispute with our enemies. The same could be said
about our brothers and sisters who ended up being part of other neighboring
countries. One of the many reasons for this is the complexity of politics in
that region and its strategic importance for the super powers, so a change in
any of the countries that we live in means a change in the power balances of the
whole region. And the countries that are controlling Kurdish land are willing to
cooperate against Kurds even if they dislike each other something we Kurds
haven’t managed to do yet very effectively.
In
my opinion none of our revolts were the result of natural growth of our
political conscious and readiness for a final war and a lasting victory, but as
the result of area and international power disputes and conspiracies, so half
ready we often went to war just to please others and put ourselves in a
compromising position. By no mean I am discrediting the love and devotion of
those who fought for Kurdistan; they are heroes to me too, but we must be very
harsh on ourselves and analyze our mistakes if we ever want to escape from that
vicious circle of revolt and defeat.
Civilization growth at a
certain pace and it does not wait for anyone to catch-up with it. Those who
can’t keep up will be dragged along in unfavorable ways. There are some
societies who would reach a stage in civilization and become content with what
they have and don’t strive for any change; these societies will be dominated by
those who have advanced to another level and always strive for more. This human
behavior is not new, and its origin in my opinion goes back to the time when man
learned to think and come up with ideas and use tools. Tool is the product of an
idea and an experiment. Those who are reach with ideas and willing to experiment
will advance to a next level. Just picture a group of primitive men challenged
by an animal; they are attempting to defend themselves by trying to kill the
animal with their bare hands; they are unsuccessful; but suddenly one of them
inspired to pickup a stone and uses it as a weapon. He succeeds in killing the
animal. This will not be an isolated incident, but it will raise the statues of
that man in his group because he just invented a very important weapon. And
since humans are very good in mimicking, soon every man in his group will use
his weapon, so his group will be in an advantages point against animals and
other human groups in their domain. Therefore, there will be a power shift as
the result of that invention. And by the time everybody had learned that a stone
could be used as a weapon, somebody else will come up with another idea for a
new tool or weapon, so the game continues, and every time there will be new
winners and losers.
In
these animalistic competition for supremacy and survival that has trapped
humanity for thousands of years, we Kurds so far been the losers against the
forces that opposes us because we have not came up with an idea for salvation
that we can carryout on our own and be ready for the next round when we need to
defend ourselves. Of course we have not shied away from battle; even our enemies
confess to and admire Kurdish bravery and fighting skills. So it is not a
surprise that we have looped around that circle more than many other nations so
much so that sometimes we rebel against all odds and without a great deal of
calculations.
While some of our
misfortunes in Kurdistan can be blamed on circumstances that are beyond our
control or due to lack of knowledge, but there is a Kurdish attitude in revolts
that is not do to naïve-ness, or our helplessness. It is a very ugly and
calculated attitude that is damaging the Kurdish cause and empowering enemies of
Kurdistan and that is the phenomenon of Kurds being used by other nations to
achieve their political and territorial needs. This is not a new Kurdish
behavior, and its roots are a lot older than nationalism and the current
problems that we are facing.
Kurds have never rallied
around one leader to create a homeland for all Kurds or dream of creating a
large empire that might require taking other people’s lands as well. Until not
long ago tribe was the main focus and source of power and identity for the
Kurds. And each tribe would gladly take-up arms to fight another Kurdish tribe
for a foreign country if the price was right. Our neighbors and invading foreign
countries that have occupied our land have realized this weakness in the Kurdish
society and have used it to their advantage. Although, the tribal war in the
surface is over, and the nationalist are working for over a century to make
Kurds think as a nation, but this old habit is still very common, and when ever
the chance arrives tribal leaders are willing to fight their own people for
money and power or just to settle an old score. Furthermore, tribal and religious
leaders have been very successful in derailing Kurdish struggle for their own
advantages. Some tribes very skillfully would play on both sides of the field,
so no matter how the events will unfold; they still get a piece of the
action. This behavior created
opportunities for other nations in the region who are in dispute with Kurds and
among themselves over several issues to use Kurds as a weapon.
There are unwritten rules
for those countries that use Kurds to their advantage: first, they would never
use the Kurds to a point that an opponent would completely be removed from the
field because that would put Kurds to power. Second, they wouldn’t allow Kurdish
armed movement to vanish completely because that would put the less powerful
countries of the region in a compromising position, and they might be forced to
face each other directly or a clandestine Kurdish movement might form that would
be out of the foreign control.
If
we look at any period of recorded Kurdish history we see how foreigners used and
abused Kurds for their own advantages, and time after time the Kurds run back to
the same nations for more. The last few decades of the twentieth century are the
best examples of this Kurdish merry-go-round politics.
In
the sixties aside from the super powers of the cold war competing with each
other for foothold in the
Barzani returned from exile
when Abdel Karim Qassem toppled the monarchy in a bloody coup in 1958. There was
something about Qassem that was unorthodox for the politics of that region. He
was not leader of a political party or chief of a big tribe. Therefore, he
lacked a reliable power base. Although, he was a military commander and he came
to power with military force, but he did not have the full support of the Iraq’s
armed forces. Just like the people of Iraq, the army too was divided between the
nationalist, the communist, the Kurds, and a big portion of independent soldiers
who obeyed whoever was in power. But Qassem tried to overcome his weakness by
using the different opposing forces of Iraq against each other without
emotionally getting attached to any of them. However, Qassem’s power taking
experiment taught Iraqis a lesson that ended up causing him his life and his job
in February of 1963. Because after the 1958 coup, it become obvious to the power
seeking forces of Iraq that they don’t need a mass mobilization of the people to
gain power, but all they need is the blessing of one of the super powers and a
small military force to capture key power symbols of the country in the capital
such as the presidential palace, the defense ministry, the TV and radio Stations
and they will be in power, and as long as the new regime manages to kill any
opponent, their position is safe, when they fail, there will be new bosses in
the capital.
While Barzani’s reputation
as a warrior and a leader had earned him respect and admiration of many Kurds
outside of his own tribe, but his tribal method of leadership created feud
inside Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP.) The tension inside the party continued
to increase until it tore the party into two factions in 1964. The split did not
stop the power dispute between the two factions and soon it turned into
full-scale armed clashes in between them.
So Barzani had to fight his usual tribal enemies, the Iraqi forces, and
the separated KDP members.
Although KDP was
established on Barzani’s request when he was in Republic of Mahabad in Eastern
Kurdistan, but Barzani personally never was an organizer or a political activist
in the true sense of political activity. He liked to run the Kurdish affairs
single handedly and without any challenge from the party members.
The Kurdish intellectuals a
few decades earlier started to form political parties and were working hard to
organize Kurdish people and promote nationalism. The Hewa Party even helped
Barzani to escape in 1943, and they kept KDP alive while Barzani was in the
Soviet Union.
That new breed of educated
urban Kurds who flourished by the events of the First World War, the Russian
revolution, and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire were the backbone of Kurdish
political movements. But the powerful tribes who had very short vision on
Kurdish political issues troubled this new group. Because the tribes with their
large numbers and military power were able to undermine the decisions of the
intellectuals and use them as mere clerks to run the internal Party affairs. In
1964 when Barzani signed a ceasefire with Iraq’s President Abdel Salam Aref,
without getting the consent of the KDP politburo, Key members tried to standup
to Barzani, but they were attacked and pushed into Iran along with 4000
followers.
Mr. Jalal Talabani headed
the dissenter members of KDP. Although Talabani himself was not a commoner, and
his tribe the Talaban Shaykhs are an influential religious group in their own
territories, but unlike other Kurdish leaders Talabani had some formal
education, and he was a political activist since he was a young boy. I think
giving him the leadership of the new group instead of the more senior and older
members such as his father-in-law Mr. Abrahim Ahmed who was not from a tribal or
a religious family, was either a strategic move by the new group to use
Talabani’s family’s religious and tribal background to get some support for the
new party, or lack of confidence by any other member to lead a revolt and
challenge the tribal tradition in Kurdistan. Nonetheless Talabani’s leadership
was a bridge between the old and the new generation of Kurdish
nationalists.
The intellectuals’ problems
were not only internal; outsiders did not recognize them on their own as
representative of Kurds either because it was easer for other nations to
manipulate Kurds through the tribal leaders than to deal with intellectuals.
Nevertheless the 1964 split of KDP added another powerful side to the internal
Kurdish conflict. The first phase of that conflict continued until 1970 when
Barzani’s group managed to sign a four-year cease-fire with Iraqi regime to
negotiate an autonomy deal; one of the terms of that cease-fire was the
disarming of Talabani’s group who were on government side since 1966. The
disarming of Talabani’s group happened peacefully, but with great humiliation to
Mr. Talabani and Mr. Ahmed. They both left Iraq, but Mr. Talabani did not leave
Kurdish politics; he was appointed to represent Barzani’s KDP in Beirut.
The sixties paid a great
dividend to those who invested in Kurdish Iraqi struggle especially for the
state of Israel because with a little money and a few advisors that they send to
Barzani they managed to tie up a good portion of the Iraqi army and inflect
heavy casualties on them; which would have been a lot more difficult and
expensive if they had to face that number of Iraqi troops in their own country
when a war broke up in 1967 between them and the Arab states. Iran’s King too
must have been happy about the enormous influence he had on the events in Iraq
through his relationship with Barzani.
The seventies begin with
business as usual for Iraq. To insure the safety of their position, government
leaders were trying to neutralize so called state enemies by any mean at their
disposal. The negotiation with the Kurds was just one step of that scheme. At
national level the regime managed to bring the Iraqi communist party into
government without giving them much power, but the communists were happy to be
recognized as an official party especially when Iraq managed to sign a 15-year
deal with the Soviet Union the communists were very content. Of course the deal
with the Soviet Union not only made the west feel uneasy about Iraq Soviet
relationship, but the thought of peace and stability in Iraq made other
governments in the region feel uncomfortable as well.
Although the 1967 war ended
in humiliating defeat for the Arabs, but Israel was not in any less danger than
before because there was no peace agreement between Israel and the Arab states,
so Israel needed the Kurdish Iraqi fight to continue for as long as possible.
The King of Iran still had his eyes on the border issue in the Persian Gulf.
Therefore, Barzani was a very important client for all of them. And giving the
lack of integrity in Iraq’s commitment to reach a deal with the Kurds, probably
made Barzani’s job easier in deciding who to due business with because while in
cease-fire several attempts were made on Barzani’s life and his sons lives by
the Iraqi regime.
Barzani was promised more
weapons and money by Iran, Israel, and USA if he continued his fighting against
the Iraqi regime. The four-year cease-fire expired but Iraqi government could
not reach a deal with Barzani, so Barzani decided to resume fighting. This
decision made another spilt in the KDP and this time even one of Barzani’s own
son was not satisfied with his decision of rejecting the autonomy deal with
Iraq.
In
March 1974 fighting between Iraqi forces and KDP resumed. A large majority of
Kurdish people in Iraq sided with Barzani and joined him in the mountains to
fight the Iraqi regime. Without any local industry and income to pay for the
expenses of such a huge war, it was obvious from the beginning that Barzani had
lifted a bolder that was too big for him to throw on his own. Just to hold that
bolder, he needed outside hands, and when the outside hands withdrew it crashed
down on him and his plans for southern Kurdistan.
In
total the fighting continued for almost a year, but from the early weeks of the
fighting most of the noncombatant Kurds were evacuated to safety in Iran. The
refugees all relied on Iran and international aid for food and shelter. And the
combat force inside Kurdistan needed continues supply of arms, ammunitions, and
food to continue the fighting. When the fighting was good on the Kurdish side
Iran would reduce the supplies, and when the Barzani forces got pushed back Iran
would increase the supply and even send his own troops dressed as Kurds to
support the Kurds with artillery to apply the right amount of pressure to the
Iraqi regime.
There were two very
determined men in that war: The first was the king Mohammed of Iran who knew
that the time was ripe for him to use every body to get what he wanted from
Iraq. And the second was Saddam who
was determined to do anything to save his regime, but preferred to bow for Iran
and give up a peace of Iraq rather than give the Kurds a true autonomy. In 1975
the two men met in Algiers and they reached and agreement that ended the Kurdish
uprising of 1974 and tragically ended the era of Mustafa Barzani in Kurdish
politics. Iran got what he wanted in the Persian Gulf, and Iraqi regime was left
alone to reorganize and strengthen itself.
The Kurds of Iraq for a
couple of months did not have a movement that was directed from outside, but
there were clandestine political movements that started in the early seventies;
they were still active. One notable group was the Komala that was directed by
Mr. Aram or (Shaswar.)
The new arrangements in the
area put Syria in a compromising position. Being one of the poorer Arab states
Syria can’t compete with Iraq and there have been animosity between the two
branches of the Ba-ath party that holds the governments of Iraq and Syria. The
best way for Syria to weaken the Iraqi branch of the Ba-ath party is to have a
hand inside Iraq. Since the non-Kurdish opposition at the time was very small
and did not have a foothold inside the country, and Syria knowing Iran’s
intentions about ditching Barzani and his revolt, started her own plans for a
Kurdish armed movement inside Iraq. Syria had the perfect candidate to lead such
an undertaking and the candidate was Mr. Talabani.
By
any logical analysis after the tragedy of 1975 one would have thought that the
Kurds would never even discuss the issue of Kurdish revolt with any of the
neighboring countries and would not fight until they are ready to stand on their
own feet, but either nothing was learned form the 1975 experience or in the
absence of Barzani, Mr. Talabani saw an opportunity to lead a Kurdish revolt of
his own without having to fight for recognition by outsiders. What ever the case
might have been In June 1, 1975 Talabani in a statement in Damascus, Syria
announced the creation of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) which was an
umbrella covering a couple of small political organizations including Komala. In
1976 PUK resumed its operations inside Iraqi Kurdistan. This was very ironic
because Syria which is one of the countries that ended up with a piece of
Kurdistan when it too was artificially created by European forces after the
first world war would not even grant some of her own Kurds the right of
citizenship, education, or even a marriage license, but the Kurds of Iraq would
take Syria’s advise and help to fight for Kurdish freedom in Iraq.
Of
course it wasn’t healthy for any other regional or international power to have
the Kurdish movement interlay vanished in northern Iraq or to be directed from
one country only. So soon with the knowledge and the blessing of the Iranians
and the Turks, Mr. Masaud and Mr. Idris two of Barzani’s sons in August 1976
started the KDP provisional leadership, which comprised of the old KDP members
who were still loyal to Barzani. Also some members who had disagreement with
Barzani, but did not go far enough to join Talabani; instead they created their
own political parties for the same purpose of starting an armed movement against
Iraqi government.
Although, at the surface
Iraqi Kurds had several political organizations but in realty the rivalry
between Talabani's PUK and Barzani’s' KDP dominated the Kurdish political and
armed movements in Iraq. Once again just like the sixties internal conflict
consumed most of the Kurdish activists’ efforts that were facing very difficult
conditions. In fact from 1976 to 1980 when the Iran Iraq war started very little
was done to face Iraqi regime, but hundreds of Kurdish rebels were killed in
cold blood by this tow faction who were claiming to fight for Kurdish rights,
but instead were at each others’ throats.
The collapse of monarchy in
Iran opened up another Kurdish front in Iran, but despite the state of turmoil
that the Iran was in, in the first couple of years after the so called
revolution, the Iranian Kurds did not manage to organize effectively to face the
new regime. They did not have any prior plan to take control. The old KDPI and
Komala were resurrected, but soon they too like the Iraqi Kurds started to
compete with each other for power, which eventually alienated most people from
the movement and weakened both parties.
In
1980 not long after the new regime came to power in Iran, Iraq saw an
opportunity to take back what was given to Iran in 1975 and even try to curve
off some other parts of Iran and join it with Iraq especially the areas that
have Arab population and are reach with oil. Saddam who was Iraqi president by
then tore the Algiers agreement apart on Iraqi television and said his deal was
with another regime of Iran and the terms of the agreement has been broken by
Iran; therefore, the document is no longer valid.
The war between Iran and
Iraq made the Kurds more important to both countries. Just like the past the
Kurds will be paid and given weapons to protect parts of the frontier. So Iraq
made deals with the Iranian Kurds to tie up the Iranian army in eastern
Kurdistan, and Iran made deal with Iraqi Kurds mainly the Barzani family to do
the same in southern Kurdistan. It
has to be mentioned that PUK wanted relationship with Iran too, but Ayatollah
Khomeini turned them down initially. According to a statement by Mr. Nawshirwan
Mustafa who is second in command in PUK, they had send a delegation to meet
Khomeini’s men in France while Khomeini was still living in that country, and
PUK had offered to help the Islamic movement in their attempt to take power in
Iran, but the PUK delegation were told that their help will not be required.
Nonetheless, PUK managed to get into the action by sending his rebels to help
the Iranian Kurds, and that way part of the aid from Iraq to the Iranian Kurds
were funneled to PUK, but eventually in 1986 PUK and Iran did develop a
relationship.
The Iran Iraq war greatly
increased the number of Kurds who joined the rebels, because young Kurdish men
were required by law in both countries to serve in the army, and since most
Kurds did not want to die fighting for the government, they would join the
rebels and fight against their governments.
Meanwhile, the internal
Kurdish feuds continued in both Iran and Iraq. And In 1984 the Kurds of the
north also started an armed movement against the Turkish government. This
movement too did not born naturally among the Kurds; it was lit by help from
Syria because there were border and water issue between Turkey and Syria, and
Syria needed a card to use against Turkey in negotiations. And at a larger scale
Syria was backed by the former Soviet Union and Turkey by west since Turkey was
a member in NATO.
Although Iran Iraq war
swelled up the Kurdish movement in both countries, but it also swallowed the
movements and tuned them into a part of the overall war. A war which devastated
Kurdistan on both sides of the border, In 1988 when the war ended and the amount
of aid to Kurds reduced by both sides the movements were decimated especially in
Iraq where the regime staged a campaign of genocide and destruction that pushed
what ever was left of the Kurdish rebels into Iran and Turkey and destroyed
thousands of Kurdish villages and towns as will as rounded up close to 200, 000
innocent civilian inhabitants of those places who believed to be all executed
and buried in mass graves in southern Iraq.
Once again the Kurdish
armed struggle in Iraq was all but vanished without any benefit for the Kurds
and the Kurds of that part of Kurdistan were waiting for another local or
international event to rekindle their revolt. Though, they did not have to wait
for long. The invasion of Kuwait in 1990 by Iraqi forces brought the right
circumstances forward for an armed Kurdish movement to flourish again.
Kurdish activists prepared
themselves to be ready if the collation forces that were established after the
invasion of Kuwait would request their services. And inside Iraqi Kurdistan the
pro-government tribal militias (Jash) fearing that the Iraqi regime had reached
the end of its usefulness begin cutting secret deals with the Kurdish opposition
parties. The Jash commanders offered the rebel leaders support and loyalty in
exchange for power and amnesty in any future event. Given the weak state that
the Kurdish opposition forces were in this was an offer they could not refuse or
do without.
The call came from the
president of the United States of America Mr. George Bush who was still fighting
Iraq. Mr. Bush asked the Iraqi people to topple the regime themselves and USA
will support them in doing so. Iraqis did rebel against the regime, but after
the government consented defeat and signed a cease-fire. Although in a few short
days most of the southern Iraq was in rebellion, but the cease-fire and lack of
a reliable leadership in the Iraqi uprising had changed priorities for the
coalition forces. The uprising was not strong enough on its own to change the
government and force the world to accept a new regime in Iraq, and the outside
help did not came as it was promised by Mr. Bush.
Although the Kurds were
more organized and more cautious about challenging the government, but after a
week of rebellion in the south and liberation of many cities they too rebelled
and freed most of southern Kurdistan.
Iraqi regime was quick to
oppress the rebels in the south and turned his full force to crash the Kurdish
rebellion in the north without giving any time to the uprising to organize and
establish an effective leadership. Panic broke out when people realized Iraqi
regime is permitted to use any method to put down the rebellion. Millions of
Iraqis from south and north escaped to the neighboring countries creating a
refugee crises and an embarrassing situation for the coalition forces that were
now trying to patch up things to save face. Of course the coalition waited until
the Iraqi regime was secure and in full control, then they announced the no fly
zones in south and north of Iraq to protect civilians from further abuse and
stop them from entering the neighboring countries.
In
the north because of prior preparation and organized resistance some of the
rebel forces did survive and continued the fight. With the establishment of the
no fly zone in the north the rebels would have had a good chance to regroup and
challenge government forces. Of course Iraqi regime had a lot on its plate and
did not want to be engaged in a long battle with the Kurds, so they agreed to
negotiation. In June 1991 when the coalition forces reduced their presence to
air force only in Turkey, Iraq increased its demands by asking the Kurds to hand
over all their heavy weapons and their radios. When negotiations broke down,
Iraq withdrew its administration from the less strategic Kurdish areas and put
an economic blockade on those areas.
Although I have my
suspicions, nevertheless, I could not find any evidence that the withdrawal was
not a unilateral decision by Iraqi government, but a secret deal involving the
coalition and the major Kurdish parties. In any event Iraq did gain a lot
politically and economically by leaving the less strategic areas of Kurdistan
since the Kurds were not able to take full advantage of the new situation, and
the international community did not recognize the abandoned areas as a
state.
There are those moments in
history when the right circumstances arrive for a major change in the status
quo. And 1991 was one of those moments for the Kurds of Iraq that might never
repeat itself. They were in the spotlight internationally; there were a great
deal of sympathy and guilt around the world for the plight of the Kurds in Iraq.
The Iraqi regime was the least popular regime in the world. If Kurds had a plan,
that was the time to execute it. But unfortunately the only plan the Kurds had
was the old tribal rivalry. The irresponsible and ignorant actions of the
Kurdish leaders further alienated the disadvantaged and destitute Kurds of that
region from their struggle and from their land. Also the coalition and UN sat
back and allowed the self-distraction to go on in Kurdistan for years without
taking any step to help Kurds reach a degree of peace and certainty. All the
concerns and efforts for that region from the international community were aimed
at reducing the flood of refugees showing up in the west, and they have never
taken a step that would challenges the superiority of Iraq over that
area.
Even now after ten years of
self rule in Kurdistan, and when so called a peace process between the two major
parties is underway, southern Kurdistan is still in a very volatile condition
because all the factors of violence is still there and preserved forcefully
against the interest of Kurdistan and a true peace process. The best example is
the latest clashes between the Islamic groups and the secular groups of
Kurdistan.
What is called peace in
Kurdistan is just a temporary cease-fire governed by necessity and self-serving
goals of the leaders. Several times in the past major parties in southern
Kurdistan have gone through this process when they would call each other
brothers, but as soon as they were faced with a challenge and could not hold the
cease-fire any longer, they would use whatever force at their disposal to
destroy one another.
In
the past ten years of so called self rule, southern Kurdistan even more
deteriorated socially than before; very little have been done to protect women
and children from abuse.
Administration of the area has gone from bad to worse. Arbitrary decision
making by appointed government officials and poetical party members has
precedence over any law. Corruption, theft, extortion, coercion, and
intimidation are very common in all parts and in all governments that run the
region. Economically Kurdistan is very weak because of poor planning and
primitive ways of doing business. Local technology in any field does not exist,
and no one is in a hurry to plan anything. Politically the situation is very
uncertain, and there are no clear strategies or goals to achieve. Militarily
Kurdistan is very weak because each warlord keeps a small army for himself to
safeguard his own position, and they are easily manipulated and bought by
foreign powers to be used for the foreigners’ objectives. This situation have alienated the entire
population and disillusioned them about their future.
The international community
and UN are equally responsible for the misfortunes of the Kurds because none of
the existing international treaties or UN resolutions that were designed to
grant the Kurds their rights has been fully implemented. Since the withdrawal of
Iraqi regime from that region, the international community holds the people of
southern Kurdistan as hostages because there are no direct connections from
Kurdistan to anywhere except through one of the neighboring countries via road.
And the neighboring countries that have their own Kurdish population to control
and abuse each have attached several strings to the deal of allowing anyone or
anything through their borders to Kurdistan. And even then the safeties of the
Kurds who travel through these countries are not guaranteed. In the past ten
years several Kurds who even have foreign citizenship have disappeared in the
border crossings without a trace. There are Kurds who are detained without any
reason, and there are Kurds who are tortured and robbed of their belongings by
the Turks, and the Arabs of Syria that provide the only two alternatives to us
Kurds to travel to and from Kurdistan.
Holding the people of southern Kurdistan as sacrificial lambs for
slaughter by the international community and UN until they can reach a deal with
the Iraqi dictator or when they manage to replace him with another dictator will
mark another dark chapter in the history of imperialism and their disregard for
peace and human rights for the Kurds.
Without a doubt running
southern Kurdistan with all its social, economical, and political problems is
not an easy task; however, not recognizing the obstacles that stands in our way
and not planning effectively to overcome those obstacles makes the task even
harder than it is.
I
never believe in criticism just for the sake of criticizing; those who allege
something is wrong must know what is right. Therefore, they must provide an
alternative to what they reject. So
I feel obligated to outline what must be done to increase our chances for
security, peace, and freedom. Although personally I am of a strong believe that
events must be planned way ahead, but I also believe that mistakes can be used
as a learning tool, and rethinking as a way of salvaging what is left.
I
believe that the single most important thing that is missing from Kurdish
nationalist movements is a political system; a system that provides a mechanism
for free political movements, unified armed resistance, diplomacy, as well as a
democratic and civil society when the opportunity arrives in any part of
Kurdistan. So far in our history we only had single-minded tribal, religious, or
party leaders who would like to take absolute power into their own hands
whenever the Kurds had a chance to standup to their
oppressors.
I
would like to limit my suggestions to southern Kurdistan since the situation
there is very volatile, and it could go in any direction based on our ability to
overcome the challenges that are facing us. Having said that other parts of
greater Kurdistan must watch what happened and what is going to happen in the
south and learn from its mistakes and be prepared, so they would not repeat the
same mistakes if an opportunity arrives for them to govern their own affairs;
they must be ready and have a contingency plan in place to the minutest details
and leave nothing out for chance.
Now that Kurds
rule over parts of southern Kurdistan the first thing to do to eliminate
internal power dispute is to come up with a constitution that outlines the
structure of the Kurdish government, as well as the rights and the obligations
of all citizens in Kurdistan.
In
the following I will briefly outline the steps that I believe are necessary to
salvage the chance of freedom for southern Kurdistan.
To
compile a constitution, representatives of all political parties, women’s
groups, non-political, groups, intellectuals, and all religious groups and
minorities who live in Kurdistan must meet and provide input to come up with
suitable articles that would guarantee freedom and rights for all citizens of
Kurdistan.
The final draft
must be put into a referendum for all the citizens of Kurdistan to vote on, and
any article that acquires 50% + 1 vote will become part of an official document.
Any article relating to human rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of
association must be guaranteed for all citizens of Kurdistan even if they do not
acquire the 50% +1 vote. Only during elections, or if in emergency in a
referendum the citizens of Kurdistan can vote for a change in the constitution
and the same principle of 50% + 1 vote will be required to change or amend any
article of the constitution. Governments, political parties, or leaders must not
have the right under any circumstance to change or amend any article of the
constitution.
The structure of the
government must be defined in the constitution, and it should not be left out
for politicians to decide what is good for us.
There is a lot of talking
about federalism as a system of government; it seems that most Kurds don’t
disagree with this concept as a reasonable and a manageable way of solving
Kurdish issues in southern Kurdistan. But it is not clear what do the Kurdish
leaders mean by federalism. Are we going to have two stats in Iraq one for Arabs
and one for Kurds and a federal government will take care of national issues
such as defense and foreign affairs? Or we are going to have eighteen states
with equal rights at state level and a federal government to oversee the
federation and coordinate national affairs? The point I am trying to make by
these questions is that a slogan or a catch phrase such as federalism is
ambiguous like any other slogans that we heard before if it is not clearly
defined.
I
personally like federalism as opposed to centralized power for any country
because it is a more efficient and competitive way of running a country. There
are many countries around the world that are using federalism as a way of
government, but the power of each level of government in these countries varies
based on the constitution of each one of them. That is why we should define the
kind of federalism that we want. I believe the following structure of government
is the most effective way to govern Kurdistan whether we want an independent
state or a partner in a federal government with the rest of Iraq.
The kind of federalism that
I like to see is fundamentally different from the existing federal governments
around the world in terms of leadership and protection of citizens and their
human rights from authorities. Like other federalist systems of government, I
too like three levels of elected governments for Kurdistan. First level is the
municipal authorities, second level is provincial authorities, and the third
level is the federal government. Each level of government must have its clear
jurisdiction and authorities without overlapping or vacuum of power.
An
elected mayor and an elected council must govern the municipalities in any
province. Political parties must not participate in municipal elections or
influence them in anyway.
Provincial governments will
be governed by an elected legislature. An elected premier will head the
provincial government. Registered political parties and independent citizens of
Kurdistan can participate in elections and form governments and opposition
parties based on the percentage of votes that they receive in an
election.
An
independent and elected leader must head federal government of Kurdistan. The
leadership should be up for election each five-year. The leader will be
commander in chief of the Kurdish armed forces. He/she will have the right to
mobilize the army in self-defense if the Kurds attacked by an outside force, but
the leader cannot declare war without the consent of 2/3 of the Kurdish
parliament. The leader can appoint a speaker of the parliament or reside over
the parliament as speaker. The leader has no authority to make laws or revoke
laws, but every law passed by the parliament must be signed by him or her to
become affective; the leader can return a law unsigned to the parliament for
amendment if the proposed law violates an article of the constitution. The
leader must clarify in writing which article is being violated. If ambiguities
prevent the parliament and the leader to reach an understanding, a
constitutional court will have the final interpretation of the constitution, and
both parliament and the leader must abide by the court’s
decision.
Parliament in federal
government of Kurdistan must consist of government and the opposition political
parties. After the election the political party with the majority of seats will
form the government, and the second party will be the official opposition. If no
party will end up with a clear majority in an election, more than one party who
will possess a combined majority of seats can form a collation
government.
The prime minister of
Kurdistan can be member of a registered political party or an independent
person. During parliamentary elections citizens of Kurdistan will vote for the
Member of Parliament in their riding as well as for the prime minister of
Kurdistan.
The members of parliament
can be independent citizens or members of registered political parties. If in an
election more than half of the parliament seats are won by independent members.
They have the right to form an alliance to create a government; they must
declare their intention to the speaker of the parliament in the first session of
the new parliament.
After the
creation of Kurdish constitution and the referendum to make it an official
document, current Kurdish parliaments must set a date for general election to
elect a leader. At least three months and no more than six months time must be
provided for potential candidates to register and campaign. Equal funding and
advertisement must be provided to all candidates. Candidates must provide in
writing that they are independent, they will act as guardian of the Kurdish
constitution, they must provide 2000 names and signatures of potential voters
who are agreeing that the candidate will make a sound leader and they will be
voting for him or her on the day of election.
When a leader is
elected, the leader will set dates for federal and provincial parliamentary
elections to be held within one year. The leader also must create the following
committees immediately:
1-
A committee to create a
unified Kurdish army.
This
committee must consist of all parties involved, and all must abide by the
leader’s orders to create an orderly and safe transition from current party
based militias to the Kurdish Army. All weapons, ammunitions, military
communication hardware, intelligence information, and properties will become the
propriety of the Kurdish Army.
2-
A committee to create a
Kurdish broadcasting corporation.
This
committee must consist of all involved and interested parties to come up with
guidelines for an independent and unbiased broadcasting system. Government and
private companies can own and operate broadcasting mean, but all must abide by
the same rules. No political party or religious group can be allowed to own
private broadcasting means to stream one sided propaganda to the public.
3-
A committee to create a
constitutional court system.
This
committee must consist of experts and professional law and order officials. The
duties of the constitutional court will be implementing the constitutional
rights and obligation of all citizens. These courts will have jurisdiction and
power over every elected and non-elected government officials at all levels of
government. In case of a violation of the constitution by an official, the
courts can handout appropriate punishments. Governments and private citizens can
file a complaint with the constitutional court if they provide evidence that any
person or a government official regardless of rank or level of government has
committed a violation. The accused party must have the right to defend him or
herself directly or through a lawyer. No form of physical or emotional abuse
could be used in investigating a case. The punishments must not be arbitrary;
the committee must develop a code that specifies an appropriate punishment for
each violation. If unprecedented case arrives before the court, all involved
parties must be consulted to create a new punishment; in such case the leader
should have a veto if the case is not against the leader. If the case is against
the leader 2/3 of parliament must agree on the punishment. Any punishment delivered by the
constitutional court can be appealed by the accused to the leader. If the
accused can provide evidence that a wrongful conviction was made by the
constitutional court, the leader can pardon or reduce the punishment of the
accused and punish the involved court officials if the violations were
deliberate.
4-
A committee to organize
international Kurdish communities and create professional consulates to
represent the state of southern Kurdistan in all friendly countries.
This
committee must consist of all organizations and intellectuals who are working
for a Kurdish voice outside of Kurdistan to come up with guidelines for creating
a Kurdish congress to oversee and direct our efforts abroad. Consulates
representing our government must consist of independent and trained
professionals. The ambassadors can be appointed by the elected government in
Kurdistan to implement the foreign policy of the government for the duration of
that government. The committee must
create a legal team consisting of expert Kurdish and foreign lawyers to defend
Kurdish rights in the international courts and the UN. No violation of Kurdish
rights no matter how small shall go unchallenged by our legal
team.
When new Kurdish
federal and provincial parliaments are elected, the leader will dissolve all
existing parliaments.
The jurisdiction of Kurdish
federal parliament will be any national issues such as: defense, post, foreign
affairs, finance, border control, transportation, citizenship, and passports.
Kurdish federal parliament
first must debate and define very clearly what is it that we want as Kurds in
Iraq, and where do we want it? So they must draw a defined and none negotiable
map of Kurdish lands in Iraq, and clearly define Kurdish demands for freedom and
compensation for the mistreatment that our people and land has endured on hands
of our oppressors. When the government and the leader approve the final
document, it will be presented to the central government of Iraq and to UN. The
parliament will setup a committee to handle any negotiation relating to our
relationship with central government of Iraq. No political party or leader has
the right to accept any deals on behalf of Kurds. The citizens of Kurdistan in a
referendum must vote on any deal relating to the future of Kurdistan. It will be
the duty of the leader to insure this procedure.
The jurisdiction
of providential legislatures will be: justice, education, industries,
communications, finance, healthcare, natural and human resources in each
province.
The provincial legislatures
must begin immediately in developing laws that are in compliance with our
constitution and abolish all inherited laws from the central governments of
Iraq.
The legislatures must set
up expert committees in all fields of business, trades, and education to develop
modern standards and manuals to improve and advance the Kurdish
society.
The municipal councils
should complete the current term of government, but next municipal election must
be held according to the new constitution.
The jurisdiction of
municipalities will be in maintaining infrastructure in their domain, control,
monitor, and regulate commercial and residential developments, enforce bylaws,
introduce bylaws.
Creating order in the middle of
chaos is a paradox at its best, but that is exactly what the Kurds have to
achieve in order to gain freedom within the existing boundaries of Kurdistan. We
can’t sit and wait for other nationalities that we are forced to live with to
evolve and become freedom and democracy lovers so our cause will reach an
inevitable conclusion. Because the possibility of that is so remote, and the
savageness of the countries that are controlling Kurdistan is so great, we might
be vanished before that happens. Also it will be an intrusion of our enemies’
rights to force our values on them, and even if we wanted to, it is something of
impossible for us considering our limited resources. This is not an easy dilemma
facing Kurds and Kurdistan. We are battling very
irrational and ignorant enemies. An average Arab, Fars, or Turk has not
benefited much in oppressing Kurds who are living under their rule. In fact they
have suffered greatly by blindly backing the policies of their governments in
Kurdistan. Numerous internal wars, Iran Iraq war, the Gulf War, and the serious
economic and political problems that Turkey is facing for decades are directly
related to the way these governments have handled their Kurdish issues. So if
these nations come to their senses and become free and democratic and solve
Kurdish issues politically, they would help themselves too not just the Kurds,
but this dream might never materialize for us.
Hypocrisy, selfishness, and
lack of respect for international law, democracy, and human rights by the super
powers and the UN when it comes to the Kurdish issues have made it more
difficult for us Kurds to get what was promised to us by the league of nations
and the victorious armies of the world war one who created the current
boundaries that defines the states that are occupying Kurdistan. Furthermore,
the international community never has taken a step to protect Kurds under normal
circumstances. They have always waited to face a humanitarian disaster to even
mention that a nation exists by the name of Kurds, and even then their attempts
were limited to prevent a refugee crises rather than solving the Kurdish
problems.
We have a lot of
enemies and very few genuine friends. To survive and prosper against all these
odds is not an easy task. We need to be more dedicated, more vigilant, and more
active in pursuing our dream of a free and democratic Kurdistan. Fulfilling this dream is not a job for a
hero or a superhuman; this dream can only be made into realty if we Kurds all
made it our dream and worked together to achieve it.
The political, religious,
and tribal leaders of Kurdistan have a moral obligation to work toward a
civilized political system that would eliminate even the smallest chance of
internal problems. It is imperative that they abandon the old tribal way of
thinking and the warlord way of rebelling and ask their followers and
sympathizers to think as a nation and respect democracy and the rule of
law.
No
matter what class or religious or political back ground we have in Kurdistan
there is one thing we all have in common, and that thing is lack of freedom.
This common deficiency can work for us and bring us together for a common goal
the goal of freeing ourselves from our oppressors.
The international community
must stop their contribution to the annihilation of the Kurds, and they must
begin immediately through UN to implement existing laws, treaty rights, and UN
resolutions that were designed to protect Kurds and allow them to choose their
own destiny. The Kurds must have a permanent repetitive at the UN with a voting
power like any other nation. UN must put an end to the blackmailing and the
chock that the neighboring countries of Kurdistan have over the southern
Kurdistan by passing a resolution to grant the Kurds of that rejoin the right to
have direct air connection to the outside world. A UN peacekeeping force should
be present in Kurdistan and prevent the Turks and the Persians from entering
southern Kurdistan militarily and commit act of terrorism. UN must punish any country that sells
any kind of weapon to the countries that are occupying Kurdistan because those
weapons will be used to kill and intimidate Kurds.
There are many sides
influencing Kurdish issues and effecting its progress and direction. No one side
alone has the power to stop the movement from looping in a circle of ignorant.
We all must commit ourselves in directing the movement forward to bring peace
freedom and prosperity to
