Bambaboo
07-19-2008, 12:29 PM
7/19/08
A Word For Our Iraqi Friends
By Azad Jindiani
Translated by : Barzan Wahab and Hazhar Taha
The issue of Kirkuk elections and the joint walk-out of the Kurdistani bloc and the Kurdistan Islamic Union from the Iraqi Parliament on July 15th have stimulated a range of concerns on both official and public levels.
Those concerns are more than the issue of Kirkuk itself. In the first place, the relations and the alliances between Kurds and their Shia and Sunni friends have been seriously called into question. Accordingly, the future of both Kurds and Iraq has been called into question too. When it comes to the future of Iraq the issue is not only related to the Kurds, but also to Arab parties. In order to reestablish the new Iraq after the fall of the regime a political agreement—namely the constitution—has been put in place which requires agreement is prerequisite as it is underscored in the preface of the constitution.
Thus the first thing that our Iraqi friends should know is that if the decision is taken to unconstitutionally deal with those issues which are of strategic importance to Kurdish people, they should be aware that it is not merely the issue of Kirkuk on the bargaining table, but also other key Iraqi issues in terms of the political and constitutional reconstructions which must go through the same procedure.
If it is assumed that our friends intend to (in one way or another) stab us in the back regarding the Kirkuk provincial election, they should also know that pursuant to the same constitution, Kurds can indeed paralyze most of the political and legal processes and undermine the recent political progress.
From the day when the Kurdish lists left the session, none of its friends or allies sent out a single one of their Parliamentarians as a gesture of courtesy towards the Kurds. As a result, a growing sense has emerged in the mind of Kurdish citizens that the Kurds once again are alone. As a result, a growing sense has emerged in the mind of Kurdish citizens that the Kurds once again are alone.
After some progress in the arena of politics and security, a sense of arrogance has appeared among our Iraqi friends. For some people, this arrogance is no less than that shown by the Baathist leadership after the 1975 Treaty of Algiers or at the end of Iraq-Iran war in 1988. At this point, our Iraqi friends—especially the Iraqi Alliance, Dawa, and the Islamci Party—should take a serious stand and closely examine the consequences of the Kurds feeling alone—as if their friends of yesterday have turned their backs on them today—as if they are left to look after their own affairs—as if they have been denied their rightful entitlements (for which they have struggled and sacrificed since 1921) by their supposed friends. If these things do happen, our Iraqi friends should know that they Kurds will not surrender themselves in the hands of fate or stand by and watch as the injustices of an entire century in Iraq are repeated. Our Iraqi friends should acknowledge that the injustice against the Kurds of nearly 80 years in Iraq is also the devastation of all of Iraq. All of these catastrophes that befell Iraq after the First World War are, directly or indirectly, the outcome of those injustices committed against the Kurds.
As for myself, I interpret that belligerence that is now directed towards the Kurds as a sign of a possible advantage for Kurds in which they take a reasonable stance for themselves—a stand which will unify the various political strands in Kurdistan. It is surprising to me that the conditional progress reached in politics and security has driven our Iraqi friends to the belief that they are such a great strength that they have eaten the greatest portions from the table, and only crumbs are left, this is a great illusion. This amounts to the non-Kurdish politicians regarding themselves as arrogantly as Don Quixote regards himself.
Despite all the progress, conditions in Iraq are still confusing:
- Security in Iraq--except for Kurdistan--is in such a state that all Iraqis would need to become police and soldiers in order to establish a security that resembles the one inside military bases.
-The threats of Al-Qaeda and its affiliates are gravely extant.
- The Baathisst--whose new leader recently released a message--are another kind of threat.
-The neighbors are still worry about a wealthy Iraq.
- Principles of national security and the perspective of neighboring states on these principles are still stagnant.
- The regional disputes, tendencies and struggles of the neighboring countries for dominance have remained intact.
-The regional political and nonpolitical games and norms for the neighboring countries and for the US have also remained intact. - There are still some historically complicated issues which have remaned unsolved. -- They are possible for all for sides including Kurds to be a new and different political game. .
-In addition to the Kurdish issue, there several other complicated issues inside Iraq—for which, if the door to demonic political games is opened, it will constitute a grave threat to all of Iraq.
- In response to such threats, Kurds are more developed than they were in the past and have developed greater global alliances. Currently, the Kurdish issue has a constitutional foundation.
Unlike the past, their rights are not to be violated, they are not to be humiliated or their voices ignored. Unlike the past, their rights are not to be violated, they are not to be humiliated or their voices ignored. Compared to the past, the political conduct of the Kurdish leadership is more appropriate, and their capacity to act has been enlarged. Therefore our Iraqi friends should recognize these truths as such, and not get involved in those political games which would complicate the matters at hand and bring us back to square one.
There is also the greater truth that our Iraqi and non-Iraqi friends should acknowledge. That is that Kurds support an Iraq in which they are entitled to participate and contribute to decision-making process just as others, and in which their rights as a nation which has its own land are protected, and in which they feel that Iraq—in political, constitutional, and humanitarian terms—is theirs, too. Otherwise, none of the citizens of Kurdistan are inclined to an Iraq which does not, in practical terms, belong to them. Kurds are not eager for an Iraq that has a new surface to cover the same old norms. Kurds have considered themselves as Iraqis only at those times when Iraq belonged to them both in appearance and in substance. Iraq belongs to Kurds only on the condition that all of their historical and human rights are restored to them and our fellow Iraqi citizens do not behave ggressively or try to marginalize Kurds.
Doubtlessly, the issue of the Kirkuk provincial election brought these issues to the fore and made the Kurdish street fill with clamor disturbances, this is not the end of the issues—if our Iraqi friends are willing to consider these and other national problems from another perspective, this can be a catalyst for solving other problems that lay ahead.
* Azad Jindiani is the Head of PUK Central Media Office and a member of PUK Leadership Committee * Azad Jindiani is the Head of PUK Central Media Office and a member of PUK Leadership Committee
http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ar&tl=en&u=http://pukmedia.com/english/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26i d%3D5370%26Itemid%3D45&usg=ALkJrhhkZxZJKQcbxa3LyyefSG-0ENHjig
Bambaboo
A Word For Our Iraqi Friends
By Azad Jindiani
Translated by : Barzan Wahab and Hazhar Taha
The issue of Kirkuk elections and the joint walk-out of the Kurdistani bloc and the Kurdistan Islamic Union from the Iraqi Parliament on July 15th have stimulated a range of concerns on both official and public levels.
Those concerns are more than the issue of Kirkuk itself. In the first place, the relations and the alliances between Kurds and their Shia and Sunni friends have been seriously called into question. Accordingly, the future of both Kurds and Iraq has been called into question too. When it comes to the future of Iraq the issue is not only related to the Kurds, but also to Arab parties. In order to reestablish the new Iraq after the fall of the regime a political agreement—namely the constitution—has been put in place which requires agreement is prerequisite as it is underscored in the preface of the constitution.
Thus the first thing that our Iraqi friends should know is that if the decision is taken to unconstitutionally deal with those issues which are of strategic importance to Kurdish people, they should be aware that it is not merely the issue of Kirkuk on the bargaining table, but also other key Iraqi issues in terms of the political and constitutional reconstructions which must go through the same procedure.
If it is assumed that our friends intend to (in one way or another) stab us in the back regarding the Kirkuk provincial election, they should also know that pursuant to the same constitution, Kurds can indeed paralyze most of the political and legal processes and undermine the recent political progress.
From the day when the Kurdish lists left the session, none of its friends or allies sent out a single one of their Parliamentarians as a gesture of courtesy towards the Kurds. As a result, a growing sense has emerged in the mind of Kurdish citizens that the Kurds once again are alone. As a result, a growing sense has emerged in the mind of Kurdish citizens that the Kurds once again are alone.
After some progress in the arena of politics and security, a sense of arrogance has appeared among our Iraqi friends. For some people, this arrogance is no less than that shown by the Baathist leadership after the 1975 Treaty of Algiers or at the end of Iraq-Iran war in 1988. At this point, our Iraqi friends—especially the Iraqi Alliance, Dawa, and the Islamci Party—should take a serious stand and closely examine the consequences of the Kurds feeling alone—as if their friends of yesterday have turned their backs on them today—as if they are left to look after their own affairs—as if they have been denied their rightful entitlements (for which they have struggled and sacrificed since 1921) by their supposed friends. If these things do happen, our Iraqi friends should know that they Kurds will not surrender themselves in the hands of fate or stand by and watch as the injustices of an entire century in Iraq are repeated. Our Iraqi friends should acknowledge that the injustice against the Kurds of nearly 80 years in Iraq is also the devastation of all of Iraq. All of these catastrophes that befell Iraq after the First World War are, directly or indirectly, the outcome of those injustices committed against the Kurds.
As for myself, I interpret that belligerence that is now directed towards the Kurds as a sign of a possible advantage for Kurds in which they take a reasonable stance for themselves—a stand which will unify the various political strands in Kurdistan. It is surprising to me that the conditional progress reached in politics and security has driven our Iraqi friends to the belief that they are such a great strength that they have eaten the greatest portions from the table, and only crumbs are left, this is a great illusion. This amounts to the non-Kurdish politicians regarding themselves as arrogantly as Don Quixote regards himself.
Despite all the progress, conditions in Iraq are still confusing:
- Security in Iraq--except for Kurdistan--is in such a state that all Iraqis would need to become police and soldiers in order to establish a security that resembles the one inside military bases.
-The threats of Al-Qaeda and its affiliates are gravely extant.
- The Baathisst--whose new leader recently released a message--are another kind of threat.
-The neighbors are still worry about a wealthy Iraq.
- Principles of national security and the perspective of neighboring states on these principles are still stagnant.
- The regional disputes, tendencies and struggles of the neighboring countries for dominance have remained intact.
-The regional political and nonpolitical games and norms for the neighboring countries and for the US have also remained intact. - There are still some historically complicated issues which have remaned unsolved. -- They are possible for all for sides including Kurds to be a new and different political game. .
-In addition to the Kurdish issue, there several other complicated issues inside Iraq—for which, if the door to demonic political games is opened, it will constitute a grave threat to all of Iraq.
- In response to such threats, Kurds are more developed than they were in the past and have developed greater global alliances. Currently, the Kurdish issue has a constitutional foundation.
Unlike the past, their rights are not to be violated, they are not to be humiliated or their voices ignored. Unlike the past, their rights are not to be violated, they are not to be humiliated or their voices ignored. Compared to the past, the political conduct of the Kurdish leadership is more appropriate, and their capacity to act has been enlarged. Therefore our Iraqi friends should recognize these truths as such, and not get involved in those political games which would complicate the matters at hand and bring us back to square one.
There is also the greater truth that our Iraqi and non-Iraqi friends should acknowledge. That is that Kurds support an Iraq in which they are entitled to participate and contribute to decision-making process just as others, and in which their rights as a nation which has its own land are protected, and in which they feel that Iraq—in political, constitutional, and humanitarian terms—is theirs, too. Otherwise, none of the citizens of Kurdistan are inclined to an Iraq which does not, in practical terms, belong to them. Kurds are not eager for an Iraq that has a new surface to cover the same old norms. Kurds have considered themselves as Iraqis only at those times when Iraq belonged to them both in appearance and in substance. Iraq belongs to Kurds only on the condition that all of their historical and human rights are restored to them and our fellow Iraqi citizens do not behave ggressively or try to marginalize Kurds.
Doubtlessly, the issue of the Kirkuk provincial election brought these issues to the fore and made the Kurdish street fill with clamor disturbances, this is not the end of the issues—if our Iraqi friends are willing to consider these and other national problems from another perspective, this can be a catalyst for solving other problems that lay ahead.
* Azad Jindiani is the Head of PUK Central Media Office and a member of PUK Leadership Committee * Azad Jindiani is the Head of PUK Central Media Office and a member of PUK Leadership Committee
http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ar&tl=en&u=http://pukmedia.com/english/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26i d%3D5370%26Itemid%3D45&usg=ALkJrhhkZxZJKQcbxa3LyyefSG-0ENHjig
Bambaboo