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Monday, Nov 9, 2009
How do you know they were related to al-Qaida? After all, there have always been small fundamentalist groups in that region.
The way we understand al-Qaida is that it's a loose federation of various entities subscribing to the same ideology and trying to promote the same values and policies. [This group], Ansar Al-Islam, is led by a hard core of Afghan Arabs [Arab fighters who fought against the Russians in Afghanistan] numbering about 120. Few were in this remote area [Halabja] before 9/11. Many more arrived afterwards, fleeing the war in Afghanistan. They are working under the cover of the Ansar al-Islam movement but in essence they are part and parcel of al-Qaida, directed and under instructions from them.
Ansar al-Islam has suddenly cropped up in Western media as well, even being cited as justification for a possible U.S. military action. What are they up to and why all of a sudden?
I try to step back and look at it in a context. This is a region that has seen so much destruction. Thanks to the relative peaceful environment we have seen for some time now -- and no doubt thanks to the protection accorded to us by the U.S. and British military facilitated by Turkish coordination -- we have been able to embark on a process of self-government. Something tangible in terms of a civil society and the rule of law is emerging from the ashes of genocide. I am not going to tell you that everything is rosy. We do have our problems. Democratic institutions will take a long time to grow. But in this terrible geopolitics and with the history we have, it's remarkable what we have achieved.
Here is a statistic I am proud of. In 1991, we had 804 schools. Today we have more than 2,700. We started with one university in Arbil in 1991; today we have three. In 10 years of self-government, we built twice as many as was built for us in seven decades. Then we had 548 doctors. Today we have 1,870 doctors. In my hometown Sulaymaniyah, there are 138 media outlets -- including literary magazines, radio channels and so one -- most of which are independent. This is a bright spot of freedom in the heart of the Islamic Middle East. It has profound repercussions for the rest of Iraq and Islamic Middle East. Therefore it's no wonder that people who have a different agenda would try to destabilize you and export terrorism in order to drain your energy and resources and undermine our hard-won gains.
It's true the Kurdish region has really blossomed and is experiencing relative stability. On the other hand, your group, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, is willing to embark on a campaign to topple Saddam. Are you not jeopardizing what you have?
We are not embarking on anything new now -- we embarked on this decades ago. We are not joining the campaign against the Iraqi regime. We've been fighting for it for decades. There is one new factor in the Kurdish society. I am a Kurd and I am proud of my Kurdish heritage and identity. My people have suffered genocide and we deserve international guarantees that we'll be safe in the future. But we live in that region. After 10 years of self-government, we have learned the limitations of nationalism. We cannot live in this Kurdish bubble in isolation from our neighbors. We are part of Iraq. Our history obliges us to be part of Iraq. To guarantee the safety of our people, we need to work with Iraqi democrats to bring about a representative federal government in Baghdad which will not unleash chemical attacks against my people again. We are doing this because what we have today is so precarious and unstable. We cannot be safe while tyranny rules in Baghdad. It's in our interest to be party to a larger Iraqi democratic movement and really reshape Iraqi politics.
Still, Iraqi Kurds have endured the worst excesses of Saddam's regime. People must have fears about taking him on again -- given his record of chemical attacks on Kurdish population centers.
It's fair to say people have mixed feeling of anticipation and apprehension. People are hoping to see a democratic government in Iraq and welcome change. They also realize that we've never had it as good. But that's a statement more about how terrible things were in the past. We know that we live in a very precarious environment and so long as the situation exists in Baghdad -- the Iraqi tanks are massed a mile away from my hometown -- people realize that they cannot be safe, they cannot plan ahead. They need change, but at the same time they are concerned that we would be left high and dry as in so many other episodes in our history. My hope is that the U.S. and the civilized community of nations will not leave us once again defenseless in the face of possible chemical and biological attacks, and that the U.S. and Western powers will understand the importance that this democratic process in the north of Iraq be protected -- because it is truly a catalyst for the rest of Iraq.
There has been much talk of an Afghan model in a possible war with Iraq, with local Kurdish forces moving south in coordination with a U.S. air campaign. What exactly will your role be in a possible war?
That's not the proper context to ask. People are talking about a war against Iraq. We are Iraqis. We naturally would not condone "war against Iraq." But we welcome the support of the Iraqis to retake their country. This should not be war against Iraq but a war for Iraq. This should be a war to help the Iraqi people, rid Iraq of the weapons of mass destruction, and the tyranny that has governed this country. We have been at the forefront of the democratic movement in Iraq. We have a vital stake in regime change in Baghdad. And we'll no doubt work closely with any power that will support us [in achieving] that aim and help us end the suffering of the Iraqi people.
