Recently, I made a blog declaring that, contrary to popular belief, the constant problems that Iraq faces are not simply a result of American invasions, but rather, the nature of the beast in a state set up by imperial partitioning with not enough regard to the borders of actual nations. The result is that Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds cohabit a space that divides all against their peers and forces them together with others they have less affinity for, which presents a problem any time one or the other is in Baghdad. This article elucidates what I touched upon in last post. It has long been apparent that coming to power in Baghdad has inspired leaders to pursue an oppressive policy to those whom they see as alien.
Yet recently, with the fledgling government of Prime Minister Haidr Al Abadi, we're starting to see a new facet of Iraqi politics joining the old arrogance: Stupidity. Somehow, as ground commanders in the assailed Anbar province beg for US troops to come save them, Haidr Al Abadi continues to ignore these requests. It would be one thing if he had shown himself and his army as able to halt the advance themselves, but thus far, he has not. Concerns have also been raised as to the traditional animosity the locals feel towards the US, but as mentioned last post, the inhabitants of Sunni heartlands now have little more cause to trust the Iraqi government or Iran's proxy militias. A US surge could roll back ISIS while then being open to peaceful negotiations with the Sunnis, but so far the Iraqi army is unable to muster a show of force that could bring them to the bargaining table. If Abadi has any aces up his sleeve to stop this, he has yet to reveal them.
Meanwhile, Baghdad's traditional screwing over of Kurdistan continues. The Kurds, who have perhaps more experience than anyone else in Iraq at battling oppressors, have played a greater role in combating ISIS, taking the offensive in many cases. Yet the central government has instituted arbitrary bureaucracy to make it more difficult to get weapons and ammunition to Kurdish troops, quite possibly to sabotage the Kurds' attempts at independence, but ultimately hurting itself in the immediate moment. With Shiite militias strongest in the East and ISIS strongest in the Northwest, only by working with Kurdistan can Baghdad hope to achieve a two-front war and the possibility of an anaconda strike. Yet here again, the new government seems to think it can waive common sense in favor of making a gallant last stand that might lionize it on the remote chance it succeeds, even while, with constant suicide bombings set only to get worse, this tough facade is going to garner ever more skepticism. Decades of fabricated statehood are coming to a head, and the central government does not yet see that the old centrist order cannot survive.
As a result of this, I advise my government in Washington, and others enaged against ISIS and "for" Iraq, to stop entertaining Baghdad's ridiculous pretense and formulate more sensible plans. While I do not support the withdrawal of American support from Baghdad, the central authorities with regard to greenlighting weapons shipments to Kurdistan should be completely ignored; our planes should land right in Erbil and get the goods more quickly to forces who actually have demonstrated their competence and devotion to this fight. If Abadi wants to whine about this, let him; he's hardly in any position to do a thing about it. With ISIS on his doorstep, he cannot afford say no to what American support he still has; let alone be expected to punish a foreign nation violently, and even attacking Kurdistan for defying his orders is going to be virtually impossible when ISIS occupies the middle ground.
Kurdistan, which lays a claim only to the predominantly Kurdish areas, deserves far more respect than the regime of a state that by design wants to force its will on others. Moreoever, from a pragmatic viewpoint, Kurdistan can be trusted far more not to exacerbate tensions with non-Kurds, as it desperately wants an end to being shot at by other peoples. A free Kurdistan is the first big step towards more sensible politics in the region, and ought to be taken immediately.
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