By Roni Alasor

The seizure of Mosul by the fundamentalist Islamic State of Iraq-Levant (ISIS) and growing of the religious fanatics in Syria and in the Middle East, marks the beginning of a new phase. In the last years, Sunni jihadists supported by the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s security elements and Sunni Arab tribes/Ulema in Iraq have been growing systematically against Shia dominated Bagdad.

The extremist policies of Iraqi Shia Prime minister Nouri Al Malliki, supported by Iranian regime, were one of the main reasons for the fast growth of the extremists. Since 2006, Mailliki also confronted and provoked Kurdistan Region with his hard stubbornness to not solve Iraqi problems according Iraqi current constitution which was ratified in 2005 referendum; this is including disagreements over oil and the so called dispute regions as Kurdish city Kirkuk, Xaneqin and other towns and villages.

The fact is that Iraq, which has been created artificially by the Western countries after First World War, now is more divided, not only because of the different fundamentalist Islamic sects as Shia and Sunni, but also mentally and physically. After all tragic crimes in the past Iraq, Shia and Sunni will never trust each other to live as a family.

And Kurds who lost several hundred of thousands as victims have also no reason to fight to keep Iraq united. Poisoning of the Kurdish city Halabja in 1988 and the Anfal Camping which resulted in more than 180 thousands of Kurdish lives are just two fresh memories the Kurds are still living with…

Just in the last 10 years, over 500.000 Iraqi have been killed, more then one million injured and many millions of the Iraqi becomes refuge as a result of fighting between different religious and ethnical conflicts. The main question is will we continue to let some more million Iraqi will be killed in the name of so called unity of a state which is not exiting ?

Western responsibility over the Kurds

Western countries have to understand fully their responsibility for what they did against 40-45 million Kurds and other ethnical and religious minorities living in Kurdistan :

During World War I, in a secret game (Sykes–Picot) played between France – Russian and England, the European colonialist draw lines between the cities-towns and villages aimed to leave Kurds without state in the Middle East. The secret games between the super powers cleansed Armenians, Assyrians-Syriac-Keldani people from their home land. And Kurdish regions has been divided between France (Syria), England (Iraq), Turkey and Iran. This was the price the Christians and Kurds are still paying in the last 100 year.

Currently, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is the only force in Iraq which can be trustful ally of the West to bring the peace and stability in Iraq and the Middle East, but also in the fight against fundamentalism and terror.

Kurdistan Region governance is based generally on the Western model of secularism, protection of the minorities, rule of law and democracy and it represents the only opportunity for Christians and other minorities to be protected in their homeland.


Middle East Diplomatic - MED