The threats of triumph over Daesh
By Mala Bakhtiar
Today, after Peshmarga forces recaptured the suburbs of Mosul, the Iraqi armed forces recaptured the city of Mosul, with persistence support of allies and Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with any new and classical military premises they achieved a strategic victory. We felicitate the victory, though we shouldn’t be dazzled with the oomph of victory, but we have to consider of the post-Daesh threats.
Many have written and stated on the advent and the war of Daesh, and I am assured that more will be stated and written. What I want to say is enunciating some facts that might be brand new:
How could Daesh in the entire world, especially in the West have such a hegemon that could recruit and arm more than hundred thousand people against a military alliance of (76) states?
How could Daesh amidst the intelligent networks of gigantic states, surveillance satellites and CCTV cameras on the borders, when the states of Asia, Middle East and Africa can mass surveillance their citizens.
How could these more than hundred thousand people from miscellaneous countries sneak in the airports and checkpoints and successfully reach the battlefields of Iraq and Syria?
How could Daesh, convey all these weapons, including heavy weapons and arms and thousands of vehicles by land routes to the battlefields and link the battle fronts of Iraq and Syria?
How Daesh could create a vast social media network, affecting psychologies by posting pictures and videos of their propaganda activities?
How Daesh accumulated billions of dollars for providing wages for their fighters and underpin their wars logistically?
Finally, how this newly founded force could recruited more than hundred thousand fighters from various educations, different ethnicities and races, and non- proficient people in a fleeting time and even a significant number of them did not speak Arabic, how could they in a ephemeral amount of time invade prominent cities of Iraq and Syria and cripple one fourth of the Iraqi Army.
These questions need to be fathomed acutely and need multilateral studies by research institutes and professionals. Extensive and thorough study of each of these questions are very crucial and need to be considered. In the light of these studies a new strategy must be adopted not only for Kurdistan, or Iraq and Syria, but also for the Islamic countries and the West as well, only then the threats of reemergence could be anticipated.
It was not obvious could Daesh military experts militarily prepare for a long-term war in that brief time? And for this they invented in city warfare by lurking in the tunnels. The tunnels were not only for skulk from bombardments, but they were for relaxing and comforting. They were even households, electricity, refrigerating, hospitals and eatery and so on.
Tunnel wars had been experienced in the war of freedom of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, but Daesh developed them and brought them into the cities under the houses, they made the houses shields for the tunnels and the tunnels as shields for their fighter. Despite their bombardment with America, Russia and western high techs they resisted for a considerable amount of time.
The question is: after defeating Daesh in the three arenas of Iraq, Syria and the world, will the menace of Daesh and Daesh-like be ousted? Would they be deracinated by the contemporary governments and systems or by current political culture and current governance philosophy? Or exultations of triumph turns us imprudent from the cruxes and the roots of Daesh and correspondingly emanate again in different contours.
Yet another peril is military and security triumph over Daesh in Syria and Iraq and in the region as well, might make them conceit and military conceit with the ideology akin to military fight against Daesh lead them to domineer the liberalists! We should not overlook, especially in a country like Syria and other countries which Arab spring was incited in them. Their governments which protected their heads from Daesh, have a two loathes: despise against Salafi Jihadists and despise for the liberalists! The threat thickens in front of our eyes when the political map of western governance could be menaced of resettling and guarding totalitarian, non-democratic and dictatorial governments of the region, just as after the First and the Second World War by pretext of regional and international agreements.
Emergence of populism and on the contrary rise of racism and transference of suicide bombings to the western countries. These have led Europe to adopt two fundamental policies. First is security of Europe and fecund is how to protect their strategic economic interests, again. Till now, European research institutions don’t acknowledge the Islamic and Arabic democratic forces (exempt for Kurdistan) to protect their security, and thus, cannot provide the European strategic economic interests.
In this context Kurdistan has a peculiar case. Its distinctiveness is that it’s not recognized by the United Nations. Our surrounding governments are not democratic. The Iraqi government does not abide by the constitution and the Kurdish share is at its worst status! Apart from budget and salary issues. Nonetheless, Peshmarga forces of South Kurdistan and fighters (Sharvan) of West Kurdistan proved for the world that they are the best infantry for defeating Daesh and they are protectors of world peace.
A government in its times of quarrels and troubles, its unwelcome problems, assaults of Daesh and bereaved of its big and small cities and the explosions before the advent of Daesh and its incapability of controlling Baghdad and half of Iraq as well. Even when half of its army was crumbled it did not consent to abide by the constitution and the political agreements with the Kurds and the Sunnis. What shall be awaited from this government after their military triumph, particularly when we notice a force like Hashd Al- Shaabi with some 250 thousand troops and they are trained for any other probabilities especially in the disputed territories? (Unfortunately some Kurdish parliament members without the consent of political leadership and details of approving Hashd Al- Shaabi, rose their hands.)
The year before the last year, we alerted that time is getting out of hands of the Kurds and it cannot be reaped again. The Kurdish political leadership does not negotiate with Baghdad with a multilateral political, legal and economic project. I have emphasized on this in many meeting among the Kurdistani Political parties and bilateral meetings between PUK and PDK. In last year’s forum in University of Sulaimaniyah, in which five TV channels where reporting live, we accentuate more multilaterally the issue of squandering political time of the Kurds. We also said it is not proper to limit the Kurdish-Baghdad issues in the frame of oil and natural gas conflicts! We emphasized that: if there is any multilateral project for multilateral negotiation for means of resolving article 140 of the constitution. Unfortunately there have been a draft for such a project and we did not take advantage of the situation which was proper for a successful negotiation. Now we felt at the end of the game, and the referendum is decided principle of the political parties of South Kurdistan. Till now no project like that is suggested and even though we haven’t totally resolved the internecine that are created. As a consequence the running time of the situation came across us and fortunately, in the last PUK-PDK meeting and then other Kurdistani political parties in 7/6/2017 excluding (Gorran and Komal), the issue of reopening parliament was settled in a general sense. But neither the time of reopening the parliament is scheduled nor the political conflict of Gorran-PDK is paved for typical method of solution and the conditions of reopening the parliament are disregarded.
In any logic the questions approached whether worldly or regionally or Iraq-Kurdistani, in the face of any probability a threat to destiny of Kurdistan has lurked its. Even though we squandered plenty of time for solving the problems, nonetheless, it is not over, we better catch up, if not after a predicament grievance won’t help. We do not intimidate anybody for challenging any predicament if faced us, nevertheless it is a big honor to challenge any machination plotted against us, but challenge requires political, economic, social and psychological grounds and not a prolonged challenge by the pretext of the political sides. It’s obvious that economic crisis, political mistakes, the troublesome governance system and corruption have led to a deep worries of public opinion regardless of sanctity of referendum.
In the last meeting of the Kurdistani political parties, we told Mr. Barzani:
Any side considering solving the internecine quarrel of all political parties as ancillary threats, they will see how this approach will damage us! And this approach in the meeting was reply of some struggling parties of the meeting which want to show the internecine quarrels are secondary! We think, due to efforts of PUK and other parties, successful logical accountability, reactivation parliament was approved. Now we are left of solving rest of the problems, which fortunately are solvable problems! Certainly solving rest of the problems will be a political turning point for Kurdistan, and will prepare Kurd from previous age to modern age for caring out its duties. On the contrary I anticipate, not solving rest of the political and legal problems will have a harsh consequences…! Particularly after these defeating Daesh, the menacing possibilities are not less than pleasing possibilities.
Mala Bakhtiar is the head of political bureau of PUK. He is one of the most influential politicians of Kurdistan, Iraq, and has authored more than twenty books. Bakhtiar is the editor-in-chief of Chawder newspaper. This piece have been published in many local newspapers and journals.
