"A withdrawal now...will have a horrible end."
Another voice from the Iraqi parliament
By AcademicElephant Posted in Special Events — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Yesterday afternoon, I sat down with Alaa Makki, who is one of the lead members of the Sunni block in the Iraqi parliament. As recently as two weeks ago, The Washington Post referred to Dr. Makki as having "close ties with the insurgents," and according to additional reporting from the same source, the Sunni block is threatening to withdraw from the cabinet out of frustration with the political situation--and so to destabilize the government. But Dr. Makki also made some news recently when he spoke out against the terrorist attack on the Iraqi parliament, which was perpetuated by that purported ally of the Sunni, AQI. Indeed, the very Washington Post article that reports his ties with terrorism suggests that Dr. Makki's group is severing its connection with AQI--although the Post worries that the isolation of al Qaeda will turn out to be a bad thing for Iraq's political futures. Be that as it may, I agree that there is cause for frustration in Iraq. Each block has its particular hot button issues, and is fiercely defending its interest. But unlike the Sadrists, who reject all suggestions of negotiation and compromise, Dr. Makki suggested an openness to negotiation and an interest in promoting nationalism rather than sectarianism. A couple of other points to note are his thoughts about the ISF and his reaction to the idea of a swift American withdrawal according to the timetable proposed by congress. Read what he says and see what you think.
Read on...
I’m interested in your position on the hydro carbon law, what your block would like to see out of that legislation and when it might be passed by the Council of Representatives.
This law is supposed to come to the CoR and be discussed, we don’t know but we expect at any time it might appear. Basically, we are working to revise the Constitution, and the constitutional committee is working. We noticed that law somehow was not going in parallel with the Constitution articles about the oil and gas. We asked the people concerned, and that’s the ministers of oil and gas, planning and others—they said, “Well, the law might in a way or another correct the Constitution articles.” At this point we refused it—that’s the main point in our statement. Because we assume that the Constitution from the point of view of oil, it has not been corrected and this will effect the application of the law to be a reasonable and strong law. If the people say “The Constitution differs from the law” it will weaken the law. We want to fix it so that the Constitution is corrected and the law will based on an obvious correction of the Constitution and it will be applicable and acceptable and it will really participate in the solution of Iraq’s problems. This is the concept. The constitution first and then the law, to guarantee the law will have a strong basis. This will not allow someone to base his interpretation of the Constitution on his own understanding. “Oh, this means that and that means this” And we made it obvious that we cannot accept the law until the Constitution is complete.
Along these lines, with the provisional elections, are you optimistic that the provisional election law can be passed in order to have elections by this December? Will the issue of Kirkuk make this impossible? Can provincial elections happen without a resolution of Kirkuk?
Really, this depends on the situation of our brothers, the Kurdish people. So it’s the political situation, which will effect the issue you mention very much. If we could compromise situation than everything will be alright. They are insisting that they do this and this, and otherwise they are isolated from Iraq. Ten minutes ago in the parliament in front of the Iraqi people one of our brothers of the Kurdish people said that article 140 is what connects us [the Kurds] to Iraq. No more question about this, otherwise, we get out. So this was really a red alarm, and it needs a lot of negotiations.
Would the Sunni block be willing to have a partial provincial election that would allow people who did not participate in the 2005 elections to become involved?
Really, we want a stable atmosphere for the elections. So if we could agree with our people in all our provinces, then we can say all the provinces are the same in their situation and environment, then okay. Otherwise, it might be better to have provincial elections separated, but that depends on negotiations and also how successful will be the security plan to control the situation and the success of the people concerned in that context.
Do you think that what we call in America “The Surge” an effective plan? Has it had any results yet?
Well, really, we have supported the plan from the beginning and we supported the Prime Minister and we supported the people concerned. As much as we can, we encouraged our people to accept some abuses of military. All these things we did our job. But I think you could notice what success we have had—in the media every day it is a terrible situation, but still we have hope to control the situation. I think all people should be serious in this context. The government and the people in general, the MNF, should do joint work.
Do you feel as if Iraqis are beginning to think more nationally?
Yes. The Iraqis are fed up with sectarianism. They are going towards nationalism. We are encouraging that way and we are actively working to change the parliamentary map as an example to the Iraqi people of the way from sectarianism to nationalism. That will be the hope to save Iraq. Nationalism. And we’re actively hoping to achieve that.
How do you envision American involvement in Iraq over the next 18-24 months? Do you envision a timeline of withdrawal? A condition-based withdrawal? Maintaining current troop levels?
Our political situation in this context is a condition-based withdrawal. That’s the Iraqi forces built in a successful way representing the balanced people of Iraq. And an accepted way to all people, not as it is now because a withdrawal now, with such a condition of Iraqi forces will have a horrible end. And a horrible security emptiness and a security vacuum. And that will lead Iraq to a really horrible end. And so we insist that maturation, preparation and support of the Iraqi forces in a way that all Iraqi people are participating actively in these forces from the commanders to the officers to the soldiers. That will guarantee a successful armed forces instead of the Americans when they leave. So we insist the Americans should work actively on this. And we appreciate their feeling for rapid withdrawal because of the people in America. We appreciate this is an American situation and we encourage going in that direction, but America should not correct the situation with a bigger mistake than the previous one.
Just to follow up, we’ve heard some encouraging things about the performance of the Iraqi Security Forces in recent security operations. Do you agree with that, or is there something more the Americans need to do to support and train the ISF?
The problem is not all training. As the previous minister of defense Rumsfeld said, it’s not just the training of the forces, it’s representation. The security people tend to be from one side only and the other people are not participating. And when those people [the ones not participating] come to participate, those people frighten them, making them skip away. And when they skip away they will carry guns of their own, and that’s a mistake. We want them to be under the umbrella of the government and that’s a concern. So this situation should be actively, and seriously corrected. It will be a success for all—for Iraqis and Americans.
My final request is may I take a picture of you?
Yes—and then maybe they will kidnap me in America. [Laughter]
End interview.
Dr. Makki, like Dr. Sharif, does give one hope for the future of Iraq. He's not toadying to America by any stretch of the imagination, and he certainly has his own agenda, but he is at least saying the right things about building a new Iraq. And in my opinion, his triple use of the word "horrible" to describe what would happen in Iraq if the Americans were to withdraw now should at the very least give those proposing such a course of action pause.
As context, I believe the good doctor is in a very difficult situation as are many of the Sunni groups. Their power has severely waned and the insurgent strategy can only end in disaster for them. AQI is increasingly becoming Public Enemy number one amongst Iraqis’ and tying themselves in any way to that group is very risky to their future. In sum total; Sunni blocks are in a very desperate situation, especially as gains towards a more fully functioning government are achieved. They risk losing more power and falling into the same trap that had them boycott elections. That said they are certainly part of the key to Iraq’s future vis-à-vis a government which truly represents all of Iraq’s people.
I would have to agree based on what I hear there is a growing feeling that a “nationalist” strategy will be best for Iraq. However, the Kurds are certainly becoming nervous about the entire situation. Given Kurdish history and the fact their region is one of the most secure in Iraq, they are apparently impatient and frankly dissappointed. Should that move towards a more nationalistic, separatist sentiment which is played out, it could spell disaster for a cohesive Iraq. Irrespective of what Biden says, that ends very badly for everyone involved and plunges the region into more instability.
It is not often noted that promoting understanding and reconcilement, along with establishing an identity as “Iraqi’s” is amongst the one of the more important impacts. While there are historical religious and tribal differences at work here, I believe the ability to achieve a cohesive Iraqi society is severely underestimated. If you believe only one half of the doctors remarks, there are very positive signs this is indeed achievable.
Overall, I found Dr. Makki’s responsed very encouraging; he knows that progress must be achieved. While he also certainly needs to be adroit in the statements he makes, it is not an absolute necessity to the extent done in this interview. He could take a hard line like some other have done; especially on some of the subjects discussed here. Taken as a contextual whole with other factional Iraqi politicians that yield influence it appears the tone is changing and hopefully that epiphany is lasting.
I look forward to hearing from UIA and DPAK representatives if possible.
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"
Contributor to The Minority Report