A vote for Al-Maliki is a vote to divide Iraq

During his eight years in power, Nouri Al-Maliki was not as successful in anything as he was in the Division of Iraq project. He worked hard to fragment Iraq, turning Iraq with its clumsy policies from a citizen state into a state consisting of elements against the constitution. As the task is not over yet and Iraq remains unified until this moment, the presence of Nouri Al-Maliki in office for a third term seems necessary to complete the task. Regardless of what we hear, many countries, some of which are regional, are still wary and fear a strong Iraq, and today, they have a historical opportunity to dismantle Iraq, as the country is currently weak and its people are divided, taking into account the fact that the division project has been on the table for decades amongst the circles in the West, Israel and Iran.

I haven’t found one explanation for the approach adopted by the Islamic Dawa Party, beginning with Ibrahim Al-Jaafari’s government and later Nouri Al-Maliki’s except that it aimed to divide Iraq. Earlier in history there were brutal ethnic cleansing campaigns, the phenomenon of unidentified bodies and cases of murder with electric saws and drills, reaching a peak in February 2006 after the bombing of the shrines in Samarra which Iran was involved in, sources confirmed.

The situation later escalated during Al-Maliki’s rule and developed into ethnic cleansing campaigns and the displacement and harassment of Sunni Arabs in different aspects of their lives. Everyone was prone to being accused of something and those who escaped beheadings due to charges of terrorism did not escape losing their livelihoods after being charged in according with the law of accountability and justice.

Even those who participated in the political process and angered a large group of Sunni Arabs did not escape from prosecution and harassment, not to mention the armed resistance factions that were also accused of terrorism. They even reached the “Sahwat” which, although it eliminated the greatest threat to the peaceful political process, i.e. Al-Qaeda, it was the target of a campaign of assassinations carried out by assassination squads belonging to Al-Maliki’s office and facilitated by withdrawing protections and restricting them by cutting their salaries, along with campaigns fuelling sectarian hatred and historical differences dating back 1,400 years ago, bringing them to the forefront of the political scene in new Iraq.

The differences with the region of Kurdistan, which mainly revolve around exploration rights for oil and its marketing, are not insurmountable, and even the problems related to regional guards and the Peshmerga, as well as the problems of overlapping areas is solvable, but Al-Maliki chose to keep them suspended in order for his military forces to grow first, and then negotiate from a position of strength, and in the event negotiations fail, the option of force is ready.

As for his differences with the Sunni Arabs Al-Maliki did not only fail to respond to any of their demands, although doing so was possible as the demands are constitutional and legitimate, but also failed to put an end to the targeting of their figures, persecution of their youth, desecration of their mosques and violation of their women. The random raids and mass arrest campaigns have not stopped and the provinces with a Sunni Arab majority population became unfit for life, prompting millions of families to migrate and seek asylum. Can these citizens be blamed for leaving the holy land they were raised in and defended with all they possessed, i.e. unified Iraq? I do not believe anyone will blame them, as a free and dignified life is more important than the geography of a country. What is the value of a unified Iraq if these citizens become strangers to the country given the campaigns of ethnic cleansing and persecution?

At the time that Kurdistan is preparing to declare the right of determining its fate, the Arab Sunnis, after having to take up arms, will not surrender to Al-Maliki or to his successors and give up their right to a free and dignified life. They are not openly talking about options that guarantee their independence from the administration in Baghdad in terms of security, services, energy and other aspects. They are forced to do this, but they have become more determined than ever, especially after the large-scale military aggression against Al-Anbar, Diyala and the Baghdad belts.

In order for the play to be complete, the Shias must have a role that increases the state of fragmentation and division, as they are exposed to a series of unjust car bombs attacks that do not target the elite, rather ordinary Shias who are helpless and then accuse the Sunni Arabs as a whole of carrying out the killings, not only a radical group of them.

Therefore, Al-Maliki divided the Iraqi people into Hussein’s army and Yazid’s army! In addition to this, he utilised disagreements with Kurdistan over oil in order to spread incitement and say the Kurds are benefitting from the wealth of Basra, Maysan, Nasiriyah, etc. while they refuse to hand over the crude oil they produce to the state treasury and deny Shias from it.

Of course, with a position and speech like this, the culture of partnership and common interest turns into the culture of suspicion, envy and greed and these seeds bring about division and fragmentation.

I am not promoting division, nor do I believe in it. I believe that division is a recipe for disaster that will benefit the countries neighbouring Iraq. However, this does not erase the stark realities on the ground and the need to highlight them, even if they are bitter.

Iraq is at a crossroads and we are probably facing our last chance, either Iraq will remain unified on the condition that an alternative group forms a government based on national consensus and repairs the damage done by Al-Maliki, as well as working hard to establish a state consisting of institutions and justice, or Al-Maliki will acquire a third term which will mean he will continue his catastrophic approach that will undoubtedly lead to the division of Iraq.

In this regard, I remind everyone of the statement made by the former Israeli Minister of Security during a lecture at an Israeli university: “We’ve achieved in Iraq more than we expected or planned.” This statement was made while Al-Maliki was prime minister eight years ago.

Therefore, I warn everyone that voting for Al-Maliki will mean voting for the dismantlement and division of Iraq.

Translated from Al-Sharq newspaper, 29 April 2014

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.