Iraq’s voiceless community

Last week, the Al-Jazeera Network hosted a series of keynote speeches, panel discussions and media training sessions at its 9th Annual Forum attended by journalists, intellectuals and policymakers from around the world. As one of the winners of the Al-Jazeera Centre for Studies’ Research Contest, I was invited to attend and take part in the event, where I had the opportunity to listen to the opinions and politics of a broad range of people.

As a British-Iraqi academic, what struck me the most was just how little people understood the problems in Iraq, its roots and the shockwaves it will continue to create until it is resolved. This may have been impacted by the fact that there were very few Iraqi participants, but the main problem is that the independent Iraqi voice is rarely given a platform from which it can successfully engage with the rest of the world. This is particularly true in the West, where the only Iraqis that get heard are usually from the sectarian Iraqi regime and those who benefited from the American-led invasion in 2003.

During the forum, I met with members of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the autonomous Kurdish-controlled enclave in northern Iraq, representatives of the Iranian establishment, and even had the opportunity to ask senior members of the Syrian opposition some questions. Amidst the conflicting ideas, I managed to extract a common theme – the Islamic State, better known as ISIS.

When Hemin Hawrami, the foreign relations head of Massoud Barzani’s Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), was asked about the Peshmerga and other Kurdish militias ethnically cleansing Iraqi towns such as Makhmur of its Arab citizens after defeating ISIS, he denied that this was the case. He invited those who believed this to be true to visit northern Iraq with him and he would prove his claim that the Arab citizens of these towns were still there. Being a concerned Iraqi, and having full knowledge of a Human Rights Watch report on the matter, I approached him and asked him if I could take him up on his offer. Hawrami responded that there should be no problem in arranging my visit to Kurdistan, and I pray that he remembers his promise to assist me in undertaking field research to ascertain the facts of the matter.

Seyed Mohammad Sajjadpour, the adviser to the Iranian foreign minister, had much to say about his country’s commitment to peace and stability with its Arab neighbours. Sajjadpour consistently claimed that all Iran wanted was regional stability and prosperity, but simultaneously failed to address Iran’s direct involvement in propping up the brutal Syrian dictatorship of Bashar Al-Assad, the fact that Iranian officers are essentially in command of the Iraqi military, and their unabashed support for the coup in Yemen led by their coreligionist Shia proxies, the Houthis.

His speech was further bolstered by the words of Iranian academic Hassan Ahmadian, who blamed sectarianism for Iran’s maligned image in the Arab world. Once more, reference was made to the danger of extremist and sectarian groups such as ISIS and how Iran is committed to thwarting terrorism, but again nothing was said about how Iran directly supports its own sectarian terrorist groups guilty of committing brutal crimes against Iraq’s Sunni Arabs under the cover of fighting ISIS. When I later asked Sajjadpour about how Iran intended to achieve peace and stability with its Arab neighbours by constantly interfering in their internal affairs, he did not provide comment. Arguably, Iran’s sectarian interventionism in Iraq and Syria, as well as its support for extremist Sunni (and not just Shia) organisations, is a key factor in the rise of ISIS.

As Iraq and Syria have problems originating from the same source, namely Iranian interference and terrorist groups such as ISIS, I asked the Prime Minister of the Syrian Interim Government (SIG), Ahmed Touma, why there was not more cooperation between Iraqi and Syrian groups who stand in opposition to both ISIS and Iran. Touma explained that there was no need for the coordination of these two groups as the Syrian problem could be solved independently. Considering the fact that both ISIS and Iran operate across the borders of Iraq and Syria, and the fact that Iran takes advantage of the Iraqi government who is also aligned with Al-Assad, I found this answer to be astonishing.

The Syrian problem cannot be solved independently of the situation in Iraq, as one country will continue to haemorrhage into the other and Iran is not likely to back away from Syria if it still commands significant control over Iraq. This is especially true considering what appears to be American-Iranian rapprochement and the upcoming easing of sanctions Tehran will likely soon be enjoying. Iran will be all the more empowered to act, and a lack of unified and coordinated action by those affected the most will only ensure that Iran is free to continue to divide and conquer.

Moving away from the statements of officials, I also had the opportunity to connect with the Iraqi diaspora in Qatar. Unable to live in their homeland, many of these Iraqis were Sunni Arabs who were branded as Ba’athists by the Baghdad government and had to leave Iraq for their own safety. Of course, the controversial “De-Ba’athification Law” that was instituted after the US-led invasion is well known to be used as a tool to target “undesirables”, particularly Sunni Arabs. Even though they had left their war torn country, many were still afraid to speak publicly for fear of repercussions that could affect their families still in Iraq. The Iraq that they grew up in was nostalgically referred to, free of sectarian hatred, strife and bloodletting, and a country that could exercise its own sovereignty and stand up for itself. Now they feared that they could never go back to Iraq, and almost everyone I spoke to had a sad story to tell, about family members tortured, imprisoned and killed because of the sect they identified with.

To these Iraqis, ISIS is a terrible curse, but one that could not have existed without the Western invasion in 2003, Iranian interference, and regional Arab indifference to the plight of Iraqis. Iraq’s Sunni government officials, such as Selim Al-Jubouri, were seen to be only after their own personal wealth whilst the Iraqi people suffered, and the lack of a common Iraqi national political framework that emphasised independence was lamented by all. With Sunni politicians not representative of their own people and used to give the illusion of cross-sectarian cooperation in the defunct Iraqi political process, and with the lack of an effective opposition to the government abroad, the Sunni Arabs have effectively been silenced.

Most observers pointed fingers of blame at former prime minister, and current vice president, Nouri Al-Maliki. Due to Al-Maliki’s openly sectarian speeches and his habit of hounding Sunni politicians with terrorism charges, many thought that Iraq would take a turn for the better once he was replaced as prime minister by Haidar Al-Abadi. Sadly, Al-Abadi has turned out to be little better than Al-Maliki, playing an Al-Abadi version of Barack Obama to Al-Maliki’s George Bush. Prior to the recapture of Tikrit last month, Al-Abadi drew further sectarian battle lines and said that Iraqis were either with ISIS or with Iraq, essentially criminalising Iraqis who are against the government and branding them as ISIS supporters.

Without political support and guarantees of safety, Iraq’s Sunni Arabs are unable to speak due to fear, media obsessions over ISIS, and an international predilection of focusing only on the historical pain of the Kurds or Shias. Without international and local Kurd-Shia recognition of the pain of the Sunni Arabs, and with the Sunni Arabs not being allowed to have a representative voice, it is highly likely that the Iraqi tragedy will continue to escalate. Tearing out the Sunni Arabs from Iraq’s political and social fabric will only lead to yet more division, violence and the continuation of a political class that serves only itself and the agendas of foreign powers.

It is time to save Iraq by letting the Sunni Arabs speak in the spirit of unity amongst all Iraqis, whatever their background. Only then can actors who have designs on Iraq – ranging from ISIS to Iran – be stopped and Iraq healed.

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