ERRBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan -- The Peshmerga need a better vision and strategy for the future, according to visiting military experts, while leaders of the Kurdish forces remain focused on the immediate demands and shortages of the ongoing war against Islamic State.
A conference in Erbil on Sunday, titled “The Future of the Armed Forces in a Democratic Kurdistan, brought together foreign experts, Iraqi military officers and Peshmerga leaders to discuss sometimes troubling history on the Kurdish forces and the challenges ahead.
Organized by the Middle East Research Institute (MERI), speakers at the conference were divided on whether the current crisis provides an opportunity, or an obstacle, in the slow process of unifying and reforming the Peshmerga.
At present, only around one-third of Peshmerga forces are united under the Ministry of Peshmerga. The remainder is divided in loyalty between the rival political parties the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
The origins of the Peshmerga as partisan guerilla forces made unification difficult, Secretary General of the Ministry of Peshmerga Jabar Yawar told the audience. He praised efforts since 2010 to bring together one-third of the Peshmerga under one ministry, citing the fact the two rival factions fought a civil war during the 1990s.
“We used to be two forces. We were fighting against each other, unfortunately,” Yawar said. “So the process of reunification will be step by step. Let's not underestimate that we were able to form 14 brigades in just four years who are now fighting side by side together without any hint of political issues.”
Yawar cited the current war against the Islamic State and the ongoing financial dispute with the federal government in Baghdad as the primary obstacles to faster unification.
With troops needed at the frontlines, it was difficult to draw units to the rear for unification, he said.
He estimated the cost of running the Peshmerga at $2.9 billion annually, but claimed they had received just $1.2 billion in 2014.
“If they send this amount, it will cover just the salaries within the 14 existing brigades,” Yawar said.
More cash would be needed to fund a centralized joint operations room, a unified communication system and a professional staff, all necessary precursors to a unified Peshmerga.
Former Peshmerga minister Sheikh Jaffar Sheikh Mustafa also insisted that the immediate needs of the Peshmerga – currently leading a critically important global fight against Islamic State – should be the current focus of discussions.
“ISIL have better equipment and training but the Peshmerga has the outstanding morale necessary to defeat the enemy,” he said. “If we had the military equipment we need though we could save a lot of lives.
“We need and we ask our friends and coalition partners to give us these weapons so we can destroy and defeat ISIL.”
This foreign assistance would likely be more forthcoming if the Ministry of Peshmerga could clearly articulate their strategic vision for the future, argued Florence Taub, a senior analyst for the European Union Institute for Security Studies.
The role of the Peshmerga had changed since their inception as bands of mountain guerillas, she noted and a new vision was needed.
“It would help your own cause if you know what you want to achieve when asking for equipment,” she said. “Do not forget the strategic vision.”
Likewise Mick Bednarek, the chief of the United States Department of Defense's Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, urged Peshmerga leaders to look beyond the immediate threat and consider what a future enemy might look like.
“It's a strategic error to plan for facing old enemies,” he said.
Yezid Sayigh, a senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center, offered a vision to which a future Ministry of Peshmerga might aspire.
He spoke of the need for a clear and transparent ministry where individual success was not dependent on loyalty or affiliations.
Sayigh said the Peshmerga would be most effective as a force if there was an officer corps where promotion was based on merit and “everyone has equal access and opportunity at every stage up the chain.”
He noted that many Middle Eastern armed forces had an issue with too many senior officers or with junior officers not being able to rise through the ranks.
“There doesn't seem to be much disagreement,” on these issues, he told the audience.
“Is there any reason why you don't move further forward? I don't know.”
