States can be a lot like children – they’re most often only concerned about their own wants and needs, and they can throw fits in the process of securing these. Since the international system lacks a world government – the equivalent of a parent to impose limits and arbitrate disputes -- states sometimes also behave like children with no adults nearby.
At least that’s the feeling this month in Iraq and Syria. No adult seems able to put an end to the mayhem in Aleppo, and everyone keeps name calling and blaming the other kids for everything. Then we have the looming party to destroy the Islamic State Piñata. All the kids are making plans about how to collect the most candy when the thing inevitably comes apart. Those plans include stopping other kids from getting more territory and influence than them (although the Kurdish kids insist they only covet the red, green and yellow candy).
The latest argument over all this seems to involve the big Turkish kid that no one really invited to the festivities. Turkey seems very intent on crashing the party to liberate Mosul and Raqqa. Turkish troops surprised the United States and others when they suddenly stormed into Syria two months ago. In Iraq most of the smaller Kurdish kids seem a bit too cautious to say much on the issue, but the kids in Baghdad have been fairly vociferous in their demands that Turkish troops leave their playground. Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi warned of a regional war if Turkey did not end its occupation of Iraq, to which Turkish President Erdogan responded: “Iraq had certain requests from us regarding Bashiqa [the base in northern Iraq with the most Turkish troops], and now they are telling us to leave," he said, "But the Turkish army has not lost so much standing as to take orders from you."
At the risk of hurting the Iraqi kids’ feelings, Mr. Erdogan then helpfully added: “Who’s that? The Iraqi prime minister? First you know your place! You are not my interlocutor; you are not my equal. You should know your limits.” Apparently the weaker Iraqi Prime Minister is in elementary school and the junior high school Turks are demanding some respect and deference (even while they play in the elementary school’s yard). The high school Americans try to defuse things, but don’t really want to get in the middle of a thankless task – hence State Department spokesman John Kirby’s statement that "The Turkish forces that are deployed in Iraq are not there as part of the international coalition and the situation in Bashiqa is a matter for the governments of Iraq and Turkey to resolve."
Left on his own in this way, Mr. Abadi tried to avoid a fight with the bully kid to the north but simultaneously threw his own barbs into the fray. He thus tweeted that “We are not your enemy and we will liberate our land through the determination of our men and not by video calls.” The video call comment, of course, referred to how Mr. Erdogan on July 16 used social media to call his supporters into the streets to roll back the military coup in process at the time. Ankara is brooking no yapping kids from Baghdad, however, stating that “It is not important at all how you shout from Iraq. You should know that we will do what we have to do.”
To add to the comedy of it all, the Turkish kid that no one invited to the party arrived, looked around, and pointed at one of the kids already present – the Kurdistan Union Party (PYD) -- to demand that they be uninvited and sent home. Turkey demands that the United States stop supporting the PYD in Syria, and that Baghdad not allow the PYD to participate in the liberation of Mosul. If Washington insists on including the PYD in the operation to liberate Raqqa, Turkey says it will not stay at the party. That’s probably more than just fine for the Americans at this point, of course, but they have to pretend that they will be sad if Turkey goes home. Most of all, they don’t want Turkey to keep slipping the jihadi kids – no doubt some of the biggest sociopaths in all of kid history – more ammunition and firecrackers.
The Iranian kid, meanwhile, seems the smartest of all. He whispers in other kids’ ears, tells the naïve American kid that they can get along, and when he really must, he helps some of his smaller friends fight off others – but does so as quietly as possible. The rich Saudi and Qatari kids, meanwhile, give money to whoever seems willing to fight the kids they don’t like or fear – especially the Iranian kid and his followers.
In another context, it would all feel pretty amusing – “Ah, the games children play!” Unfortunately, in this context the kids in question have enough heavy ordinance and weapons to blow the whole neighborhood apart.
David Romano has been a Rudaw columnist since 2010. He holds the Thomas G. Strong Professor of Middle East Politics at Missouri State University and is the author of numerous publications on the Kurds and the Middle East.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
