Iraq does not have money.
That is what Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s words to Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and his delegation in Baghdad came down to.
The summary of what he said was this: However much oil you may sell, whatever agreement we may have -- even if it is entrenched in the 2015 budget -- we can only give to the Kurdistan Region what we can. We will give Kurdistan Region’s budget after taking into account the situation of our other provinces and putting aside state expenditure. Now, for these two months, we can only give the Kurdistan Region $200 million instead of the $1.2 billion we had agreed on in return for the 550,000 barrels of oil Erbil was to sell for Iraq.
But it is noteworthy that Baghdad is still sending 20 billion Iraqi Dinars to its institutions in Mosul which have been under the Islamic State’s (ISIS) control since June.
In this scenario, it is the United States that deserves the largest blame for encouraging -- if not pushing -- the Kurds to join Abadi’s government on the promise that this would be an inclusive government and the rights of the Kurdistan Region would be honored.
By saying little and with his soft approach, Abadi has managed to get away with doing nothing for the Kurds and effecting no improvement in the situation of the Sunnis. The amount of money given to the Shiite militia is far more than what Baghdad gave to the Sunnis and the Kurdistan Region last year.
Yet, the US is silent – apart from the billions it has spent on the Iraqi army. From 2011 to 2014 nearly $41 billion was wasted on the Iraqi army, a force that did not resist ISIS more than 41 minutes.
The army is an icon of corruption in Iraq. On top of this, there are 42 unlawful militia groups in Iraq, all of them formed under the cabinet that was named the State of Law government.
After the creation of Iraq in 1921 Europe attached Kurdistan to a hell called Iraq, and since 2003 the US has been pushing it deeper into that hell.
When Abadi’s cabinet was formed those in the new government promised they would not let the Kurdistan Region go without money “In the Iraq of hope and peace.” But that is exactly what happened, at a time when Kurdistan has taken in the largest number of refugees and is at war with ISIS.
If we put aside the social and economic marginalization that some Muslim communities feel in the West, America’s unclear policies in the region are another reason for the flourishing of some extremist groups in the region. The threat from these groups has risen to a point that some experts call this the Third World War.
ISIS and other extremist groups see the West as enemy Number One and recruit fighters under this banner. Therefore, it is no surprise that in most of their videos -- including one released by Rudaw of their attack on January 30 -- the ISIS leaders vow to continue their war till they conquer Rome.
The US has ignored two important issues: First, supporting the Kurds; second, the situation in Syria. And the outcome is ISIS.
The US has always had very clear allies in the region, but that has changed now. Turkey hasn’t fully joined the coalition against ISIS. It is the same with Qatar. And these two countries have always been very essential for America’s wars in the region.
In that same way, the US has very unclear policies for supporting the Kurdish position in Baghdad or strengthening the Peshmerga forces, whose fight is linked to global peace and security.
The Peshmerga attacks on ISIS did not only save Iraq from total collapse, they saved the world from ISIS, too. Without the support of the Kurds the US wouldn’t have succeeded in toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime. And it won’t be able to get back on its feet in the region without Kurdish support or be able to protect its national security, given that America’s security is tied to world security.
With empty promises the US has made the Kurds a game for Baghdad and in the meantime disappointed a nation that is most pro-American and has a force able to fight ISIS on the ground. The Kurdish government is also the main balance in an Iraq that America wants to keep in one piece.
America’s unclear strategy in the region is another noteworthy point. Once in the past it pushed Turkey against the Syrian regime, then abandoned that policy. In this, Turkey is right to ask: what does America want for Syria?
Now the Kurds and the whole world want to know: what is the US planning to do?
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
