By Chnar Saad Abdullah
I would like to send peaceful greetings to you from Iraq, where peace has been compromised since the country’s inception.
I am writing this open letter to you for two reasons. The first is the escalation of violence and the ongoing war of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremists in Mosul and central areas of Iraq. This recent escalation has brought to light the elusive battle for Iraq, which in fact began long ago.
The second reason is the reaction of certain nations — in particular, Russia — which, despite the immeasurable suffering of the Iraqi people at the hands of their government, are opposed to the breakup of Iraq.
I would like to address these foreign governments and express my disbelief at the way they view the events in Iraq.
Since its formation almost a century ago, Iraq has been a relentless scene for sectarian, national and tribal conflicts, which has effectively undermined its sovereignty. As someone who was born in the 1970s, my generation has never seen Iraq as an established country. If you insist on keeping Iraq together, we are unlikely to see stability for generations to come.
Who is accountable for the misery we have gone through? Could it be because we were born in the 1970s? Certainly not. Even prior generations didn’t see better times, nor will the generations that succeed us. The reason lies in the indisputable fact that we were doomed because we were born in Iraq.
The kind of sovereignty you advocate for the Iraqi state (which in itself is in many ways simply an illusion) has brought only decades of despair and destruction for all Iraqis. This is why I would like to ask you, on behalf of all of the victims of the Iraqi state, to stop toying with our lives and our future — especially considering that you see yourselves as proponents of democracy and human rights.
The sole factor that could and should keep Iraq together is the will of its people — not your foreign and national interests.
We would also like to assure you that, just as when you created an independent Iraq nearly a century ago — and also created a vibrant market for your arms and your goods, and ensured yourselves a steady flow of oil — just as then, in the future when Iraq has disintegrated, we will remain your friends.
Our friendship, however, will not be to aid destruction, but to rebuild and revitalize this region.
Chnar Saad Abdullah is the Kurdistan Regional Government’s former minister of Anfal and Martyrs Affairs.
