Thirteen Yezidi villages and communities in the Shingal region have come under the control of the Hashd al-Shaabi forces since last month. Villages that were under Peshmerga control before the coming of ISIS. This situation begs a question and it is why the Peshmerga did not go to take these villages and the Hashd al-Shaabi did? Especially given the fact that some of the worst massacres took place in that area especially in the village of Kocho which too has come under Hashd control.
The Hashd al-Shaabi has not shown any sign of goodwill or calm towards the Kurds in Jalawla, Khurmatu and other places in Salahaddin and Diyala for us to see them now as a force for good elsewhere. Due to the controversial nature of the Hashd al-Shaabi and the fight expected of it, it is important that its next war isn’t going to be with the Peshmerga.
Based on the words of the Hashd al-Shaabi spokesperson the force is made up of 45 groups. But according to Nouri al-Maliki, the founder of Hashd al-Shaabi, at least 180 small groups claim to be with the Hashd.
It is impossible to keep control of a force that is made of 180 groups and no government would be able to answer the leaders of each one of these groups. And it is not in the capacity of the Peshmerga ministry to answer these groups every day. This must be made the task of the parliamentarians that voted for the creation of this force in the first place.
Muqtada Sadr himself who keeps 6,000 fighters within the Hashd al-Shaabi under the name of Saraya al-Salam, said recently that the guns of Hashd al-Shaabi will create barriers for democracy, a group of criminals are inside the Hashd al-Shaabi who should by no means be allowed to run in elections.
Yet on the other side Maliki says he owns the Hashd and that they run in elections as civilians and they will have a say in who the next prime minister of Iraq will be.
Iraq was already living in chaos and with the creation of the Hashd al-Shaabi it only got worse and it will see more of it after ISIS. Those militia groups will only get on each other’s throats and crime levels too will rise across Iraq.
What is important is for the Kurds to keep away from two things. One: Keeping at bay the war of Hashd al-Shaabi with the Peshmerga and Kurds because they want to delay their own civil war by finding a new enemy after ISIS. Two: Not participating in the American and others’ media war against the Hashd al-Shaabi because a major part of American advice and air support went to the Hashd al-Shaabi in the war on ISIS and it was them who silently let Hashd al-Shaabi come into Kurdish land.
The Hashd al-Shaabi is now a regional threat and it will be a cause for the continuation of sectarian war and the rise of new ISIS. Keeping that force under control isn’t a Kurdish responsibility nor should the Kurds sign up for such a task. It’s the responsibility of international, regional and Iraqi authorities.
Two years ago it was predicted that the Hashd al-Shaabi will ignite a war on the Kurdish borders by arming communities there. That Hashd plan should have been prevented then, but it wasn’t done or not done fully. And now it is very important that the brewing Hashd plot of arming the minority groups is solved calmly and a solution found for those very groups that guide the Hashd al-Shaabi into Kurdish territories.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
