Speaking to Rudaw on Wednesday, Mustafah said the failure of Iraqi and Kurdish forces to coordinate risks allowing a resurgent Islamic State (ISIS) to seize territory as it did in the summer of 2014, throwing Iraq back into turmoil.
Besides Erbil-Baghdad divisions, Mustafah also said the Peshmerga will have to get its house in order and press ahead with reforms to unify its units currently divided between the Region’s two big parties.
Unit 80 is commanded by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), while Unit 70 is commanded by the PUK. Some Peshmerga forces are united under the command of the Ministry of Peshmerga.
Mustafah believes the unification process is the most difficult task facing the new Kurdish administration. This is despite support, and potentially pressure, from the US-led Coalition to implement a package of reforms.
The resurgence of ISIS, also known in Arabic as Daesh, makes this professionalization far more urgent.
ISIS fighters have exploited security gaps between Peshmerga and Iraqi lines – gaps which opened up following the events of October 16, 2017, when Iraqi forces seized several areas contested by the semiautonomous Kurdistan Region and the federal government.
ISIS activities in these territories have risen into the hundreds per month, Mustafah claimed, asserting that ISIS has the capability to strike cities and temporarily hold territory. ISIS is planning such operations in the future, but it is currently regrouping in the hinterlands, he added.
To stave off this threat, the Peshmerga must be allowed to return to the disputed territories, which had been far more secure under its control, Mustafah said.
Rudaw: Mr. Sheikh Jaafar Sheikh Mustafah, when will you start assuming your responsibility as the Vice President and take the oath, and what are the legal procedures of you assuming your responsibility?
Sheikh Jaafar Sheikh Mustafah: Currently the Regional Decree has been issued for my assuming my Vice Presidency duties. What is left is for his Excellency the President of the Region to summon us for a meeting to inform us of our duties, the tasks we have and our authorities, and the location from where we would work. I believe that since there has been a Regional Decree for us to assume our duties, we don’t need to take the oath before the parliament.
Have you spoken to President Nechirvan Barzani in the past days concerning you assuming your duties and your powers?
Of course he did try to contact me, but then I was somewhere far and didn’t have my phone with me. Now that there is the Regional Decree, we expect him to contact as very soon for us to start working.
Based on your [PUK] agreement with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, what will your authorities be and what cases will you handle?
We have not touched on these matters, what duties he will give to us and what authorities he will delegate to us. He, as the President of the Region, has always said that he will delegate authority to his vices, help them, and facilitate their work. Thus, whatever power he gives us, we will accept it. We will undertake the duties that we will be given. We will be a good help and aide to the Region’s President amid the difficult task that he on his shoulder at this stage.
What is your own plan? What topic would like to work on?
It is not really about that. We are waiting on what authority the President will give us. Besides that, he will speak to us and listen to us. You know that I was the Minister of Peshmerga for a long time, and I am the Commander of Unit 70. In the fight against Daesh and other fights, I have participated as a commander. That is why it might be better for me to be delegated tasks related to Peshmerga. At the same time, the authority will be in the hands of the President.
Who among you and the other Vice President Mustafah Sayed Qader will oversee military affairs? Or this has not been discussed yet? Are you optimistic that the three of you could work together in the future and produce good results in the unification of Peshmerga forces?
Sheikh Jaafar: As I said before, this is the authority of Mr. Nechirvan Barzani, who is the president of the Kurdistan Region today. It is in his power how he distributes these powers and to whom he gives them. I believe that even as the Prime Minister, Mr. Nechirvan had a lot of enthusiasm and tried a lot for us to unify Peshmerga forces because he was well aware of the reality that the unification of Peshmerga forces and creating a Peshmerga Army for this Region is one of the main tasks and necessities. Unfortunately, however, the fight against Daesh and the lack of other criteria meant it was postponed to this stage. That is why I believe he will work in the same vein and has the same stance. He might be even more adamant today on unifying Peshmerga forces.
You said that the President has a difficult task ahead. What is that?
Frankly, one of the tasks falling on his shoulder is the unification of Peshmerga forces and the formation of a united Peshmerga force because based on law, the President of the Region is the commander-in-chief of Peshmerga forces and the armed forces of Kurdistan. This is both a very difficult, yet holy task. This is a request of the Coalition, of our friends, and the people of Kurdistan. There is also a decision made by the Kurdish political leadership to create this army, unify Peshmerga forces, not to let any force remain outside state control and laws, for them all to be under the authority of the Ministry of Peshmerga, laws and instructions. You know that we have fared a very difficult period. We had a big economic crisis. Kurdistan is in need of security, building, and services. The people want a comfortable life. People are unemployed. They want jobs to start working. Domestic, regional, and international relations need to be strengthened for us to obtain more support for our people. That and many other things that we cannot cover here.
What are the obstacles and hurdles in front of the unification of Peshmerga forces?
There are some necessities for organizing Peshmerga forces. Before all, it requires a sophisticated plan and for a program to be set up by the Ministry of Peshmerga, especially now that the Coalition teams, our friends from America, Britain, Germany, and now Netherlands, are working with the Ministry of Peshmerga.
The plan you are speaking of. Hasn’t it been put in place yet?
Indeed there is a project. The unification steps and form, and the form of the army, however, haven’t come together yet in the Ministry of Peshmerga because this project needs to be complete, then be sent to the Prime Minister, then from there to the Presidency of the Region, and then back to the Ministry of Peshmerga, for all sides to approve it, for it to then go into the implementation stage.
Okay this is the first hurdle. What other obstacles are there to the unification of Peshmerga forces?
Of course there might be obstacles, for there to be people internally whose interests aren’t served by the unification of Peshmerga forces, and whose interest is served with trouble. This is one of the hurdles. The second one is a lack of budget for the Peshmerga. There needs to be a fixed budget for Peshmerga forces, for their lives to be improved because a Peshmerga gets paid 500,000 [Iraqi dinars] nowadays. If you stack this up against the rent of a house, sickness, student fees, and for other expenses, then that amount isn’t much. Honestly, these need to be resolved. Maybe there will be plots against unification and it could be obstructed here and there … we have to get ready to overcome all the hurdles, obstructions to form that [united] Peshmerga force.
You said that there might be some people who don’t wish to have Peshmerga forces unified. Why do these people not want that? What will they lose in Peshmerga unification?
These might be the people who might not have the slightest idea about what their people need, or that they might be people who don’t care about the success and the protection of the achievements of the people. They might be more interested in preserving their authority and personal achievements over their people.
You have been interviewed by Rudaw’s newspaper before, saying that the unification of Peshmerga forces requires the opening of new headquarters and bases. Can’t the current bases and training sites of Peshmerga be used for that purpose? What is the need for new bases?
We don’t have enough military bases up to now. Any military base that there is requires certain specifications for you to station Peshmerga forces in them, for Peshmerga to rest them. As for the training centers we have, they lack a lot, and have many shortcomings. It is only that only us as Peshmerga can use them. Otherwise, they don’t meet the standards of a training center. That is why we need for these training centers to be renovated, organized, and developed so that the Peshmerga can train there. We also need to have academic officers because we want to create a conventional army for the future. That is why we need the youth to go to military college, graduate from there and then come into Peshmerga forces. Thus, we need development in every aspect and change.
When you were the commander of Unit 70, did you talk about these issues with Coalition commanders? Have they shown readiness to help?
Of course we have told them these things. We have told them everything that is logical, that they, as military men, could understand well what the needs of creating an army are. That is why they have said they do know these are true and that they would relay our requests to their appropriate place.
Can you tell us why the Coalition finds it important for Peshmerga forces to be united?
The Coalition, who are in Kurdistan today, have seen how the Kurdish people are an oppressed people and have been inflicted with very big catastrophes. Besides that, in the fight against Daesh, Kurd’s Peshmerga forces very bravely faced Daesh forces. They defended well, then they routed Daesh. The defeat of Daesh began at the hands of Peshmerga forces. Then that went around to other places. That is why today they want to help our people, our government, parliament, and the Region. One of the important institutions in any country is the military institution.
Is the Coalition imposing pressure on the Peshmerga to unite and reform?
Of course they also exert pressure. I think they did start as only suggesting, but from now on, they will start their pressure too because they believe that Peshmerga forces need to unify so that the assistance they present to the Ministry of Peshmerga and the Peshmerga forces goes to the right place, through the Ministry of Peshmerga. They say that they won’t send help to forces that are not united. They say that if the forces are not united under the command of Ministry of Peshmerga, then they won’t send help or assistance in the future if things remain the same.
Does the Coalition also pressure Baghdad to assist Peshmerga?
We have surely told them that if we speak about laws, then Peshmerga forces of Kurdistan are part of the Iraqi Defense Apparatus. According to the agreements we have, Iraq has to put forth a budget for Peshmerga Forces and the Ministry of Peshmerga. That is why Coalition forces will also try with Iraq. I can’t say to what extent they are putting pressure on the government of Iraq, but they are trying to have many things implemented through Iraq.
In these days, there is a lot of talk of fears of the resurgence of Daesh and their dangers. How serious is that danger? What are the capabilities of Daesh now? How powerful are they now?
I can say that currently, it is only that Daesh doesn’t hold any cities. They have been routed from cities, and now they are outside cities. They have their main headquarters outside cities, like the Hamrin mountain range, Qarachogh Mountains, all the way to Shingal. They have fixed headquarters there. They have tunnels, military bases there. They train. They have TNT manufacturing factories, VIEBDs. In the plains, they have mobile batches. At times, during daytime, they have checkpoints, and they go through villages with a convoy of cars. They do whatever they want. Besides that, at night, they have power within cities and on the roads. What we are aware of daily is that from the fronts of 1 up to 5, the ones that are close to us, they conduct many military operations, attack security forces, kidnap people, kill people, conduct explosions, and take money from the people. They still do every terrorist act. I believe that they can temporarily control some cities and locations. There is great danger currently. According to information, Daesh has plans to stage an offensive in some places, and to control it even for a short period of time. I happen to believe they can.
Mr. Shiekh, would Peshmerga presence in these areas have changed things?
We can reference the past as an example. When Peshmerga was present in southern Kirkuk and those disputed Kurdistani territories, you can look at how many terrorist acts there were then, and how there are now. If there had been one terrorist operation at that time, currently there are hundreds of operations in one month in those areas. Big and small. That is why if Peshmerga had been there, I believe with the program and movement Peshmerga has, then those Daesh forces wouldn’t have been able to do these moves, and there wouldn’t have been a security vacuum like now.
Even if it is only to counter these threats and dangers, will Peshmerga forces return to these areas anytime soon?
Of course this requires an agreement with Iraq. I believe that the Ministry of Peshmerga has had meetings with the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and Iraqi leaders. It continues to hold meetings. One of the programs that we want to see implemented is the return of Peshmerga forces to form joint forces, operation rooms and coordination rooms with the Iraqi Army with the support of Coalition forces to fill the security vacuum in these areas and fight Daesh.
This means that you still want to reach an agreement and have Peshmerga return. Isn’t there a plan, a wholesome agreement on how Peshmerga could return?
I believe no such agreement has been made yet that would make us say that Peshmerga forces are conducting a joint operation with the Iraqi Army in a place. That is why this requires us saying that we will try to do that. Of course there are impediments in Iraq for such things, as we all can see. Some Iraqis make problems and are opposed to the return of Peshmerga to these areas. However, whether it is today or tomorrow, and whatever form it is, Peshmerga forces will return to these areas.
