OPINION:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
— Edmund Burke
The situation in Kurdistan today is the result of a blind, useless U.S. foreign policy. Based on misinformation and a desire to fulfill an impossible task — a unified Iraq — the Trump administration has allowed the enemies of democracy to take the initiative and be rewarded with silence.
The independence referendum was not a cause of the current fighting but an excuse for it. This is not the first time the West has allowed the will of the people to be crushed under tank treads. The Prague Spring in 1968 and the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989 are two examples of the will of the people meeting military resistance.
What we as Americans need to do is relearn the lessons of our own democracy and apply them to a changing world. The people of the United States, after many attempts to negotiate with the British Crown, finally declared independence. The Declaration spoke of the natural rights of people, then spoke to a revolutionary concept: “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
The most important concept here is “consent of the governed.” How can America have forgotten this basic tenet of the American culture? The Kurds no longer consent to be governed by Baghdad.
The next roadblock is the concept of “one Iraq,” a concept rooted a belief that nations are sovereign within their borders. This does not, however, allow for absolute sovereignty. The sovereign rights of a government still derive their power from the people. Iraq, in any case, has given up any claim of sovereignty by becoming a vassal state of Iran.
So much for the arguments as to why the United States should not intervene. Now we will discuss why we must.
From the very beginning, the Kurds have been U.S. allies. As strong and loyal allies fighting Iraqi forces and Iranian proxies, the Kurds stood by our side and bled for us. Kurdistan, under a constitution drawn up under the mentorship of the United States, agreed to become part of a federated Iraq with the promise of equality and partnership. All should have been bright — a beacon showing that democracy can work in the region. But almost from the beginning, this concept was destroyed by a lack of understanding by the Arabs as to what a democracy is. The Kurds seemed to have gotten it. Perfectly? No, but they got it.
What then should the United States do? We must admit we have missed the initial opportunity to do the right thing. Pride of previous position is no excuse. Offering to facilitate negotiations is a dead end unless we intend to enforce what is needed. We must separate the two sides, and this will mean the use of force.
Secondly, we must be prepared to confirm the borders, including the disputed territories. Both sides must be prepared to accept the outcome of an internationally run referendum. We must abandon the idea from the past that any peace is better than any war. It is apparent that with the power of Tehran over Baghdad exposed, those bent on killing Americans and anything that resembles the West is now the direction Iraqi security forces and their Shia militias are taking. Iraqi forces will not stop to discuss anything different unless forced to do so. The United States must force them to do so. The Trump administration must be shown that we no longer have political or economic leverage over Baghdad, regardless of what presidential envoy Brett McGurk may say. Abandoning the Kurds has only exacerbated this and given more control to Iran.
Abandoning the Kurds is abandoning Iraq as well as the Middle East. The United States will lose to Iran and Russia and will see Saudi Arabia slip away as well. Old ideas must give way as Kurdistan is the linchpin holding the region open for the West.
The time for talk is not over. But it is delayed until the threat of violence to protect American interests is established and believed. This window, however, is closing fast.
• Paul Davis is a retired military intelligence analyst for the Middle East with emphasis on Kurdish region. He is president of Janusthink LLC.
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