Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

 HEADLINES, Click to follow link
  
IRAQI NEWS, 22 FEB 05
·         Religious groups urge release of Christian Party leader
·         Gunman killed in attack on mosque in Western Baghdad
·         Kurds to establish a military academy
·         British force leaves Iraq
·         Ministry to identify radiation-contaminated sites
·         Al-Ja'fari says security, services top two priorities
·         Two Iraqis killed in Baghdad suicide bomb
·         Bodies of two Iraqi soldiers found shot dead
·         Four hurt in refinery attack
·         Paper outlines Kurdish bloc vision
·         Kurdish paper demands settlement of Kirkuk issue
IRAQI PRESS HEADLINES, 22 FEB 05
·         Al-Mada [Baghdad, political daily newspaper published by Al- Mada Corporation for Media, Culture and Art]:
·         Al-Nahdhah Baghdad, political daily newspaper]:
IRAQI PRESS QUOTES & COMMENTS, 22 FEB 05
·         ``The Coming Government''- Al-Dustur
·         ``What to come next?''- Baghdad
·         ``Al-Ja'fari and The New Post''- Al-Nahdhah
·         Press comments, 22 Feb 2005
IRAQI MEDIA PROGRAMME SUMMARIES, 22 FEB 05
·         Al-Diyar Satellite Channel In Arabic, Baghdad
·         Al-Sharqiyah Satellite Channel, Baghdad, in Arabic
·         Al-Iraqiah Satellite Channel, Baghdad, in Arabic,
UPDATES FROM THE KURDISH PRESS, 22 FEB 05
·         Kurdistani Nwe daily issued in Sulaymanya by PUK
·         Khabat daily issued in Erbil by the KDP
·         Aso, issued 3 times a week in Kirkuk by Xendan Publishing House
·         Jamawar, political weekly issued in Erbil
·         KurdistanObserver.com

IRAQI NEWS, 22 Feb 05
Religious groups urge release of Christian Party leader

Representatives of various religious sects have called for the release of Minas al-Yusufi, leader of the Christian Democratic Party, who was kidnapped by an armed group in central Baghdad almost a month ago, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 22 February. During a news conference at the headquarters of the Association of Muslim Scholars, the religious figures said that Al-Yusufi did not have any links with the US or multinational forces and had in fact opposed their presence in Iraq. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 1512 gmt 22 Feb 05)

Gunman killed in attack on mosque in Western Baghdad

A gunman was killed clashes that followed an attack on a mosque in the Al-Ghazaliyah neighbourhood of western Baghdad on 22 February. Police said gunmen fired a rocket propelled grenade [RPG] at Al-Rasul al-Akram mosque in the Al-Ghazaliyah neighbourhood, but it failed to explode. An exchange of fire then ensued between the mosque's guards and the gunmen. (Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 1515 gmt 22 Feb 05)

Kurds to establish a military academy
The Council of Ministers has decided to open an academy for to train officers for the Kurdistan national security forces, Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan satellite TV reported on 22 February. The Council of Ministers confirmed the formation of a ministerial committee for drawing up a plan of action for the institution, the TV added. (KurdSat TV, Al-Sulaymaniyah, in Sorani Kurdish 0800 gmt 22 Feb 05)
British force leaves Iraq
The British Royal Marines has set off for Cyprus on the way to their home to their base in the UK, Iraqi TV station Al-Iraqiyah TV reported on 22 February. The 400-strong unit helped bolster security during the general election in January, the TV added. About 300 troops from the unit will leave Basra. The rest will follow later. The unit was deployed over two months before and during the election in Fao, Basra and Al-Muthana, the TV said. It added: "Now that there is no need for its presence, the force is leaving the country in a remarkable, democratic climate and a quiet security situation achieved by the Iraqi police". (Al-Iraqiyah TV, Baghdad, in Arabic 1700 gmt 22 Feb 05)
Ministry to identify radiation-contaminated sites
The Ministry of Environment has implemented measures to identify sites with destroyed machinery that is contaminated with depleted uranium, with a view to preventing them being moved or approached, Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) newspaper Al-Ta'akhi reported on 22 February. A source at the ministry said new documents regarding the plans date back to pre-1991 war and concern southern Iraq, specifically Basra. The source added that the ministry would organize courses on radiation at secondary schools. (Al-Ta'akhi, Baghdad in Arabic 22 Feb 05)
Al-Ja'fari says security, services top two priorities
In an interview on Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV prior to his nomination as the United Iraqi Alliance list's sole candidate for prime minister, vice-president Ibrahim al-Jaf'ari talked about his priorities, were he to assume the post. His priority, he said would be security, and what he described as a culture of acceptance of violence in Iraq. Al-Jaf'ari said his second priority would be services, including power, telephone services, gas services, and transportation. (Al-Sharqiyah TV 1111gmt 20 Feb 05)
Two Iraqis killed in Baghdad suicide bomb
Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported that two Iraqi soldiers were killed and 30 others wounded when a car bomb exploded near an Iraqi army convoy near the Green Zone in Baghdad on 22 February. The Iraqi police said that the convoy was the target of a suicide car bomb attack while it was leaving one of the main gates of a military base near the Al-Mansur district in western Baghdad, adding that the car exploded when a unit of the Iraqi special police forces was passing by. Debris from the explosion spread over a large area. (Al-Sharqiyah TV 1200 gmt 22 Feb 05)AFP news agency reported an Interior Ministry source as saying that the toll from the blast was four people, including two members of the ministry's commandos and two civilians.
Bodies of two Iraqi soldiers found shot dead
Two Iraqi soldiers were killed by unidentified persons in a village north of Baghdad, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 22 February. Police Captain As'ad Amjad said that a Samarra police patrol in Al-Milh village found the bodies of Iyad Sami and Shahid Sa'd shot dead with their hands tied. (Al-Sharqiyah 1206 gmt 22 Feb 05)
Four hurt in refinery attack
The official in charge of security at Bajyi Refinery, Captain Sa'd Yusuf, said that four of his men were wounded when seven mortars fell yesterday on an oil derivatives distribution centre in the complex, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 22 February. (Al-Sharqiyah 1206 gmt 22 Feb 05)
Paper outlines Kurdish bloc vision
Kurdish newspaper Al-Ittihad said on 21 February that the Kurdistan Alliance List, which won 75 seats in the Iraqi National Assembly, would be a "common denominator between all other entities and an additional force to strengthen and consolidate the pillars of the Iraqi national unity." The Kurdish bloc, it said, would aim to achieve a "democratic, federalist and pluralist Iraq", while making Iraq a country open to all groups, including Arabs, Kurds, Turkomans, Chaldeans, Assyrians and Muslims, Christians, Sabyeans, Ezidis and others. (Al-Ittihad 21 Feb 05)
Kurdish paper demands settlement of Kirkuk issue
An article in Kurdistan Democratic Party newspaper Al-Ta'akhi on 21 February demanded that all vestiges of Arabization and demographic changes brought to Kirkuk and the governorate by the regime of Saddam Husayn be removed. It also called for the rights of the Kurds and Turkomans to be fully restored. Saying that these moves were promised by the Iraqi authorities in letters signed by both the president prime minister, and by US and UK ambassadors, the article demanded to know when these changes would be made on the ground. (Al-Tha'akhi 21 Feb 05)

IRAQI PRESS HEADLINES, 22 Feb 05
Al-Mada [Baghdad, political daily newspaper published by Al- Mada Corporation for Media, Culture and Art]:
§         US conducting secret contacts with Iraqi militants
§         Indonesian hostages released (AFP quoted)
§         Al-Ramadi between siege and escalation - Main thoroughfares blocked, schools, government offices closed
§         Eleven "martyred", four abducted in attacks in Baghdad, Mosul and Samarra (Agencies quoted)
§         To undercut black market, three unofficial outlets to supply car fuel at higher prices (AFP quoted)
§         Mosul-based terror network dismantled, its chief arrested, two of the terrorists admitting to ties to
§         Syrian Intelligence Report linking 'chemical Ali' to 1999 Basra massacre to be published by Al-Mada shortly.
Al-Nahdhah Baghdad, political daily newspaper]:

§         Cabinet sets up high commission to normalize conditions in Kirkuk
§         (Amr) Musa: Al-Asad wants to pull out of Lebanon (AFP quoted)
§         Pro-peace activists planning to push US administration to pull out of Iraq (Reuters quoted)
§         Oil exports via Turkey still stopped (Reuters quoted)
§         Iraqi TV reporter kidnapped with her son in Mosul (AFP quoted)
§         US senator says half of Russia's nuclear materials may have fallen into terrorists' hands (AFP quoted).

IRAQI PRESS QUOTES & COMMENTS, 22 Feb 05

``The Coming Government''- Al-Dustur
Al-Dustur [From editorial by Basim al-Shaykh]:
"The fact that the winners of the January elections have failed so far to arrive at a satisfactory political settlement among themselves, especially over nominations to key posts in the coming government, is a sure sign that discord is fast becoming the catchword today. In light of the present political wrangling, it is not unjustified to think that what lies ahead may be far more dangerous than what one would have thought as the next stage will be a real touchstone of the way political allegiances are to be aligned, involving greater risks for the future of Iraq."

``What to come next?''- Baghdad
Baghdad [From commentary by Dr Hasan Midan]:
"The whole world is in a constant state of anticipation and as always, everyone, including Iraqis, is waiting for what to come next. Anyway, it is better to keep waiting than to lose hope. After all, people have a right to hope for better days to come and to yearn for things to move forward rather than remain static. Yet, our waiting is not of the kind that involves any measure of hope; it is the waiting of the helpless who has no control over events and whose own destiny is determined by others. Times have changed so much that we can no longer remember the days when the world held its breath waiting to hear what we would say and see what we would do. Now the world cares little for what we say and even less for what we do, if anything."

``Al-Ja'fari and The New Post''- Al-Nahdhah
Al-Nahdhah [From commentary by Abd-al-Mun'im al-A'sam]:
"With the discussions over the choice of Iraq's next prime minister getting hotter within the 'Shi'i House' and Dr Ibrahim al-Ja'fari being increasingly pushed into the limelight as the most likely candidate for this most critical job at this most critical stage, questions have risen once again about the man's position on such key issues as the prospects for a theocracy in Iraq, separation between state and mosque, the Iranian interference in Iraq and women's rights - questions to which his responses have typically been all too elusive. Those, like myself, who have met this Al-Da'wah Party chief more than once, especially during the years when we were all working within the ranks of the anti-Saddam opposition, can muster enough courage to say that he can reclaim their admiration only by resisting the temptation to indulge in half sentences, half positions and half truths- that is to say, by moving from the dim realm of ambivalence into the clear realm of candour, particularly as he takes firm strides towards his new post."

Press comments, 22 Feb 2005
Al-Sabah al-Jadid carries an editorial by Chief Editor Isma'il Zayir, commenting on the recent attacks on the Shi'is in Iraq. Zayir says that this is an "unforgivable crime aiming at kindling sectarian strife between Sunnis and Shi'is," and calling for "fiercely assaulting the desperate criminals who are responsible fro these atrocities, without any mercy or leniency." (22 Feb)
Al-Sabah al-Jadid runs an article by Jarjis Kolizadah, commenting on a report on the "democratic transition and the internal affairs" in Iraq after the recent war, which was prepared by the Ibn-Khaldun Centre for Developmental Studies. (22 Feb)
Al-Mashriq carries an article by Shamil Abd-al-Qadir, criticizing the United States and its "Iraqi supporters" for "imposing the theory of confusion" on Iraq. The writer criticizes the "mercenaries" who call for applying Mahtma Gandhi's "civil resistance principle" to "liberate" Iraq, adding that Iraqi politicians "reflect weakness and obstinacy" in failing to appoint a new prime minister. (22 Feb)
Al-Dustur carries an article discussing the "importance" of the underprivileged "public majority" in the political scene in Iraq. The writer says that the "pro-American and anti-American occupation of Iraq are using all possible means to seize power, disregarding the poor Iraqis, who constitute the majority of people." (22 Feb)
Al-Adalah publishes an article commenting on the "beginning of defeat for the terrorist groups" in Iraq. The writer says that the efforts of the Iraqi security forces, which are "backed by people," in raiding the "terrorists' hideouts" have resulted in weakening these "straying terrorists." He adds that the role of the Iraqi satellite TV channels is important in "airing interviews with those detained criminals in order to reveal their cruelty." (22 Feb)
Al-Adalah an article criticizing those who call for a "national reconciliation." The author says that this "reconciliation" is impossible with those Ba'th Party "criminals" who caused a lot of suffering and destruction to Iraq, adding that what is needed is "punishing these criminals, opening the door to a national dialogue, and adopting policies of economic and social reforms." (22 Feb)
Al-Adalah carries an article praising Al-Iraqiyah satellite TV channel for "improving" the quality of its programmes and news coverage, saying that it has become "a real Iraqi" media channel. (22 Feb)
Al-Nahdah publishes an article commending the intellectual qualities and charisma of Ibrahim al-Ja'fari. The writer calls on Al-Ja'fari to adopt clear positions towards the serious issues, such as the nature of the new Iraqi government, interference by neighbouring countries like Iran, women's rights, and so forth. The writer urges Al-Ja'fari to give up the policy of "half sentences, half positions, and half truth," as he is likely to become the new Iraqi prime minister. (22 Feb)
Al-Bayan publishes an article saying that the fear of local, regional, and international parties from establishing an Islamic state based on the Iranian, Afghani, or Saudi models in Iraq is unjustified. Rasul says that no Islamic party aims at establishing an Islamic ruling in Iraq, adding that their goal is to draft a constitution that does not contradict with Islam. (22 Feb)
Al-Bayan publishes a column by Muhammad al-Asadi saying that Ashura terrorist attacks aimed at creating sectarian sedition and civil war in Iraq. Al-Asadi says that although a civil war is not likely to occur in Iraq, the security forces should intensify their efforts, especially in Baghdad, where unlike other governorates, they failed to impose their control. The writer also calls on the government to pay more attention to media. (22 Feb)
Al-Mu'tamar publishes an article saying that the only way to stop the wide spread violation of human rights in Iraq is by activating the Deba'thification process. (22 Feb)

IRAQI MEDIA PROGRAMME SUMMARIES, 22 Feb 05

Al-Diyar Satellite Channel In Arabic, Baghdad

·         President Ghazi al-Yawir and Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, the strongest candidates for the post of Iraqi president, continue their consultations with political forces to win their support. Al-Ja'fari says the political programme of the United Iraqi Alliance focuses on security, services, and the constitution ...
·         The electoral commission spokesman says the commission's work ended with the ratification of the election results ...
·         Kurdish leader Mas'ud Barzani says the Kurdistan Alliance, which came second in the election, will forge a coalition with the big parties to establish a pluralistic federal system in Iraq. The United Iraqi Alliance has not yet made up its mind regarding its nomination for the post of prime minister. Allawi is the candidate of the Iraqi List for prime minister ...
·         The representative of the Turkomen at the National Council rejects Kurdish demands regarding Kirkuk ...
·         The American forces hand over the security responsibility in Baghdad to a National Guard division ...
·         Eleven Iraqis were killed in a series of attacks in Baghdad and the north in the past 24 hours. The American Army says four of its soldiers were killed in Baghdad and Mosul ...
·         American officers say the riots that took place in Bucca prison in Iraq involved a high level of violence by inmates ...
·         Australia will send 450 more soldiers to Iraq ...
·         The Italian Embassy in Iraq advises the Italians to leave the country following threats ...
·         Baghdad municipality plans will implement a number of projects to ease traffic congestion ...
·         Report on a boom in river transport as a result of traffic congestion and fuel shortages ...
·         Technical teams repair the wax-removal unit in Al-Dawrah oil refinery, which was damaged in a mortar shelling ...
·         Iraq and the World Bank sign a loan agreement to finance an environment management project
Al-Sharqiyah Satellite Channel, Baghdad, in Arabic

·         United Iraqi Alliance deputies select Al-Da'wah leader as candidate for post of prime minister ... Two Iraqi soldiers killed, 30 injured in Baghdad's Green Zone booby-trapped car blast ...
·         Amnesty International report criticizes situation of Iraqi women; report say abuse of women suppression of women during Saddam's regime is being replaced by attacks, aggression sexual attacks; report included testimonies by women detainees in US prisons who suffered torture, threats of rape ...
·         More than 600 Iranians killed following strong earthquake in south ...
·         US army says Marine killed in attack west of Baghdad ...
·         Al-Anbar University students hold demonstration against killing of student by US forces ...
·         Booby-trapped car destroys US vehicle of US military convoy in Mosul ...
·         Two Iraqi soldiers killed by gunmen in village north of Baghdad ...
·         Attack by unknown gunmen miss US army headquarters; destroys nearby house, kill woman, her son ...
·         US soldier killed, another wounded in Balad, North of Baghdad; US army statement did not reveal cause of death ...
·         Iraqi oil pipeline exporting oil from Kirkuk to Turkey still damaged ...
·         Australian opposition criticizes decision by country's premier to send more troops to Iraq ...
·         Number of Iraqi religious leaders call for release of abducted Iraqi Christian party leader ...
·         Iraqi police sources say gunmen attack Mosque west of Baghdad; one attacker killed following exchange of fire with mosque's guards ...
·         NATO countries pledge to help, equipping, training Iraqi troops ...
·         Italian embassy in Baghdad warns nationals against staying in country following threats by unknown group ...
·         Iraqi Culture Ministry says it did not receive copy of report by US investigation commission on stolen Iraqi artefacts ...
·         Syrian information minister says Arab League's statement that Syria is ready to withdraw from Lebanon is not correct ...
·         North Korea says it is ready to resume talks on its nuclear programme
Al-Iraqiah Satellite Channel, Baghdad, in Arabic,

·         Abd-al-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq says Ibrahim al-Ja'fari selected as Prime Minister ...
·         Studio interview with Abbas al-Bayati, member of the United Iraqi Alliance. He explains how Al-Ja'fari has been unanimously selected, says status of Kirkuk to remain the same during transitional period, Sunnis to be partners in government and to contribute to writing constitution, Islam is one of sources of legislation but there will be no Islamic state ...
·         Blast kills two in Baghdad; two Iraqi soldiers killed in Baiji ...
·         Multinational soldier killed in Al-Anbar ...
·         Members of terror network arrested in Al-Samawa; dozens terror suspects south of Baghdad ... Baghdad witnesses improved security following crackdown on terrorists ...
·         Iraqis condemn abduction of Al-Iraqiyah presenter, Ra'ida al-Wazan. Video report highlights people reaction, condemnation of her abduction, Iraqis praising fair coverage of Al-Iraqiyah TV, Sunni cleric condemning abduction ...
·         British Royal Marines leave for Cyprus on the way to UK home base ...
·         Australian premier to send additional force to support Japanese unit in Iraq ...
·         Ministry of Culture holds festival to mark success of polls ...
·         Further ceremonies held in Basra marking Ashura ...
·         Files at Basra nationality department updated


Updates from the Kurdish Press, 22 Feb 05
Kurdistani Nwe daily issued in Sulaymanya by PUK
·         Consecrating the Kurdish achievements in the [Iraqi] constitution comes ahead of all priorities, the PUK leader Jalal Talabani said during his meeting with senior members of his party's Sharazour Center.
·         The PUK politburo meetings continue. In Monday's session, the participants studied the constraints that may face the Kurdish Bloc at the Iraqi national assembly. Talabani is the most qualified candidate for Iraq presidency, the leader of Iraqi National Congress (INC) Ahmed Chalabi said. Commenting on his candidacy for premiership, Chalabi explained that his chances were stronger than that of Al-Da'awa nominee Ibrahim Al-Jaafari.
·         In a regular cabinet meeting chaired by PM Omer Fattah Monday, the KRG-Sulaymanya approved a proposal by the Interior Ministry to establish an institute for rising up national security cadres.
·         A police commander in Kirkuk announced that 20 Arab terrorists were captured in a joint raid launched Sunday night the Iraqi new army, the local police and the multi-national forces.
·         EU foreign ministers in Brussels OK'ed training 770 Iraqi judges and jailers for one year outside Iraq.
·         56 Kurdish Mayors in Turkey demand the state to keep on constitutional reforms to guarantee poetical, cultural and social rights to the Kurds.
Khabat daily issued in Erbil by the KDP
·         In a n interview with the New Anatolian Turkish newspaper, the KDP leader Massoud Barzani described the January elections as the end of darkness era and the start of a golden one in the Iraqi political life. He added that the ratio of Kurdish voters in Kirkuk would reach 80% if Article 58 of the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) was fully implemented and the detached towns of Tuzkhurmatu, Kalar and Chamchamal were returned into the former administrative boundaries of the governorate. Reiterating the Kurdish people's readiness to support the Turcomans, Barzani recalled the Iraqi Turcoman Front (ITF) was problem provocateur rather than Turcoman rights defender. On establishment of a pan-Kurdistani independent state, the KDP leader said that his deeds were clear; ``Kurd is a nation divided against its will. The Kurds also should enjoy the same rights recognized for Arabs and Turks.'' ``We believe in a federal, democratic and free Iraq. The problems between fellow citizens should be resolved peacefully, not at the expense of other nations,'' Barzani concluded.
·         Dujail citizens call their town Forgotten Halabja. Hundreds of citizens in Dujail, a small town where a foiled assassination attempt against Saddam took place in 1982, declared their readiness to testify in the forthcoming trial against Saddam's half-brother Barzan, who launched a massacre in the town killing about 400 men, women and children in retaliation for the unsuccessful assassination bid.
·         The Iraqi Higher Education Ministry prevents Kurdish students at Kirkuk University from taking their exams in Kurdish language.
·         A US military force raided the ITF HQ in Mosul and took all the guards into their custody in an unidentified location in addition to damaging the HQ. The motive behind the raid is not quite clear, but the ITF is suspected of supporting the terrorists, particularly in Talaafar area west of Mosul.
·         An official source from the Multi-national forces (MNFI) in Mosul told the daily that his forces have captured 31 terrorists in various parts of the city in cooperation with local citizens in the last two days.
¾        

Aso, issued 3 times a week in Kirkuk by Xendan Publishing House
·         Mustafa Saed Qadir, Deputy Commander of the PUK's Kurdistan Peshmarag Forces complained that both KRG administrations in Erbil and Sulaymanya have presented to the Iraqi Defense Ministry lists containing the names of Kurdistan Peshmarag personnel so that the Ministry includes their salaries I its budget but the Ministry has not taken any action in this regard so far. The total number of Peshmarga personnel was estimated at 72,000 from both parties.
·         The Head of the Kurdish Institute in Washington (WKI) Najmadin Karim asserted in an interview that the weight of Kurdish representation in the Iraqi parliament is bound to its strength in Kurdistan rather than the number of representatives at the assembly. The Kurdish nation want independence and its representatives in Baghdad ask for less, therefore if the Kurds could consider other options, including referendum, if they are not happy with the situation in Baghdad. If Baghdad denies Kurdistan reality, then the referendum movement will get stronger. The Kurdish poetical forces can further strengthen the referendum movement or use whatever means as a press card. The Shiites realize that if they bypass the Kurdish aspirations, Kurdistan will take other paths, The former president of the Kurdish National Congress in North America sees that for the Kurds, federalism is more important than the shape of the government whether secular or Islamic. ``Under federalism, each federal region can decide the shape of its government. Even if Najaf, Karbala and Hilla prefer an Islamic administration, Kurdistan people will establish a secular one,'' he argues.
Jamawar, political weekly issued in Erbil
·         In a joint meeting held in Kirkuk last week, the ITF and al-Sadr affiliates decided to coordinate their efforts to halt the implementation of TAL Article 58. During the meeting, the ITF announced its opposition to sending back the Arab settlers to their places of origin because it would strengthen the Kurdish presence in the city. Most of the Arabs Saddam settled in Kirkuk as part of his anti-Kurdish Arabization policy are Shiites from southern Iraq. They have joined and al-Sadr's group that opposes Kirkuk de-Arabization.
KurdistanObserver.com <http://www.kurdistanobserver.com>
Kurdish politics and democracy
By: Roza Germian, Sydney (rezagermian@hotmail.com <mailto:(rezagermian@hotmail.com>) Feb 22, 2005

We hear from the Americans and their allies that the Kurdish experience within Iraq sets an example of democracy for the rest of the country and the region. But did we really experience true democracy in southern Kurdistan in the last decade? Or this experience has only been more democratic in comparison to other regimes in the area are such as the former Ba'athist?
No one can ignore what has been achieved so far in Kurdistan, but the argument is that a lot more could have been done, politically and economically. Even according to Dr. Barham Salih who expressed his believe that more could have been done since the liberation of Iraq for Kirkuk in particular and Kurdistan in general, in an interview on KurdSat television prior to the elections.
Generally speaking, most of us have been proud of the Kurdish achievement in southern Kurdistan yet lately we hear voices of protest, complaining about the situation and its leaders. Though these voices may not be too loud and clear, it is noticeable to some degree. Whether this means that the public is becoming more politically aware or their patience is starting to run-out, the fact is that it exists and yet decides to wait and see what time could do for Kurdistan. This also means that there are oppositions to the situation in southern Kurdistan, and it is a good sign that our people are becoming democratic.
Democracy, unfortunately, is not like mobile phone technology! Today in southern Kurdistan we witness a wide spread of this technology and it is available for everyone, even people who never had the chance of owning a home phone line before. Now we see every family member owns the latest mobile phone, and has become a necessity for all. Therefore, elections cannot bring democracy to a nation; it is democracy that would open the way for a fair election. In other words democracy has to evolve and can not introduced in its full package for a nation use, and that it has to be practiced without being abused in order to be learnt and fairly exercised.
Could the question be that the majority of our people are not used to be dealt with democratically? Do they get confused if they had to make their own political choices for themselves without guidance? This could well be true. It is quite obvious that our nation is not used to critical thinking, and they would prefer that to be done for them by a ``leader'' who they believe is the ``Mr. Know-it-all''. This is even evident in the education system, where there is a set curriculum that all teachers and students go by. Students are not allowed thinking beyond that curriculum, and are not taught to critical analysis.
Another evidence is during the recent elections, we watched all the happy people registering and later voting on our satellite television stations, from all over the world and in Kurdistan. When these people were asked about their believes and messages to others; their way of encouraging voters to go to the polls was through calling those who decided not to participate in the Iraqi elections, traitors, calling them names and swearing at them in a very uncivilized manner, without any respect to views which could still be in Kurdish advantage but different from theirs. These messages were even more disappointing to be heard from Kurds abroad, who have tasted and should be familiar with real democracy, and are generally looked up upon by people in Kurdistan for that reason and others.
But we cannot blame the nation for not being democratic where our leaders, the highly educated and highly political people do not practice it. If our leaders want democracy for their people they should start being democratic with their colleagues. Elections should be held within these parties to give some one else a chance of being the general secretary. But will they ever give up their position, or they will only pass it on to their sons like we most likely expect. On the other hand, we still have not lost our hopes in them, as they promise us to include Kirkuk and the newly librated Kurdish parts within Kurdistan and grantee our rights within a federal Iraq (though 98 per cent of us voted for an independent Kurdistan), and that they ``will not let the martyrs blood be wasted''. Can we believe and trust them? Are they only using our unfortunate past to tease our emotions? Could they turn their backs at their awaiting nation, and break their promises once they gain that higher authority and have reached the top? Would Mr. Talabani wear the Arabic cloths and head piece and sit in the Arab League, representing Iraq? We all hope not.
Our leaders have let us down many times before, but we are ready to give them another chance hoping that this time we will not be faced by disappointment!