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Iraq
Leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and former President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani. File photo: Safin Hamed / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Monday called on veteran Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani not to be sympathetic to the US presence in Iraq and for the disbandment of Kurdish Peshmerga forces for the good of Iraq's national security.
Kurdish leaders, including Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) head and former President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani, have argued that Iraq needs the US and the anti-Islamic State (ISIS) coalition it leads in Iraq to fight off the lingering threat posed by the militant group.
“[My message] to brother Masoud [Barzani] is for him not to be sympathetic to the Americans. We benefit him more than them. The [US] occupation has to leave no matter what. Enough with tampering with our potential, division among us,” Sadr said in an interview with Iraqi channel al-Sharqiya.
A long outspoken opponent to US military presence in Iraq, Sadr – currently leader of Iraqi parliament’s largest bloc, the Sayirun Alliance - founded the Mahdi Army to fight against the US occupation in Iraq from 2003 until their disbandment in 2008.
The cleric has become a figurehead of anti-US presence in Iraq following a spike in US-Iran hostilities that culminated in the assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad last month. A Sadr-sponsored march on January 24 calling for US troop expulsion attracted hundreds of thousands of supporters.
Sadr has insisted on the departure of the approximately 5,200 US troops currently based in Iraq, arguing that US presence is destructive to national security and is causing the country to play host to international battles.
Calls for the expulsion of US troops from Iraq have largely been opposed by Kurdish and Sunni politicians, who boycotted a January 5 parliamentary session that saw Shiite parties pass a non-binding resolution demanding the government kick foreign troops out of the country.
Territories disputed by Baghdad and Erbil have recently seen an uptick in ISIS activity, including killings and kidnappings. But Sadr argued that Iraqis, including the Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades) militia he formed in 2014, are capable of handling ISIS without US cover.
“The people all are ready [for ISIS]. The entirety of the blood of Sadrists, including mine, is ready to be spilled for Iraq’s salvation from Daesh,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
But attention ought to turn to the disbandment of Iraq’s militias in order to disrupt sectarian attitudes to security and strengthen the Iraqi Army – a disbandment to start with his Peace Brigades, the cleric said.
“Iraqi Army and Police are guards of the Region. A Shiite protects the Region and a Kurd protects the south. This is how a state should be - not a Kurd protecting Kurds, a Shiite protecting Shiites and a Sunni protecting Sunnis. This is not a state.”
Dismissing its Iraqi Constitution classification as “Regional Guards”, Sadr instead referred to the Peshmerga - the official military force of the Kurdistan Region – as one of the militias that need to be disbanded.
“As long as they [Peshmerga] are not the Army and Police, then they are a militia,” Sadr asserted.
Sadr has long been accused of ties to strong ties with the Iranian regime. He had resided in the central Iranian city of Qom for over a decade before making an unannounced return to Iraq’s holy Shiite city of Najaf earlier this week.
He acknowledged Iranian influence on Iraqi Shiite militias, claiming he has told Iran not to intervene in Iraqi affairs. Iranian intervention in the past two months has decreased by more than “70%”, he claimed.
Foreign powers also hold sway over Iraq’s Sunni militias, Sadr maintained. He said he has held an exclusionary stance towards all foreign influence over Iraqi sovereignty.
“If Iran intervenes a little too much [in Iraqi affairs], I tell them directly that they are interfering too much. I am not afraid of them. I have told them and KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] Crown Prince Ibn Salman, hundreds of times. I have notified them all. I even told Turkey they are occupiers of Iraqi soil and need to leave.”
Sadr did not equate US troop expulsion from Iraq with the dissolution of US-Iraq relations, instead calling for their relations to be reconfigured from one of “occupation” into one of “equal treatment.”
The Iraqi cleric did not rule out armed conflict to root US presence out of Iraq if other channels are unsuccessful.
“I believe Iraq has had enough war. We can get America out through other [non-violent] means. If we can’t do it through other means, then we are ready to fight them.”
Kurdish leaders, including Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) head and former President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani, have argued that Iraq needs the US and the anti-Islamic State (ISIS) coalition it leads in Iraq to fight off the lingering threat posed by the militant group.
“[My message] to brother Masoud [Barzani] is for him not to be sympathetic to the Americans. We benefit him more than them. The [US] occupation has to leave no matter what. Enough with tampering with our potential, division among us,” Sadr said in an interview with Iraqi channel al-Sharqiya.
A long outspoken opponent to US military presence in Iraq, Sadr – currently leader of Iraqi parliament’s largest bloc, the Sayirun Alliance - founded the Mahdi Army to fight against the US occupation in Iraq from 2003 until their disbandment in 2008.
The cleric has become a figurehead of anti-US presence in Iraq following a spike in US-Iran hostilities that culminated in the assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad last month. A Sadr-sponsored march on January 24 calling for US troop expulsion attracted hundreds of thousands of supporters.
Sadr has insisted on the departure of the approximately 5,200 US troops currently based in Iraq, arguing that US presence is destructive to national security and is causing the country to play host to international battles.
Calls for the expulsion of US troops from Iraq have largely been opposed by Kurdish and Sunni politicians, who boycotted a January 5 parliamentary session that saw Shiite parties pass a non-binding resolution demanding the government kick foreign troops out of the country.
Territories disputed by Baghdad and Erbil have recently seen an uptick in ISIS activity, including killings and kidnappings. But Sadr argued that Iraqis, including the Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades) militia he formed in 2014, are capable of handling ISIS without US cover.
“The people all are ready [for ISIS]. The entirety of the blood of Sadrists, including mine, is ready to be spilled for Iraq’s salvation from Daesh,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
But attention ought to turn to the disbandment of Iraq’s militias in order to disrupt sectarian attitudes to security and strengthen the Iraqi Army – a disbandment to start with his Peace Brigades, the cleric said.
“Iraqi Army and Police are guards of the Region. A Shiite protects the Region and a Kurd protects the south. This is how a state should be - not a Kurd protecting Kurds, a Shiite protecting Shiites and a Sunni protecting Sunnis. This is not a state.”
Dismissing its Iraqi Constitution classification as “Regional Guards”, Sadr instead referred to the Peshmerga - the official military force of the Kurdistan Region – as one of the militias that need to be disbanded.
“As long as they [Peshmerga] are not the Army and Police, then they are a militia,” Sadr asserted.
Sadr has long been accused of ties to strong ties with the Iranian regime. He had resided in the central Iranian city of Qom for over a decade before making an unannounced return to Iraq’s holy Shiite city of Najaf earlier this week.
He acknowledged Iranian influence on Iraqi Shiite militias, claiming he has told Iran not to intervene in Iraqi affairs. Iranian intervention in the past two months has decreased by more than “70%”, he claimed.
Foreign powers also hold sway over Iraq’s Sunni militias, Sadr maintained. He said he has held an exclusionary stance towards all foreign influence over Iraqi sovereignty.
“If Iran intervenes a little too much [in Iraqi affairs], I tell them directly that they are interfering too much. I am not afraid of them. I have told them and KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] Crown Prince Ibn Salman, hundreds of times. I have notified them all. I even told Turkey they are occupiers of Iraqi soil and need to leave.”
Sadr did not equate US troop expulsion from Iraq with the dissolution of US-Iraq relations, instead calling for their relations to be reconfigured from one of “occupation” into one of “equal treatment.”
The Iraqi cleric did not rule out armed conflict to root US presence out of Iraq if other channels are unsuccessful.
“I believe Iraq has had enough war. We can get America out through other [non-violent] means. If we can’t do it through other means, then we are ready to fight them.”
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