From November to December 2012 the press was reporting that
Iraq’s central and Kurdish regional governments were on the verge of war. The
security forces of the two sides were facing off in northern Iraq. The cause
was the creation of the Tigris Operations Command by Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki, which the Kurdish parties took as being aimed at their aspirations
for control of the disputed areas. There was a shootout between the two sides,
and an increasingly vicious war of words between them. Since then there have
been a series of meetings between Baghdad and Irbil with no resolution so far.
If this were a serious confrontation this would still be a pressing matter,
instead of the after thought that it is becoming. The reason was that this was
always a political scheme by both Premier Maliki and Kurdish President Massoud
Barzani to rally support behind them.
On January 13, 2013, representatives from Baghdad and
Kurdistan had their latest meeting over the disputed territories. There was
no agreement, and another get together will take place later in the month. The
two sides talked about how to coordinate security in the disputed areas, which
was the basis of their disagreement. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki suggested that Tamim province was the only disputed area, because it was the only
specific place named in the constitution. The Kurdish delegation rejected
that idea claiming that all the disputed territories had to be under
discussion. This came after the acting Defense Minister Sadoun al-Dulaimi
claimed that an understanding had been reached on December 28. He stated that the two sides were going to set up joint security centers, but that
obviously was not true. This was just one of several conference the central and
regional governments have had since November when the confrontation first
stared. It’s apparent from these get togethers that the two sides are still far
apart. They still do not have a common framework from which to move forward.
Despite that, the international press is no longer covering the story, and it
is only get normal coverage in the Iraqi news.
The confrontation started in November 2012 when the Kurds
moved their forces into the disputed territories to confront the Tigris
Operations Command. That unit was created in July 2012 by Premier Maliki to cover Diyala, Tamim, and Salahaddin provinces. The ruling Kurdish parties immediately began criticizing it. The major issue was that they didn’t
recognize the right of the prime minister to create the command that covered
many of the disputed areas to begin with. As a result, the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) moved in its peshmerga into the disputed areas, demanding that
the command be disbanded. Maliki on the other hand, has called for a completely
new security arrangement. Things escalated in mid-November when the Iraqi army
and police tried to arrest a Kurdish businessmen accused of oil smuggling,
which led to a shoot out with one person being killed, and ten wounded. The
government and Kurdish forces have been staring down each other since then.
After the initial alignment of forces, a war of words
exploded with the press full of stories of possible war. In November, an
official from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) claimed that the Tigris Command was getting Arab soldiers to move into Kirkuk, hinting at a new
Arabization policy like the one Saddam carried out to force Kurds to leave. That same month, Barham Saleh of the PUK said that Maliki was trying to take the Kurds back to Saddam’s time with the Tigris Command. The next month, President Barzani gave an interview with Azzaman calling Maliki a dictator. The Peshmerga Minister claimed that Maliki was arming Arab tribes in Diyala and Tamim, and mobilizing more forces to move into the
disputed territories, which he called a declaration of war. Later, a
peshmerga commander told the press it was time to attack the government’s forces, because they weren’t ready. Finally, in mid-December, Barzani
visited Kirkuk, and reviewed the Kurdish forces there. Maliki’s State of Law
said that was a declaration of war, called Barzani a dictator, and compared him
to Saddam reviewing his troops. With these types of statements it was no
wonder that the military standoff in the disputed areas dominated the headlines
both within and without Iraq. If the comments were taken at face value it did
appear that Baghdad was about to go to war with Irbil. The reality was much
different however.
If Kurdistan and the central government were really ready to
go to war over the Tigris Operations Command they would still be attacking each
other in the media, and tensions would be running high throughout the disputed
areas, because there has been no deal between the two. Instead, they are
carrying out occasional meetings with little sign of progress, and the story is
being treated as a nothing special. That’s because the confrontation was always
political in nature. Maliki decided to challenge the Kurds to portray himself
as an Iraqi nationalist and appeal to Sunni Arabs who oppose Kurdistan’s
designs on the disputed territories. He did the exact same thing in Khanaqin, Diyala before the 2009 provincial elections. The Tigris Command
controversy precedes the 2014 governorate level voting. President Barzani
benefited as well as he was able to rally the Kurdish parties and press behind
him when before he was coming under criticism. Now that they have milked the
standoff there’s no reason to push the matter anymore. Instead they have turned
to the negotiating table, which can drag on forever. Some agreement is likely to
come out of it, but it’s unlikely to bring about any real change in Tamim,
Salahaddin, and Diyala. The real affect will be seen in the ballot box in April
when Iraqis go to the polls, and Maliki and Barzani will each use the Tigris
Command as an example of their leadership skills.
SOURCES
Ahmed, Hevidar, “Kurdish MPs Warn Of War With Baghdad, As
Peshmerga Forces Await Orders,” Rudaw, 12/6/12
- “Kurdish Parties Seen United Against Dijla Forces’ Push
into Kirkuk,” Rudaw, 11/20/12
- “Major Differences Persist in Talks with Baghdad, Kurdish
officials Say,” Rudaw, 1/11/13
Alsabawi, Jasim, “Politicians in Baghdad say Kurdish Fears
of Dijla Forces Unfounded,” Rudaw, 11/17/12
Alsumaria, “Peshmerga accuses Iraq MP of ‘arming’ Arab
tribes,” 12/3/12
Arraf, Jane, “Kurdish-Iraqi government talks collapse amid
fear of civil war,” Christian Science Monitor, 11/30/12
Associated Press, “Baghdad, Kurds agree to defuse tension,”
11/26/12
Azzaman, “Kurdish leader lashes out at Iraqi premier, says
he will not ‘surrender,’” 12/2/12
Hussein, Adnan, “Tigris Operations Command Formed by PM
Maliki Criticized as Unconstitutional,” Rudaw, 9/16/12
Juhi, Bushra, “Kurdish Commander Warns of Battle Against
Iraq,” Associated Press, 11/19/12
Kurdistan Tribune, “’Maliki wants to take Kurdistan back to
pre-1991’ – Barham Salih,” 11/19/12
Mahmood, Nawzad, “Kurdistan President: Dijla Forces Will
Cause Instability and Hinder Implementation of Article 140,” Rudaw, 11/13/12
- “Tension Easing after Standoff between Peshmerga and Iraqi
Troops in Dibis,” Rudaw, 11/27/12
Mohammed, Shalaw, “new command centre in Kirkuk threatens
peace,” Niqash, 10/4/12
Muhammad, Nehro, “Demands In Disputed Territories, Official
Says,” Rudaw, 12/7/12
- “Kirkuk Political Groups Split in Reaction to Dijla
Operations Command,” Rudaw, 11/14/12
Natali, Denise, “Gambling With Kurdistan And Checking
Baghdad,” Al Monitor, 12/12/12
National Iraqi News Agency, “Baghdad, Arbil agreed to
withdraw and replace them with a joint security centers,” 12/27/12
- “BREAKING NEWS Military talks between Kurdish, Central
Government delegations concluded without results,” 1/13/13
- “Demonstrations in Kirkuk to reject Tigris Operations
Command,” 11/12/12
- “Jabar Yawar: Central Government not serious in solving
disputes with the Region,” 11/30/12
- “Kurdistan accuses Maliki of pushing the crisis to the
brink of armed conflict,” 12/10/12
- “Kurdistan Parliament: the formation of Dijlah Operations
Command, unconstitutional,” 11/8/12
- “Maliki warns Peshmerga from approaching to the armed forces,”
11/19/12
- “MP: Kurd’s fear from Tigris Operation is unjustified,”
10/25/12
Al-Rabii, Zaydan, “Tensions Increase Between Baghdad and
Kurdistan Region,” Al-Khaleej, 11/26/12
Al-Rubayi, Zaidan, “Maliki’s Party Says Troop Review Was
Barzani’s ‘Declaration of war,’” Al-Khaleej, 12/12/12
Rudaw, “Initial Agreement Reached between Forces in Disputed
Areas,” 11/29/12
- “Iraqi Troops and Peshmerga Forces On Verge of
Confrontation South of Kirkuk,” 11/17/12
Sattar, Omar, “Kurdistan Alliance Denies Deal with Baghdad,”
Al-Hayat, 12/31/12
Shafaq, News, “Kirkuk council show rejection to Dijla forces
deployment,” 9/24/12
- “Kirkuk security committee: we refuse to deal with Dijla
operations,” 10/22/12
- “PUK: Dijla operations recruit 3,000 Arab soldiers and urge
them to move to Kirkuk,” 11/4/12
Sowell, Kirk, “Inside Iraqi Politics No. 43,” 8/2/12
- “Inside Iraqi Politics No. 50,” 11/21/12
- “Inside Iraqi Politics No. 51,” 12/5/12
Tohmeh, Abdel Wahed, “Iraqi Shia Clerics Call for Calm,”
Al-Hayat, 12/5/12
Yacoub, Sameer, “Iraqi Kurdish leader visits disputed
areas,” Associated Press, 12/10/12
Zagros, Roman, “the iraq – kurdish military stand off: and
the winner is…,” Niqash, 11/29/12
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