Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim: The Division of Iraq Will Take Iraqis to Nowhere and Is Far from Resolving the Problem of the Components
Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, reiterated his warning against the increased calls for dividing Iraq, maintaining that the division of Iraq will take Iraqis to nowhere, blood will be shed and resources will be depleted for a project that is far from resolving the problem of the components. He also asserted that the fragmentation will not provide stability to the states born from division, yet it will open wide the door to disputes between all parties that can’t be avoided then when it’s too late to regret a united Iraq which is the best for everyone albeit all disputes, noting that the Iraqi components derive their strength from each other and the division will expose these components for the Arabic component protects the Kurds from the big states in the region which will reject it and will be exposed before them should it be divided from Iraq, and the same goes for the Sunni Iraqis who at time of division, will constitute a rival state for the rest of the Arabic states and the latter will look at them differently as a rival state, instead of a supported state. Moreover, his Eminence said the Shiite state will renew the hope of the Shiites in the region, which raises the concerns of some Arabic states, predicting the rise of conflicts within each state between Iraqi components as a result of the division. In addition, according to his Eminence, the interior Shiite rivalry will turn into conflicts and the Sunni state will be controlled by Islamists, and the interior Kurdish disputes will be more serious than the dispute over the region’s presidency as well as the states resulting from the division.
This came in a lecture given by his Eminence during the cultural Rabihi forum on the adverse effects of Iraq’s division on all the Iraqi components in Baghdad, on Monday, May 25, 2015.
His Eminence pointed out that the division of Iraq would lead to the division and fragmentation of the region and the collapse of states like dominoes, according to Iraq size, place, location and cultural, historical and diverse depth, wondering if those who speak about division are aware of the seriousness of these challenges. Al-Hakim considered that speaking about division is the result of frustration that needs to be addressed by reunifying Iraqis through security, political, societal and structural priorities and making regional relations, pointing to the importance of fighting ISIL and driving them away, and this requires the integration of roles that help us achieve victories in many battles against ISIL. Moreover, he considered Iraqi unity as the best weapon to triumph over ISIL, noting that there is an increase in the number of clans refusing ISIL, and he declared that the coming days will witness great victories to the Iraqi people and give back the initiative to the Iraqis. His Eminence stressed the importance of making a reassuring project for all according to the rule: what shall I give my partner in homeland; instead of what my partner in homeland shall give me, stressing the importance that the project shall be reassuring and far from the closed doors, and pointing to the importance of societal treatment, souls’ restoration and the treatment of displaced persons’ crisis through temporary treatments that may relieve suffering, and through radical treatments that make them return homes, as well as separating citizens who refuse ISIL by their displacement from those carrying their thoughts; so the latter will not prevail over people again. He renewed his call for building the Iraqi state’s institutions and the adoption of the administrative revolution to get rid of routine and bureaucracy and go towards the private sectors and foreign investments, as well as holding community the responsibilities of development, calling for a joint operation room for the economic situation similar to the battle administration room. Al-Hakim stressed that Iraq must be the key to solve regional conflicts regarding the diversity it holds and which constitutes a source of strength to it, as well as its return to playing regional roles that suit its importance, history and civilization depth, indicating that the federal system is a constitutional reality that needs appropriate timing away from the emotions, after he warned that if the movement of Iraqi components will be based on sectarianism, they will sink into the regional equation
