The Hindu : COLLABORATORS UNDER ATTACK

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 05, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

COLLABORATORS UNDER ATTACK

THE CHAOS IN Iraq is spreading fast with the cult of the suicide bomber marking its presence in the Kurd-dominated northern part of the country that was relatively peaceful until now. The leaders of the two major political formations of the region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, were targeted in the simultaneous attacks in Irbil on Sunday; they are viewed as collaborators of the occupying forces led by the United States. The twin strikes are part of a pattern in which officials and politicians who associate with the occupiers have been attacked in Sunni and Shia pockets. While it is possible to discern the motive of the perpetrators, it is more difficult to ascertain their affiliations or their broader agenda. An Al-Qaeda-affiliated group called the Al Ansar had bases in northern Iraq before the invasion but not much has been heard of it since. The deposed President, Saddam Hussein, had warned his followers to keep their distance from foreign fighters of a fundamentalist bent who had infiltrated into the country. However, it is not at all certain that the remnants of the Ba'ath still heed his words. While the occupying power will try to portray the broader Iraqi resistance as a terror network, it will not be able to obscure its own singular achievement. The occupation has succeeded in provoking terrorist strikes, which consume innocent civilians as well as collaborators, in regions that were free of the menace until the old order was violently brought down.

While the terrorist threat might strengthen the relationship between the Kurds and the occupying power in the short term, other causes of friction will not disappear. The occupation enabled the Kurds to consolidate the autonomy that they enjoyed during the last years of the Saddam regime in the regions where they form the majority. They are determined to ensure that this autonomy is preserved under the constitution that is being drafted. Until now the occupying power had not viewed with favour the demand that the constitution should establish a confederation in which regional governments would have extensive power. However the Kurds will argue with more conviction that they must retain control over security in their areas since they are confronted by terrorist groups. The Kurd leaders are also likely to maintain that their peshmerga militias cannot be disbanded under these circumstances. If the occupying power goes out of its way to accommodate the Kurds, it will further alienate Iraqi Shias who are likely to dominate any future elected government on account of their numerical strength. The Shias will not be ready to accept a constitutional scheme that truncates the powers of the central government, especially since they did not have the benefit of such a dispensation in periods when other communities dominated Iraq.

The assistance promised by the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, will be limited. It will not save the U.S. from being sucked deeper into the Iraqi quagmire. A team sent to Iraq by Mr. Annan might ask for some modifications of the American-inspired scheme for the selection of a new Iraqi government by regional caucuses. This intervention might ensure that those who participate in the caucuses are elected rather than handpicked by the occupying power or its puppet regime. However, the new government will not be given substantive authority. It is also likely to be pressured into an agreement that allows the occupying army to remain in the country. Iraqi Shias, already restive at what they perceive to be an attempt to deny them power, might then make common cause with their Arab Sunni compatriots.

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