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Point of no return, Kurds take part in Baghdad security plan |
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: Soma Digest - Issue No.19 Thursday, February 8 -
21, 2007 |
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Point of no return, Kurds take part in
Baghdad security plan
9.2.2007
By Jamal Penjweny |
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February 9, 2007
Kurds take part in Baghdad security plan.
Kurdish soldiers were in for a shock when they heard
of plans for a sudden journey. Most of them knew
that journey meant they would not return. However,
some view it as a national duty, which must be
fulfilled; Kurdistan is a part of Iraq after all.
“The Iraqi president is Kurdish,” says 45-year-old
Col. Sherzad Muhammad Salih.
“Kurds have a share in the government, so we must
take part in the security of Baghdad. Iraqi Kurds
are a part of Iraq and there is no doubt that being
in Iraqi Kurdistan means being Iraqi, so we must go
to Baghdad.” Following Nuri Al Maliki's decision to
include the participation of two Kurdish Brigades in
Baghdad's security plan, the first convoy of the
Third Brigade of the Iraqi Army moved from
Sulaimaniyah to Baghdad's Muthana Airport on 16
January.
This convoy included the First Battalion which
comprised 160 soldiers. The second convoy involved
400 soldiers from the First Battalion and the
Brigade Head Quarters.
When asked about sending the Kurdish Army to
Baghdad, Commander of the Sulaimaniyah Third
Brigade, Anwar Dollany, said: “The Kurds are
prepared to defend Iraq anywhere they are needed and
at any time.”
Some officers and soldiers believe that the security
situation in some regions of Kurdistan should be
attended to before they seek to fight battles in
other places. Faris Fatah is one such officer. He
asks: “Why should Kurds take the responsibility of
defending Baghdad, while Kirkuk and Mosul are in a
very bad security situation?”
One chief concern among Kurds is that they will be
drawn into the ongoing sectarian war. This fear
derives from Al Maliki's announcement in front
parliament that all ethnic groups in Iraq will have
to participate in the security process in Baghdad.
Disheartened Lieutenant Fatah says: “I'm afraid of
our taking part; Kurds will get infected with the
sectarian war. We have enough problems of our own
without having to deal with more.”
A bleak cloud has descended upon the Kurdish
soldiers. “I'm not going to be returning to
Kurdistan, the security situation in Baghdad is very
bad and getting worst,” says 18-year-old soldier
Zedan Khalefa. “I didn't sleep last night, and when
I left my house in the morning I bid farewell to my
friends and family, asking them for their
forgiveness if I had ever wronged them.” (A Kurdish
tradition when someone believes they will not
return.)
One soldier gave a different opinion: “I came as a
volunteer. because it’s the first time the Iraqi
government has become dependent on the Kurdish Army
to help them with the security situation. I think
it's a great duty for Kurds.”
Additional reporting by Darya Ibrahim
soma-digest.com
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