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Of Tyrant Rulers and Innocent People
9.5.2009
By Rauf Naqishbendi
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May 9, 2009
When tyrants reign with absolute power, they make
every effort to weaken the will and spirit of the
people. They employ every harsh measure to subdue
the object of their oppression understanding when
the people band together to rise against them, it
will be their ultimate downfall. Because wealth is a
vital aspect of this absolute power, these tyrants,
in pursuit of their power domination, loot the
wealth of the nations in order to further secure
their authority. This is the historical pattern of
the rule of tyrants. An especially tragic example of
this subject, that is the ruthlessness of tyrants
and the innocence of people, can be seen in the
inhumane conditions the Iraqi Kurds must endure
under the self-seeking reign of two modern day
tyrants, Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani. This
situation must be brought into the light.
One who isn't familiar with the Kurdish situation
might wonder if the Kurds themselves are insane, for
they found themselves with not only one bad leader,
but with two? |
Rauf Naqishbendi |
Why would they allow
their situation to be doubly damaged? Why don't they simply choose a good leader?
The answer is simple: it is not the Kurds´ desire to
have these debauched men as their leaders, but
rather the result of very unfortunate circumstances.
Barzani and Talabani are locked in a power struggle.
If either of the two could kill the other and all
his armed followers, he would. But they are at a
stalemate, and therefore, the Kurds have been
trapped as a captive audience. Even if the Kurds
were able to topple one of these leaders, which would be easier to
accomplish than toppling both at once, the result
would be that the other ruler would then take over.
The Kurds would still not be free of the tyrant.
The power struggle between these two tyrants has
already taken a bloody toll on the Kurdish people.
When these rulers didn't have enough money, or when
one had more than the other, they fought each other
using the blood of their own people. This battle was
far bitterer than any they ever fought against the
Kurdish enemy, Saddam. They fought against one
another while leaving Saddam's regime alone.
Furthermore, Mr. Barzani went so far as to invite
and help Saddam's troops to invade Kurdistan. In
fact, the bravest and the best of Peshmargas
perished not in resisting Kurdish enemies, but in
the bloody power confrontation between Barzani and
Talabani.
After the American invasion of Iraq, both leaders
began receiving billions of dollars annually
intended for the reconstruction of Kurdistan and
other social programs. However, both rulers have
been dispensing only a fraction of those funds for
the public good. The lion share of those funds has
instead been deposited into their personal accounts.
Thus, the money has become a peacemaker preventing a
bloody fight between the two factions. Of course,
the fighting between the two factions was never
fought for ideological or philosophical reasons or
differences about how to free the Kurdistan from
occupation, but rather it has always been a battle
between the two leaders to maintain their power at
any cost.
The two leaders have plundered over the people's
rights and slammed the doors of equal opportunity.
Each tyrant has his active secret service to
suffocate any opposition. Each has his cronies and
family members employed in highly visible government
and public offices. Each has his own armed forces
and law enforcement in his respective territory.
Between the two, they have full control of the main
publications and broadcasting systems. Yet both are
portraying themselves as democratic leaders and
claiming transparency whenever public opinion makes
this claim necessary.
The rule of tyrants doesn't last forever. The
exercise of force and cronyism to control the public
domain ultimately fails. Instead, the force of
public frustration will at some point rise up and
strike a blow right in the faces of the despots. In
a movement toward the better good of the people of
Kurdistan, former high ranking members from
Talabani's and Barzani's parties are now leading the
fight for the interest of their people against their
former affiliations. These former members must be
admired and respected for their brave actions and
their sense of moral and national responsibilities.
The coming parliamentary election will be a rude
awakening for the two wicked Kurdish leaders. They
will realize their injustices have gone too far, and
will no longer be tolerated. Perhaps the
opposition's gain will be small. But that is how
gradual changes will take root. It will be a first
step toward justice, a first step in the right
direction. It will be a step that will in the long
run topple the current leadership and shake the yoke
of their oppression. The public silence they have
enforced and used to maintain their corrupt
leadership will,www.ekurd.netin the end, bring about
an inexorable public outrage. Ultimately, the
tyrants will find themselves in a court of justice
where they will be tried for their past and present
treasons.
Barzani and Talabani have grown too complacent.
Their assessment of the situation is grossly
mistaken. The people may be disappointed, but they
have not fallen into despair. They may have kept
silent fearing harsh consequences, but they have not
given up striving to find their way out of this
misery. Yes the people have been silent for a long
time, but they still have not submitted to accepting
the status quo.
Both leaders realize that their continued rivalry is
detrimental to the Kurdish cause for independence,
yet their sense of selfish greed and tribal prestige
outweigh their sense of the national well-being.
This problem has been further exacerbated by the
United States role in administering Iraq's national
budget. As it has happened, separate multi-billion
dollar disbursements have been given to both Barzani
and Talabani for budgets of their regions. The
accounting records of budgeting have been concealed
from the public. Now competition for this high
stakes money has been added to these rulers´
obsession with power, further blighting any hope of
unifying Kurdish leaders. Therefore, the Kurdish
people need to rid of both these leaders given a
chance to a new leadership governed with a national
consciousness rather than personal greed and tribal
loyalties. The upcoming election is a chance for the
people of Kurdistan to cast the voice of their
destiny.
The results of the election will be contrary to what
Mr. Talabani and Mr. Barzani expect because they
ignore the people's inspiration for justice and
freedom. They mistakenly see the people as weakened
by their tight control. But the will of the people
for justice and freedom always ends up victorious
while wickedness is always destined to ruin.
Rauf Naqishbendi´s memoirs The Garden Of The Poets
recently published (Unedited).
You may order through the publisher at
Amazon.com
Rauf Naqishbendi is a contributing columnist for
Kurdish Websites, American Chronicle ,
americanchronicle com and has written
Op/Ed pages for the Los Angeles Times. He has just
completed his memoirs entitled "The Garden Of The
Poets" which reads as a novel depicting his
experience and the subsequent 1988 bombing of his
hometown with chemical and biological weapons by
Saddam Hussein. It is the story of his people's
suffering. Rauf Naqishbendi is a software engineer
in San Francisco Bay Area.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
americanchronicle.com
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