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Iraqi Kurdish Leaders Must Overcome Their
Isolation
21.6.2011
By Michael Rubin
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June
21, 2011
Across Iraqi Kurdistan, not only in Halabja and
Sulaimaniyah, but also in Erbil, Duhok, and even
Barzan itself, Kurds agitate for reform. While Iraqi
Kurdistan has witnessed great economic development
over the past decade, people are dissatisfied.
Corruption is rife. When young students seek jobs,
merit plays little role: family and party
connections mean far more. In the wake of this
spring's protests, Massoud Barzani, president of the
Kurdistan Regional Government, renewed promises to
implement reform.
Reform is easy to promise but hard to implement.
True leaders do not rest on their laurels: they
identify problems in order to resolve them. To
reform effectively, they must understand the
problems which afflict society.
In Kurdistan, however, isolation has become an
impediment to reform. Wealth and the need for
security create necessary distance between Kurdish
leaders and the general public. One of the reasons
why Barham Salih a decade ago enjoyed a reputation
for reform was because, upon his appointment to
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Michael Rubin |
the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan's premiership, he remained in his family's
house in Sulaimaniyah.
Gorran leader Nawshirwan Mustafa, too, kept roots
close to society, both living and working in the
heart of the city. Even Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani, in the years before Saddam's fall,
mitigated the isolation of Qalachalan by residing
often in a compound in central Sulaimaniyah.
In contrast, Green Zone isolation won Iraqi
politicians nothing but ridicule from ordinary
Iraqis. With few exceptions, the most prominent
Iraqi politicians dined, drank, and even swam in the
Green Zone while Baghdad burned.
Massoud Barzani may be the most influential and
powerful politician in Iraqi Kurdistan, but he has
fallen victim to the Green Zone syndrome. While his
father Mullah Mustafa retained close ties to the
people and so remains widely revered today, Massoud
has become isolated from the people. When he
returned to Iraqi Kurdistan two decades ago, he
established his headquarters in Sar-e Rash, a former
resort area once popular for its restaurants and
hotels.
As the oppressive summer sun and continued
electricity shortfalls leads Kurds to broil in
Erbil, Barzani not only denies ordinary Kurds access
to one of the closest and most attractive places to
escape the summer heat, but he also seals himself in
a bubble from which he has little exposure to
ordinary Kurdish life. Because he does not live in
Erbil,www.ekurd.nethis
convoy seldom navigates its streets or ring roads.
He never will surprise patrons at a kabob or shwarma
stand by stopping for a snack, nor will he see the
excesses of his son's security forces who bundle
young people unto SUVs if they even look like they
might appear to be on the verge of a protest.
He cannot rely on his advisors for insight into the
reality of Kurdish life. His closer advisors live
alongside him in Sar-e Rash, while the next tier of
courtiers live in Salahuddin, a few dozen kilometers
from Erbil. That the protests this past spring
shocked Kurdish leaders but no one else underscores
the Kurdish elite's isolation.
It is against this backdrop that Barzani's war on
the free press is so tragic. Even if his closest
advisors did not simply seek to please Barzani by
reporting to him what they perceive he wanted to
hear, he should still rely on the free press to keep
his advisors honest. Rather than enable his party's
security forces to harass, kidnap, and perhaps even
murder journalists, he should be among the first
subscribers to Lvin, Awene, and Hawlati. They are
far more valuable to his rule than Kurdistan TV,
Xebat, or Hawler.
Masud Barzani may consider himself a great leader,
and he may believe that he has matched the place in
the hearts of Kurds that his father achieved. In
both cases, however, he would be wrong. Still, he
can regain his legacy if he ends his self-imposed
isolation. He brags about the stability and security
he has brought Kurdistan, and so he cannot use
security to legitimize living a couple dozen
kilometers from the people he rules. It is time
Barzani returns to Erbil, breaks his isolation, and
embraces the free press for what it is: the surest
path to good governance.
Michael Rubin
is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise
Institute AEI. His major research area is the Middle
East, with special focus on Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and
Kurdish society. He also writes frequently on
transformative diplomacy and governance issues. At
AEI, Mr. Rubin chaired the "Dissent and Reform in
the Arab World" conference series. He was the lead
drafter of the Bipartisan Policy Center's 2008
report on Iran. In addition to his work at AEI,
several times each month, Mr. Rubin travels to
military bases across the United States and Europe
to instruct senior U.S. Army and Marine officers
deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan on issues relating
to regional state history and politics, Shiism, the
theological basis of extremism, and strategy.
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