Kurdish President Raises ‘Secession’ Option

Sadr in Kurdistan for Talks as Barzani Warns Against Authoritarian Rule

The ongoing political dispute in Iraq looks to be coming to a head, with Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Kurdistan for crisis talks and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massud Barzani openly talking about secession.

As always, the center of the dispute is Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose ongoing centralization of power and efforts to have opposition figures arrested as “terrorists” have many fearing a growing dictatorship. Of that possibility Barzani said “they have to decide if they are willing to accept to live under a dictatorial regime or not,” adding that a secessionist vote could come as soon as September.

Sadr, the head of the Iraqi National Alliance faction, pushed for everyone to consider Iraqi unity a primary concern, while warning that Maliki had to appoint security and defense ministers instead of just keeping those jobs for himself.

For the Kurds, a secession sooner rather than later might be the safer choice, as Barzani and other officials have expressed concern that the central government’s military might, once the US delivers its F-16 warplanes, would be sufficient to crush any secessionist movement.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.