Iraqi sovereignty is paramount

Directly arming Kurds in northern Iraq will weaken Baghdad’s ability to maintain control

President of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Masoud Barzani speaks at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC. Jim Watson / AFP Photo

The leader of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq just ended an official visit to Washington in which he called for the direct arming of his forces in their fight against ISIL. In his meetings with US president Barack Obama and Congressional officials, Massud Barzani pressed his case for arms shipments that would bypass the Iraqi central government in Baghdad. This is a bad idea but despite vocal opposition from the Obama administration, Senate Republicans have pushed a draft bill in Congress that would allow this to happen.

These initiatives are at best misguided and at worst a cynical attempt to undermine Mr Obama without caring that it risks the sovereignty of Iraq. In meetings and public statements, Mr Barzani said that the central government in Baghdad has not honoured a 2007 deal between American, Iraqi and Kurdish commanders that would make sure that Kurdish peshmerga fighters receive a fair share of US military hardware. Mr Barzani has taken a clear position on breaking away from Iraq. In Washington last week, he said that a referendum on Kurdish statehood would happen “possibly this year or the next”. And he declared that “an independent Kurdistan is coming”.

Given these assertions, it is unsurprising that Baghdad is reticent to arm the Kurds. With enough American weaponry in their hands, it would be only a matter of time before the Kurds declare the borders of a state and defend them.

But the vital role that peshmerga fighters have played in the fight against ISIL can hardly be overstated. Mr Barzani’s forces are battling ISIL militants in key cities such as Tikrit. Even so their opposition to the unity of the Iraqi state, along with their occupation of the city of Kirkuk must ring alarm bells about arming them directly. Instead, the Iraqi army should be bolstered and reinforced in a way that does not privilege any sectarian group. Only then can Iraqi unity be maintained and the ISIL menace be properly confronted.