Iraqi crisis highlights need for dialogue

Author Mustafa al-Kadhimi Posted July 20, 2014
Translator(s)Sahar Ghoussoub

After 10 years of difficulty in managing political and security crises, Iraq is in need of a new vision for the concept of political dialogue. The management of dialogue is not only carried out through official outlets, and it is surely not healthy to manage it through media outlets. The state has, in fact, the capacity to manage a dialogue even with its enemies.

This is not just a mere political rule but is the reasoning used in crises and even wars, and the reasoning for political relations at various levels.

Maybe it should be explicitly said that the Iraqi political establishment has failed to produce strong traditions capable of opening channels for dialogue outside the political and media crossfire. Thus, messages between political opponents in Iraq have always been made public through media outlets rather than official channels.

Given the dangerous security situation in Iraq — with the presence of dozens of armed forces and militias and in light of a social and economic environment prone to accept violence — it is imperative to always have undeclared communication channels outside the framework of the ongoing confrontations.

During the seven months of violence in Anbar and the protests that broke out in Sunni cities a year earlier, not to mention the many years during which various armed groups emerged while others disintegrated, the Iraqi state was very distant from this milieu and did not interfere. This paved the way for violence and led to the announcement of the Islamic State (IS, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS), allowing it and other extremist organizations to become entrenched in Iraqi territories.

The absence of parallel dialogue and communication channels in this environment, and the ongoing departure of influential figures from the country to play new roles abroad while severing all links with the state, was a direct cause of the unfolding situation.

It should be noted that the state has managed, despite all the criticism, to open secret dialogue and communication channels with various Shiite militias. The US has considered some of the channels a rapprochement happening under the banner of terrorism. However, these dialogues have, to a large extent, changed the way these groups are dealt with on a political level.

Politicians in the country have become estranged, refusing to sit for direct dialogue or to at least open undeclared channels to exchange ideas and solutions.

Moreover, relations have been severed even within the ranks of the main political components for long periods of time.

In light of the political and security turmoil in Iraq, the state remains absent and is not taking up its role as a sponsor of parallel dialogues and communication channels between individuals, groups and states. The state does not have the ability to start an initiative or try to produce solutions.

The truth of the matter is that any political or military solution ought to be prepared from outside the media framework and outside the scope of political meetings. This mission should be associated with the state’s political and intelligence devices, which can provide various solutions.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/07/iraq-need-channel-of-communication-outside-confrontation.html#ixzz383LxxIFd