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Middle East, North Africa MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA The Future of Iraq’s Peshmerga Forces OE Watch Commentary: The Peshmerga, meaning ‘those who face death first,’ are the armed forces of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRG), but they are not a unified national army. With the exception of some being under the Ministry of Peshmerga, they are two separate forces under two separate command structures, each loyal to one of the two parties that make up the KRG-- the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). They take orders from their political leaders rather than a centralized command. Unifying and professionalizing those two command structures to form a Kurdish national army has been under consideration for some time now. The accompanying articles from Rudaw discuss the future of the Peshmerga forces. In 2017, the Ministry of Peshmerga formed a supreme committee and after The soldiers of Kurdistan region commonly referred to as Peshmerga. some brainstorming, came up with a long-term 35-step reform plan entitled Source: www.kurdistan24.net via Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peshmerga_parade.jpg, “Peshmergas of the Future.” These steps included digitizing the payroll, improving Public Domain communications, writing a national security strategy, and reviewing operation readiness. Despite this ambitious plan, the KRG has not made significant progress in reforming the Peshmerga forces, but the issue remains on the agenda. As the first accompanying article discusses, the President of the KRG, Nechirvan Barzani recently spoke at the graduation ceremony of Peshmerga officers from Zakho Military Academy, and reiterated the KRG needs a national military force that is disciplined, united, and above parties. He further stated that the KRG needs to learn from its past mistakes and create a force with centralized command and control structure to “successfully conclude the Peshmerga Ministry reform process.” Currently, the Iraqi constitution allows the Kuridsh regional government to keep its own military force. However, there have also been discussions about incorporating the Peshmerga Forces into the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). The second article analyzes this option. The article states that in October 2019 the Defense Minister of Iraq, Najah al-Shammari stressed “the need for unity and coordination between the Peshmerga and the ISF” to a delegation from the Peshmerga Ministry. Before the September 2017 referendum for Kurdish independence, ISF and Peshmerga successfully carried out coordinated operations against ISIS. However, in November 2019 Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi stated that “the constitution needs to be amended” to unite the two forces. The KRG opposes such an amendment because it may limit the power of its autonomous region, and result in losing its own armed forces. In the past Iraqi prime ministers have made statements regarding placing Peshmerga Forces under the command and control structure of ISF. However, incorporating the Peshmerga into ISF does not appear likely in the near future. End OE Watch Commentary (Gündüz) “Kurdistan Region needs a [military] force that is united behind national goals as well as [being] above all political, partisan, ethnic, religious and sectarian purposes…” Source: “Nêçîrvan Barzanî: Kurdistanê pêwîstî bi hêzeke niştimanî heye (Nechirvan Barzani: We need a national armed forces),” Rudaw.net, 12 November 2019. https://www.rudaw.net/kurmanci/kurdistan/121120193 The President of Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani stated that the Peshmerga should not be Peshmerga of parties and said, “we need a national armed force.” “The Kurdistan Region needs a [military] force that is united behind national goals as well as [being] above all political, partisan, ethnic, religious and sectarian purposes…A force that defends the country and its peoples’ achievements” “It should not be a force of political parties and groups. It should stay away from internal disagreements and rivalry. Kurdistan’s Peshmerga forces should never be guided by political intentions or political issues.” Source: Paul Iddon, “Will the Peshmerga reform – or be integrated into the Iraqi Army?” Rudaw.net, 20 November 2019. https://www.rudaw. net/english/analysis/201120191 There is renewed talk about the future status of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces ranging from uniting the two predominant Peshmerga units in Kurdistan to broadly unifying the group with the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).… This is the latest instance of calls and plans to unify the Peshmerga which are largely, with the exception of forces under the command of the Ministry of Peshmerga, loyal to the leading parties in the Kurdistan Region – the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which controls the 70 Unit, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which controls the 80 Unit. … In mid-October, during a meeting with a delegation from the Ministry of Peshmerga, Iraqi Defense Minister Najah al-Shammari highlighted the need for unity and coordination between the Peshmerga and the ISF against the common enemy embodied by the Islamic State (ISIS).… This month, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi said the constitution needs to be amended. The Kurdistan Region is wary of any amendments being made to the constitution… This is because of the Kurds’ fear that certain amendments could potentially limit their constitutionally-enshrined autonomy. … In July, former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called for the Peshmerga to be integrated into the ISF alongside the PMF. … If the Iraqi Constitution is amended in the near future in disregard of Kurdistan’s objections, history indicates that the region will not willingly sacrifice any of its hard-won autonomy or control over its revered Peshmerga. OE Watch | January 2020 48.
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