Time to turn over a new leaf on Kurdistan and Iraq?

By Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman

Kurdistan Regional Government High Representative to the UK

As the representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government here in the UK for the last five years, I often find myself defending Britain’s decision to intervene in Iraq and the subsequent fall of Saddam Hussein.

Many good friends of Iraq opposed the intervention for understandable reasons. Many in the Labour movement, who are proud of the party’s belief in international solidarity, justice and the protection of human rights, were appalled when no WMD were found, and at the destruction and violence that followed the invasion of Iraq.

We take a different view and at all levels of society in Kurdistan we see it as a liberation. However, we think it is vital that those who differed in 2003 work together now, for the good of peace and security in the Middle East.

We respectfully ask that the Labour leadership and its grassroots get out of this rut on Iraq. Along with the soul-searching, there has been a lot of denial. Faced with uncomfortable facts that don’t align with the narrative of the ‘unjustifiable catastrophic illegal war’ (their words, not mine), some have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

I will debate this point at a fringe meeting with David Aaronovitch, Nick Cohen and Labour MPs Meg Munn and Dave Anderson, on Wednesday 29th September.

Many good things have come out of the liberation of Iraq, but this fact is rejected or brushed aside even when it is asserted by Iraqis like me who know and have seen what’s been happening on the ground since 2003, compared to previous decades of death and destruction.

In the Kurdistan region, we have started to strengthen our democracy, institutions and economy. Trade unions which were persecuted by Saddam have re-emerged, companies are investing and jobs are being created. Unions are valued partners in the Kurdistan Region.

Yes, the political process is often painfully slow, but we have an elected coalition government that includes Iraq’s different communities. This is remarkable in light of its 80-year history of authoritarian and extremely brutal regimes which we Kurds know in painful detail given that Saddam’s genocide killed over 180,000 of my fellow citizens and used WMD to help do it.

Iraqi Kurds have great respect for Britain and want Britain to engage with us, not turn away. We need Britain to support our emerging democracy, and Britain needs Iraq as a strategic ally in the Middle East.

The UK is losing opportunities in the Kurdistan region, which is enjoying an economic boom for the first time in living memory, and in the rest of Iraq which is rebuilding its infrastructure. Our EU partners and Turkey are reaping the benefits and have not been shy to look for business and contracts, and to use their soft power by promoting their education systems and cultural exchanges.

I respectfully urge Labour to stop looking back over your shoulder and be bold in engaging with Iraq. As Labour starts to reassess its policies under a new leadership, it should advocate measures to help British business, universities and cultural institutions to come forward in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

Fringe Meeting: Is Labour stuck in a rut on Kurdistan and Iraq? Wednesday 29th September, 12.15pm, USDAW Marquee, Charter A, Manchester Central. Speakers: David Aaronovitch, Nick Cohen, Meg Munn MP, Dave Anderson MP, Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman. Chair: Gary Kent.