[Curso7580] Entrevista ao jornal Kurdistan Report / Interview to Kurdistan Report newspaper

[Paulo Casaca]

Caros amigos

Na véspera da minha partida para o Curdistão, fui entrevistado pelo
Kurdistan Report . Para quem estiver interessado,  aqui vai a versão inglesa
da entrevista.

Link directo para Kurdistan Report - em curdo:
http://www.kurdistanreport.com/newspaper/2009/12_Dec/741/kr_03.pdf
Link para a entrevista no meu Blog:
http://paulocasaca.blogspot.com/2009/12/entrevista-ao-jornal-kurdistan-report.html

Um abraço amigo
Paulo

Dear friends

On the eve of my departure to Kurddistan, Kursdistan Report published this
interview with me. For those who might be interested, here it goes an
English version.

Direct link to Kurdistan Repost - in kurdish:
http://www.kurdistanreport.com/newspaper/2009/12_Dec/741/kr_03.pdf
Link to the interview in my Blog:
http://paulocasaca.blogspot.com/2009/12/entrevista-ao-jornal-kurdistan-report.html


Best regards
Paulo



*Interview*

*Question 1 *

*You are preparing a report on the strategy the international community
should follow for Iraq after the withdrawal of the US forces and the coming
national elections. Who is sponsoring and what can we expect from this
report. *



*Answer  *

I am a former MEP, an active and engaged Western politician on the Iraq
peace process and part of an organized team that, in the eve of the upcoming
events in Iraq, wants to suggest a comprehensive set of actions.

*The Commission to Study the Organisation of Peace *(based in New York)
challenged me to gather some arguments and reasoning on what should do the
international community regarding Iraq after what are expected to be free
and fair national elections scheduled for January and the programmed
withdrawal of the US forces. Although I have written a considerable number
of reports, articles and a book on Iraq, I considered necessary to make a
fresh appraisal of the situation as well as to ask for the contribution of
other experts on the Iraqi situation or on peace processes with some
similarities with the Iraqi situation, such as Lebanon or Palestine.

Afterwards, we were able to get the support of the *International Council
for Interreligious Cooperation* (Brussels) and our team counts with the
cooperation of Professor Tomaz Dentinho, President of the Portuguese
Regional Science Association and a leading figure of the European and
International regional science associations, Mr. Kamal Al –Batal, senior
human-right activist from Lebanon, Madame Jamila Abushanab, Palestinian
journalist that covered the past Palestinian elections in Gaza and the
dramatic events that led to the Hamas forceful take-over of the territory,
and several Iraqi and Iranian friends.

This might be the beginning of what I named ARCH (the Alliance to Renew
Co-operation among Humankind) a broad effort centred in the Greater – Middle
East to challenge fanaticism, xenophobia and all of those forces which
prevent this vast area of the globe to develop in a democratic and peaceful
way, an organisation that I would like to see established in Iraq.

The report will focus on the question of tolerance towards different
cultural, ethnic, religious, political or gender positions, will analyse
what political, economic and social tools might be more fruitful in
promoting tolerance, peace and democracy in Iraq, and what could be the
international community role in their use.

The report will be based on previous work and reports but will also make an
updating of the positions and points of view of the various actors in this
process, and will make a fresh assessment of the situation of Iraq and of
the Iraqis.

*Question2*

*What do you think could be the role of this report in supporting the new
elected e that will result from the 2010 January elections? *

*Answer*

In spite of all existing problems, I think the 2009 January local and
regional elections in Iraq were a big success. For the first time, we had a
proper regulatory and monitoring scheme in place, and I think UNAMI deserves
warm congratulations for the work it accomplished.

I followed in the ground the participation in the elections of the Iraqi
displaced people in Kirkuk – courtesy of the Kirkuk’s provincial authorities
– and, although it fell short of the expected participation, I could
understand how much work had been invested, and how seriously the Iraqi
people engaged in the elections worked.

I can only wish that the national elections of 2010 will match the level of
credibility of the 2009 elections and that the biggest existing draw-back –
the lack of proper representation for the Iraqi refugee and displaced people
– will be overcome.

Fair elections are naturally a must, but it would be a grave error to assume
that democracy is only a question of being able to cast votes, and this
votes to be scrutinised fairly. Sometimes I wonder if our leaders should not
re-read Aristotle’s Treaty on Politics (re-introduced in Europe by an Arab
philosopher, we should not forget) to understand that democracy in the
Greater Middle-East, as elsewhere in the World, is much more than that.

The tragedy of Gaza in Palestine, where a newly elected government decided
to grab the absolute power, to brutalise its opponents and to install an
Iranian type dictatorship is a cruel and recent reminder of the wisdom of
Aristotle’s vision.

Iraq has been the victim not only of a disastrous and brutal dictatorship
followed by a misconceived US military operation, but mainly of what I call
in my book a “hidden invasion” of the neighbouring theocracy, that exported
terrorism and fanaticism to Iraq. It has been very hard for the present
Iraqi authorities to resist the immense pressure of its Eastern neighbour,
and there is no reason to believe that a democratically elected government
can resist this pressure without a strong international support.

The international community cannot turn its back on Iraq after the
elections. This would be a tremendous error both for Iraqis and for the
international community. Millions of Iraqis remain refugee or displaced and
the vast majority of them continue to need massive support.

Otherwise, the international support cannot be only political; it must also
encompass a sustainable economic strategy. Aid to development has to be
strictly monitored and must aim at responding the immediate needs of
economic and social infra-structure and to promote jobs in activities like
agriculture.

Oil may be a very important financial leverage, but it is more important to
control its negative effects. Those who could not care less with Iraq and
the Iraqis but only with oil have been promoting directly or indirectly most
of the disastrous events in the recent past of Iraq.

*Question 3*

*Are you aiming at addressing the situation in the whole of Iraq including
Kurdistan? Are you going to organise it on a regional basis or will you have
a global approach? *

*Answer*

I intend to have a global approach. I have been a bit all over Iraq in the
past few years, from Ramadi in the West to Nassyriah in the South, from
Baghdad in the East to Kurdistan in the North.

It is true that I have a better knowledge of the areas where I have been
more time like Erbil, Kirkuk and Diyala, places where the regional
authorities have been very co-operative, but my aim is to address the
challenges posed to the whole of Iraq.

The existence of five million refugees and displaced Iraqis, coming from
virtually all areas of the country except Kurdistan, and the fact that the
present national authorities failed to promote effective reconciliation,
proper compensation for those who suffered persecution and good conditions
for the re-integration is a telling sign of how distant Iraq is from a real
“State of Law” and remains in my opinion the most important symbol of the
problems of the country.

Worse than that is the fact that we can feel there is a growing tension in
areas where there is still a strong mix of different ethnic and or religious
groups, Kirkuk being the most obvious and known example. The impression I
got from my stay in Kirkuk is that there are outside forces that instead of
promoting co-operation, tolerance and respect between different communities,
are just doing the opposite, fuelling suspicions and rivalries.

This is the problem: to those forces that can only strive from the growth of
fanaticism, intolerance and hate, we must oppose a strong will of the
international community to sponsor peace, reconciliation, respect, balanced
and shared economic development, and the more I think about it, the more I
get to the conclusion that only the United Nations can lead this
international effort.

*Question 4*

*Will the report address the situation of Camp Ashraf, the camp where over
three thousand Iranians belonging to the most important Iranian opposition
organisation are living? What is the relation of Ashraf with Iraq? *

*Answer*

I the end of July the World was shocked to see alive broadcasted by the Web,
a brutal massacre of unarmed people in Ashraf by an Iraqi military squad
under the direct supervision of Iraqi Prime Minister Office.

Armoured vehicles trying to overrun people running and brutal beatings where
around a dozen people were murdered and hundreds were injured were
broadcasted all over the World.

Actually, some of the responsible people in Iraq have been very clear
stating that they want to turn life unbearable in Ashraf, and the Iraqi
authorities even nominated a committee that aims at extinguishing Ashraf,
with a terminology that reminds  the one used by the Nazis regarding Jews
and gypsies.

As I have been in close contact with so many displaced and refugee Iraqis, I
recognised here the very same violence and barbarity used by political thugs
and terrorist gangs to terrorise entire sectors of the Iraqi population into
exile.

I wonder how is it possible that someone that runs under the banner of the
creation in Iraq of a “State of Law” can promote such actions.

It is only fair to say, however, that events showed that there are indeed
some very important elements of a “State of Law” in Iraq, and the recent
events in Ashraf are also important to understand this.

In the wake of the attack against Ashraf residents, the Iraqi police forces
imprisoned 36 residents. However, the Iraqi judicial system, first through
the local judge in Al-Khalis and afterwards through the national prosecutor
in the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad opposed this political abuse and
ordered the authorities to release them. Although the police authorities
resisted judicial orders for some time, they ultimately decided to obey, and
to release the prisoners.

This is a remarkable sign of the independence of the Iraqi judicial
authorities and gives hopes for all of those who really aim at a “State of
Law” for Iraq.

Of course, I do not think it was a coincidence that only some weeks after
this courageous decision of the Iraqi judicial authorities, the Ministry of
Justice in Baghdad suffered an enormous bomb attack, once again showing how
threatened are all of those who seek justice and fairness in this country.

So, I think the persecution of Iranian refugees in Ashraf is part of the
same drama that has been developing in Iraq in the recent past, and the
outcome of this crisis will symbolise more than anything else what we can
expect for the future of Iraq.

*Question 5*

*Given your several visits to Iraq and your knowledge of the country, what
do you think can be expected to happen after the elections and the
withdrawal of the US forces? *

*Answer*

I believe we can envisage different scenarios that will depend on various
factors, including, naturally, the ability of Iraqis to find the best
political solutions for themselves.

The biggest threat to a future “state of Law” in Iraq is the possible
marriage of some unprincipled oil and gas interests with the ideology of
fanaticism and intolerance. If Iraqis will allow these forces to convince
them that Kurds are enemies of Arabs, Sunnis enemies of Shias and all of
them enemies of ethnic or religious minorities, Iraqis will fall prey to the
enemies of Iraq.

The biggest asset of the Iraqis is their courage, their heart, their
intelligence. Never in the recent human history, modern terrorism killed and
wounded so many in such barbaric ways like in Iraq, and only very brave
people can face a situation like this.

Otherwise, a human being is a human being and a child is a child, and
therefore, whoever disrespects them is disrespecting the entire humanity.

Last but not least, there might be many differences among Iraqis, but they
have to be reasonable enough to see that all these differences are secondary
when confronted with the interest of Iraq to remain an independent country
and escape the deadly embrace of its enemies.

The international community attitude will make a difference. What precise
actions and attitudes should it take is what I hope to be answering soon.
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