The 65th anniversary of Israel’s creation this month is, I think, an appropriate occasion for the people and leaders of Kurdistan to reflect for a moment on the future of their own country. What can we learn from the experience of another small country, which has managed to exist and grow powerful against all the odds and in a hostile environment?
Can democracy or freedom alone guarantee the survival of Kurdistan? Are modern airports or the presence of foreign oil companies the best safeguards for this land? No doubt these are important. But are they the key underpinnings that have guaranteed Israel’s survival for more than six decades?
Israel is a democracy. It believes in human rights, and enjoys advanced technology and trade relations with the world. But these are all achievements. They were built in the secure shadow of a strong army, a powerful air force and an efficient intelligence service.
Without powerful armed forces and secure borders, civil rights or economic developments are not achievable, or easy to preserve.
Since 1948, the main task of all Israeli leaders has been to ensure that Arab armed forces do not cross their borders or air space, and hostile organizations do not fire rockets into the Jewish state. Only after securing these prerequisites have Israeli leaders focused on advancing democracy and freedoms.
In Kurdistan, by talking so much about combating corruption and upholding human rights or civil society -- without first securing our borders and the safety of citizens -- are we leaving ourselves open to destruction? Israel has not survived so long in a hostile environment just by issuing mottos of justice and civil rights.
Like Israel, which has enemies at its doorstep, we have to peek no further than our own gates to spot the most immediate threat to our own existence: Our neighbor Iraq. From the day the state of Iraq was created and forever, Baghdad has and will consider Kurdistan as its own. Shiite and Sunni leaders alike are unhappy with Kurdish autonomy. They see the region as stolen land, and would be only too pleased to take it back by force.
Iraq itself is under no threat of invasion. Yet, Baghdad buys tanks from America and warplanes from Russia. Its neighbors consider Iraq an Arab and Islamic brother, but every day Iraqi leaders are enlarging the army and strengthening the security forces. This is why Kurdistan needs a strong army and advanced weapons.
Israel and Kurdistan are both very small, and prey to the same bitter realities of small nations. The swift Nazi occupation of Belgium during the Second World War, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1991 and Russian tanks rolling into Georgia in 2008 speak of the tragic fate of small countries when hostile neighbors decide to invade.
The Kurdistan Region is so small that an army can reach its most populous cities within minutes. It would take a fighter jet just a few seconds to reach its most remote village. So, what has Israel done to compensate for size?
The most important step has been perpetual military readiness. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are on alert round the clock, pilots always a few meters from their planes and troops guarding every span of the border like hawks.
Last year, radical Islamists killed a number of Egyptian border guards, hijacked their vehicles and tried to infiltrate Israel. But an IDF helicopter, seemingly waiting for just such an eventuality for 65 years, was in the air in an instant, stopping the infiltrators with a deadly rocket.
Twice in the past year, unmanned drones were sent from Lebanon to Israel. In both cases, they were shot down while still over Lebanese territory. Also this month, Israel struck and destroyed an arms research center in Damascus and a convoy that was thought to be transporting Iranian weapons to Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, since its foundation, Mossad has remorselessly assassinated people in different world capitals who were believed to have killed Israeli citizens, training against Israel, building weapons for Israel’s enemies or buying arms on behalf of Israel’s neighbors.
Israel has been forced to take these steps because it is a very small country, and its neighbors have vowed to one day wipe it off the map.
Israel is the only place that the Jewish people consider their true home. It is the only place where they don’t stand out for being Jews. It is a place where their hearts are. Theodore Herzl, David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir and Menachem Begin all wanted the same thing: a homeland for the Jews, to save them from perpetual persecution in foreign lands.
Can’t the same argument be made about the Kurds? Aren’t they only happy in their own land? Isn’t Kurdistan the only place where the Kurds can live with dignity and without having to conceal their identity?
In its wars with the Arabs Israel has always tried to destroy enemy aircraft on the runways, and to annihilate enemy tanks before they could cross the Sinai desert or the Golan Heights. Israeli leaders know very well that once the enemy has crossed the border it is too late.
Learning from Israel, the Kurds should monitor the Iraqi army day and night, study its weaponry, get into the minds of its army generals and analyze every move.
Because the Kurds are mountain fighters and have very little experience of fighting on open ground, it is important that they learn new tactics. Otherwise, the open planes south of Kirkuk, north of Diyala and outside Mosul, could very well become the cause of Kurdish defeat.
This article does not beat the drums of war. It wants only to say that the survival of this tiny Kurdish homeland relies on an army, advanced weapons and well-fed soldiers.
For every Iraqi tank the Kurds must possess a weapon, for every Iraqi soldier there must be two Peshmargas and for every one of Baghdad’s plans the Kurds must have a counter strategy.
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