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During a recent TV interview, Qais AL-Khazali, general-secretary of the Iraqi Shiite Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq militia, said: "I am in favor of the Kurds ridding us of their 'goodness' once and for all. The problem is that the Kurds are operating right now like leeches, which feed on the host's body - sucking more and more of its blood."
Following are excerpts from the interview, which was broadcast by the Al-Iraqiya network on March 24, 2015.
Qais Al-Khazali: Historically speaking, Iraq consists of a Sumerian civilization in the south, a Babylonian civilization in the center, and an Assyrian one in the north, in Mosul. These are the history and the people of Iraq. There is no mountain [civilization] in the history of Iraq, and this is why the Kurds do not consider themselves to be Iraqis.
Politically speaking, I believe that any people has the right to self-determination. I have no problem whatsoever with that. The Kurdish people can say today that they have decided to become a state. They say that they have all the specific and unique characteristics of a state: race, land, language, clothes, and traditions. There is no problem whatsoever with that, but I do not accept… It's not just that I don't have a problem with that. I am in favor of the Kurds ridding us of their "goodness" once and for all. The problem is that the Kurds are operating right now like leeches, which feed on the host's body – sucking more and more of its blood – in an effort to grow in size.
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I am not lashing out at the Kurdish people or even at all the Kurdish political leaders. I use harsh language about a certain type of Kurdish leaders, who believe in secession, and strive to exploit the situation in Iraq and to stir up crises, so that all the components of a Kurdish state will be in place as soon as possible, at the expense of Iraq, which can go up in flames for all they care.
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The Kurds' decision of secession is a final one. Due to their weakness, the Iraqi politicians cannot deal with the Kurdish situation. The Kurds are now saying: Give us what we want – and their demands are always extremely high – or else, we will secede. I believe that if there was some kind of agreement among all the Iraqis who believe that Iraq is their country – and as I've said, the political Kurdish leaders do not believe they are Iraqis to begin with… All the Iraqis – the Sunnis, the Shiites, the Yazidis, the Christians, the Turkmens – should say [to the Kurds]: Either you accept the status quo, or you can secede. They will not be able to secede. If they dare to take this step, the Kurdish problem will shift from being a local issue, with which the Iraqi politicians cannot deal, into a regional problem, which will be dealt with by Turkey and Iran.
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