Despite the darkness that fills the skies of the region and the world, a faint light can sometimes appear in the distance, drawing us closer to hope than to despair.
One such light came from Iraq, when the Sadrist Movement, led by Muqtada al-Sadr, announced that it was handing over its military wing, the Peace Brigades, to the government. The announcement was made on the morning of the fifth of this month, and it appeared to be the most important news of that day and the days that followed. Why would it not be, when the movement declared that all Peace Brigades fighters had, from that moment onward, come under the command of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi?
Nor was that all. There were other details, including symbolic measures accompanying the handover, among them the lowering of the movement's flag from atop its headquarters in Samarra.
The news was accompanied by a photograph showing a number of Peace Brigades fighters. They were carrying their weapons and smiling at the camera, with no signs of distress or anger on their faces. This suggested, at least in part, that they were satisfied with what had taken place, accepted it, and endorsed the decision reached by Muqtada al-Sadr.
My own guess is that their apparent ease with the decision stemmed primarily from a sense that they had become part of a broader Iraqi army, rather than merely fighters serving a political movement, even if that movement was the Sadrist Movement itself.
Which is preferable for any Iraqi fighter: to belong to a faction that at times operates outside the state's framework and at other times does not, or to be a soldier in an Iraqi army fighting for the security of an entire country rather than for the interests of a particular group within it?
Any patriotic Iraqi would surely lean toward the second option if left to his natural instincts. An Iraqi is born belonging to no faction and recognizing no allegiance other than to his homeland. If, upon reaching adulthood, he joins one group or another, then his allegiance is no longer properly placed, because true allegiance does not put a group before the country or a faction above the nation.
The statement announcing the handover of the Peace Brigades said that their fighters had come under the command of the prime minister. It remains unclear, however, whether this means they have been fully integrated into the Iraqi national army or whether they will remain within their existing brigades while answering to the prime minister and the army.
That is not entirely clear, although full integration is naturally the desired outcome. Even if integration is delayed, however, that is not necessarily a problem. What matters most is that fighters such as these now take their orders from the prime minister rather than from the leader of the movement. That alone is an important development that should be welcomed and built upon.
More important still is that the process should not stop with the Sadrist Movement. Other movements and factions exist alongside it, and all are called upon to follow its example so that Iraq may reach a point where no entity other than the state possesses a competing armed force.
Iraq deserves the sacrifice of its factions and movements, whatever their names. The initiative launched by Muqtada al-Sadr must be only a first step. The new prime minister is barely beginning his tenure, and he cannot succeed unless all movements and factions come to embrace what the Sadrist Movement has embraced. It acted not so much for al-Zaidi as prime minister as for Iraq as a homeland, or so one would assume.
Anyone in Iraq wishing to see the consequences of armed groups operating outside the national army need only look at what the existence of the so-called Rapid Support Forces has done to Sudan.
The war waged by the Rapid Support Forces against Sudan entered its fourth year in mid-April, and there is scarcely a Sudanese household that has not suffered because of their presence. The ruins visible in photographs from the country are merely an illustration of the scale of that devastation.
Iraq's movements and factions can draw a living lesson from Sudan's tragic situation. They can place themselves second and put first the country whose soil they inhabit. If they do, they will come to know a cohesive homeland that shelters all, rather than preserving their own interests in a country whose foundations are crumbling and barely able to stand.
This may sound more idealistic than necessary, but realistic ideas often begin as idealistic ones. Iraq, striving to complete the formation of its government, is counting on its people to support it rather than let it down. Sadr's initiative must not become like the rooster's egg, of which it is said that if a rooster lays an egg, it lays only one.
Despite the darkness that fills the skies of the region and the world, a faint light can sometimes appear in the distance, drawing us closer to hope than to despair.
One such light came from Iraq, when the Sadrist Movement, led by Muqtada al-Sadr, announced that it was handing over its military wing, the Peace Brigades, to the government. The announcement was made on the morning of the fifth of this month, and it appeared to be the most important news of that day and the days that followed. Why would it not be, when the movement declared that all Peace Brigades fighters had, from that moment onward, come under the command of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi?
Nor was that all. There were other details, including symbolic measures accompanying the handover, among them the lowering of the movement's flag from atop its headquarters in Samarra.
The news was accompanied by a photograph showing a number of Peace Brigades fighters. They were carrying their weapons and smiling at the camera, with no signs of distress or anger on their faces. This suggested, at least in part, that they were satisfied with what had taken place, accepted it, and endorsed the decision reached by Muqtada al-Sadr.
My own guess is that their apparent ease with the decision stemmed primarily from a sense that they had become part of a broader Iraqi army, rather than merely fighters serving a political movement, even if that movement was the Sadrist Movement itself.
Which is preferable for any Iraqi fighter: to belong to a faction that at times operates outside the state's framework and at other times does not, or to be a soldier in an Iraqi army fighting for the security of an entire country rather than for the interests of a particular group within it?
Any patriotic Iraqi would surely lean toward the second option if left to his natural instincts. An Iraqi is born belonging to no faction and recognizing no allegiance other than to his homeland. If, upon reaching adulthood, he joins one group or another, then his allegiance is no longer properly placed, because true allegiance does not put a group before the country or a faction above the nation.
The statement announcing the handover of the Peace Brigades said that their fighters had come under the command of the prime minister. It remains unclear, however, whether this means they have been fully integrated into the Iraqi national army or whether they will remain within their existing brigades while answering to the prime minister and the army.
That is not entirely clear, although full integration is naturally the desired outcome. Even if integration is delayed, however, that is not necessarily a problem. What matters most is that fighters such as these now take their orders from the prime minister rather than from the leader of the movement. That alone is an important development that should be welcomed and built upon.
More important still is that the process should not stop with the Sadrist Movement. Other movements and factions exist alongside it, and all are called upon to follow its example so that Iraq may reach a point where no entity other than the state possesses a competing armed force.
Iraq deserves the sacrifice of its factions and movements, whatever their names. The initiative launched by Muqtada al-Sadr must be only a first step. The new prime minister is barely beginning his tenure, and he cannot succeed unless all movements and factions come to embrace what the Sadrist Movement has embraced. It acted not so much for al-Zaidi as prime minister as for Iraq as a homeland, or so one would assume.
Anyone in Iraq wishing to see the consequences of armed groups operating outside the national army need only look at what the existence of the so-called Rapid Support Forces has done to Sudan.
The war waged by the Rapid Support Forces against Sudan entered its fourth year in mid-April, and there is scarcely a Sudanese household that has not suffered because of their presence. The ruins visible in photographs from the country are merely an illustration of the scale of that devastation.
Iraq's movements and factions can draw a living lesson from Sudan's tragic situation. They can place themselves second and put first the country whose soil they inhabit. If they do, they will come to know a cohesive homeland that shelters all, rather than preserving their own interests in a country whose foundations are crumbling and barely able to stand.
This may sound more idealistic than necessary, but realistic ideas often begin as idealistic ones. Iraq, striving to complete the formation of its government, is counting on its people to support it rather than let it down. Sadr's initiative must not become like the rooster's egg, of which it is said that if a rooster lays an egg, it lays only one.
