First of all, the position of the United Arab Emirates has been, for years ago, firm against terrorism with all its forms and organizations, regardless of creed and religion. Terrorism is terrorism, so the United Arab Emirates is seeking a comprehensive and serious treatment of this abhorrent phenomenon. But what is happening on the ground is one of the reasons for the growth and continuity of terrorism until now. Facing this phenomenon occurs sometimes according to sectarian and communal gateways which in turn contribute to fueling terrorism and to supporting its organizations with additional human elements every new day!
In light of the foregoing, everyone is aware that the remarks of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of the UAE, he recently made in Moscow, do not proceed from sectarian and confessional dimensions and motivations. He was clear and explicit, and he dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s in many sensitive points that a lot of politicians avoid mentioning, with a lot of frankness needed by the people in the region at this stage, because openness and transparency are the true gateway to address problems, instead of maneuvering, deception and circumvention.
Let us review together what was said by His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Moscow, and angered Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and his Shi’ite allies, to know the reality of the situation. The Prince said, “There is no good terrorism and harmful terrorism,” Is there any sane person that says otherwise? Terrorism is terrorism, regardless of sectarian and ideological, backgrounds, and this fact should be recognized when you search for political settlements of serious crises involving many countries in the region. And is there anyone who disagrees with this fact, except a sectarian deceptive manipulator, or a seeker of personal interests who is hostile to his country and its interests? The second point addressed by His Highness is that (for the elimination of terrorism, we should look at all the causes and eliminate them, and we cannot make a distinction in this regard between the organizations of “Daesh” and “Al-Nusra” on the one hand, and groups backed by Iran in Syria and Iraq). Then his Highness mentioned the practices of the organizations loyal to Iran against the Iraqi and Syrian peoples, which are documented through evidence issued by international organizations.
How can we claim the effectiveness of the fight against the terrorism of “Daesh” and the “Al-Nusra Front,” while we are witnessing a similar and parallel terrorism that is no less heinous, perpetrated by militias loyal to Iran against the Sunnis in Iraq and Syria? And how to convince Sunni peoples that we are against terrorism while we are silent on the fact that Sunni people in these two countries are subjected to terrorism by militias belonging to a State that practices sectarianism and sectarian cleansing in its worst form? Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi cannot deny the Emirates’ positions supporting the Iraqi people, and its fight against terrorism. The UAE is among the countries that are firm in their positions, and it has paid- and still pays an expensive price for these firm and established positions in its foreign policy, and perhaps Yemen is the best witness to the fact that the Emirates pays with the dearest thing it possesses, which is the blood of its sons who were killed on the territory of the brotherly Yemen in defense of the right of its proud people to live in safety and to be protected from the oppression and the predominance of an aggressive category that wants to control the Yemeni State and to mess with its destiny. .
It seems that Haider al-Abadi has forgotten what was said by His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan during his visit to Iraq in November 2014, when he told him, “Your success is our success and the difficult challenges facing the region require us to cooperate at various levels,” he continued, “We can only be with Iraq, and we support your government that gave great hope for Iraqis and prompted the international community to stand by you against the terrorist organization “Daesh.” He also asserted “the need to consecrate social justice and equality that removes feelings of hopelessness and marginalization”. But Abadi did not notice that and only listened to what he hears from the Iranian neighbor, and his national conscience did not wake up despite the voices of suffering issued in the Sunni areas of this brotherly Arab country!
It is true that we are against “Daesh” and the “Al-Nusra Front,” but how can one ignore the tyranny and influence of the popular mobilization militias in Sunni areas? A matter that is confirmed by many observers, including Ned Parker, director of the “Reuters”‘ agency office in Baghdad, who decided in April 2015 to leave because of the death threats he received after he published a report in which he said that the practices of the popular mobilization militias which seized the city of Tikrit from the control of the organization “Daesh”, are not different from “Daesh” practices, they dragged corpses, slaughtered, burned, vandalized and destroyed, which scenes are documented on television in the report, and Abadi himself did not deny them in the Munich conference on security, and only threw responsibility on what he described as armed groups spawned by the popular mobilization militias, despite his acknowledging that these forces operate under the command of his government!!
There are also reports issued by international human rights organizations that put “Daesh” and “Al-Nusra” and the popular mobilization militias at the same classification in terms of the practices of terror, intimidation, slaughter and murder. These organizations see that the focus on one terrorism without the other is fueling violence and expanding its area especially that the popular mobilization militias work within the scope of official support from the Iraqi government. These reports are talking about thirty sectarian militias active in Iraq since 2003!! Indeed, the “Human Rights Watch” organization has confirmed the commission by the popular mobilization militias of crimes against humanity and cast responsibility on the government of al-Abadi, which bears the legal responsibility for the actions of the militias since the government decision that annexed them to the Iraqi army forces in April 2015. The United Nations has issued an official statement in July 2015 in which it dealt with the popular mobilization militia’s crimes and the human rights abuses committed by these terrorist militias in Iraq.
Therefore, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, did not speak out of the blue when he noted, with national responsibility, the need to protect the Iraqi and Syrian peoples of the terrorist organizations with all their references, affiliations and ideological and political loyalties, especially since he was careful not to mention the sectarian dimension in his remarks, and focused on terrorism as an abhorrent phenomenon that all our people need to seriously confront and address.
The protest and anger of the Abadi government is only an attempt to cause confusion, reflecting the absence of patriotism and a blatant ignorance of the interests of Iraq and its people, and a submission to the will of the mullahs in Qom and their malicious sectarian instructions, Al-Abadi is the first to realize the truth of what was said by His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, but his fear for his post pushes him to prefer self-fallacy and to deliberately cause harm to the components of the brotherly Iraqi people, while it is supposed that the Iraqi Prime Minister carries his responsibilities and political duties towards this people, not to protect a terrorist faction and provide a legal and political cover for it to continue its oppression and terror against the people. Personally I may excuse Abadi because he does not have the courage and willpower a patriotic and nationalistic attitude takes, like the one displayed by His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. In addition, al-Abadi is completely confident that any instructions issued against the popular mobilization militias will not be implemented, but the price may be his own life. The leaders of the popular mobilization militias take their orders from the leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. They are loyal to those leaders not to Abadi, who sacrifices the interests of an entire people in order to stay on his seat.
