What should I call you, Empowered or Coward?

By Dr Hoshiar Molod:

You must be happy, because you think that your military forces have crushed my beloved city, Sulaimany. Your military forces are not the peshmarga, which we use to know. They are not on our side: they are on your side. That puts them on the opposite side of the Peshmarga. But remember. Saddam used to deploy the same type of force in his day – and see where he ended up.

Do you feel empowered when you seize control of my beloved city?

Sulaymani is a city where newcomers have to live another hundred years just to match its peoples’ intellectualism and patriotism. Don’t forget 1991, when Sulaymani was cleansed of Sadaam’s forces. Your forces were nowhere near when this happened. We proved to Saddam’s forces – and to all of you – that our patience has a limit and should not be underestimated.

You may feel empowered by your militia when they respond to stones with bullets. You didn’t only kill a few young men in Sulaymani: you also killed the hopes of our young generation across Kurdistan.

You may still have a handful of people praising your primitive thinking and backwardness. Applauding you when you make mistakes, but hiding away when you are confronted with the consequences.

You may feel empowered when you introduce your government and parliament. But make no mistake: you are fooling no one. Everyone knows that your government is a one man show. It is definitely your government and not the Kurdish government. Your government couldn’t resolve a single matter in the disputed areas of Kurdistan. Your parliament members learnt how to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ based on your orders.

You may feel empowered several times a day when you see that you are surrounded by your armed forces. But allow me to tell you that we don’t think that you are empowered when:

Using your armed forces to conquer Freedom Square.
Defending and embracing corruption.
Impeaching the nation and the opposition.
Handing powers to the enemies of our nation.
Reducing the ceiling of our demands regarding the disputed areas.
Arresting and killing people for opposing you.

We think that you are far from being empowered. Instead we know now that you are …