By By Paul Iddon Aug 9, 2014 in Politics The devastating and destabilizing assault carried out against the Iraqi state may actually serve to make it more unified, resilient and stronger than before as the Kurds and the army prepare a counter-offensive together. Similarly the horrific attempt by Saddam to break Kurdish morale in the genocide his Iraq afflicted on the Iraqi Kurds resulted in the Kurds becoming more organized and saw to them establishing the foundations which today would enable an independent Kurdish nation in Iraqi Kurdistan to prosper if they opt to declare complete independence. Today we have a new tyrannical force rampaging across Northern Iraq in the form of the ISIS terror group. I don't have to remind you of the crimes and atrocities they have leveled against minorities in that region. Their attempt to dismantle the Iraqi state is actually seeing, for the meantime anyway, the Kurdish paramilitary forces and the Iraqi Army fighting alongside each other against a common enemy. Up until a few months ago Iraqi army units stationed in Northern Iraq (the ones who fled upon the onset of the ISIS June offensive) were there to keep the Kurdish region in check to ensure Erbil didn't During those aforementioned tensions which saw to Baghdad deploy military forces on the periphery of the autonomous Kurdish region the Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, himself a Kurd, refused to attend cabinet meetings. He's now saying that Baghdad's neglect when it came to arming the Peshmerga as a regional force meant that the latter was unable to more effectively combat ISIS advances. Yesterday the Americans intervened with some An interesting turn of events in just a few weeks. Nevertheless this doesn't necessarily signify that ties between Erbil and Baghdad have substantially warmed. The present geopolitical situation merely necessitates such cooperation. During the 1990's when American and British military aircraft enforced a no-fly zone over Northern Iraq the two main Kurdish factions fought a very counterproductive civil war. This came to be given the fact that Iraqi Kurdistan was under de-facto sanctions from the rest of Iraq, then controlled by the Saddam Hussein regime, and under U.N. sanctions due to the fact they were technically part of Iraq. This saw to the economy run largely through the black market and also saw to the two dominant Iraqi political figures the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's (PUK) Jalal Talabani and the present President of Iraqi Kurdistan the Kurdish Democratic Party's (KDP) Massoud Barzani fight over control of trade routes. Barzani allowed Saddam's government to illegally export petroleum through KDP held territory enabling his party to earn money on this trade. When Talabani's PUK felt the KDP was enriching itself from the trade at their expense he formed an alliance with Iran in order to counterbalance the growing power of the KDP. This in turn resulted in Barzani Of course factional feuds and disputes like those of the past are now resolved through the Kurdish parliamentary process. While the campaign against ISIS will indeed see to Baghdad and Erbil cooperating productively to eliminate a threat to both of them it doesn't necessarily mean their ties will warm in the near future. Similar in a way to how that brief Barzani/Hussein alliance of necessity against the PUK wasn't an indication that both those parties were necessarily becoming friendly with each other. The Obama administration was initially lukewarm about assisting Iraq against ISIS until the unproductive and somewhat sectarian form of governance Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been notorious for in recent years was meaningfully reformed. The Kurds endured a lot of the fighting against ISIS's relatively lightly-armed as they would likely have But certainly for the future after this ISIS threat is combated and rendered inert if Erbil and Baghdad are going to enjoy healthy and productive relations in a unified federal Iraqi state substantial reform as well as compromises between the two are going to have to be made for the good of Iraq's future as a unified multi-denominational and multi-ethnic polity. If indeed any future is to be had for the unified state as a whole. History shows us that any massive assault on a state, a people or a society can have very unpredictable and, to the aggressor, unintended consequences. Iraq's late tyrant Saddam Hussein for example attempted to conquer and annex Iran's Khuzestan province in late 1980 and simultaneously deal a blow to the then fledgling Islamic Republic regime there. In response to that invasion however the Iranians rallied behind that regime and drove the Iraqi invaders from their land and as a result the Ayatollah Khomeini was able to solidify his hold on the reigns of power.Similarly the horrific attempt by Saddam to break Kurdish morale in the genocide his Iraq afflicted on the Iraqi Kurds resulted in the Kurds becoming more organized and saw to them establishing the foundations which today would enable an independent Kurdish nation in Iraqi Kurdistan to prosper if they opt to declare complete independence.Today we have a new tyrannical force rampaging across Northern Iraq in the form of the ISIS terror group. I don't have to remind you of the crimes and atrocities they have leveled against minorities in that region. Their attempt to dismantle the Iraqi state is actually seeing, for the meantime anyway, the Kurdish paramilitary forces and the Iraqi Army fighting alongside each other against a common enemy.Up until a few months ago Iraqi army units stationed in Northern Iraq (the ones who fled upon the onset of the ISIS June offensive) were there to keep the Kurdish region in check to ensure Erbil didn't pursue independent policies Baghdad found disagreeable, the independent export of oil by the Kurdish Regional Government for example has been one of the most contentious issues of animosity between the two. Indeed ISIS could very well have overrun the city of Kirkuk in June had the Kurdish Peshmerga not intervened ahead of them after the Iraqi Army there fled south – Kirkuk is of course a city of great importance to Kurdish nationalists who see it as rightfully belonging to them.During those aforementioned tensions which saw to Baghdad deploy military forces on the periphery of the autonomous Kurdish region the Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, himself a Kurd, refused to attend cabinet meetings. He's now saying that Baghdad's neglect when it came to arming the Peshmerga as a regional force meant that the latter was unable to more effectively combat ISIS advances.Yesterday the Americans intervened with some decisive air strikes against ISIS forces near the Kurdish city, and capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil. Now Zebari is rightfully pointing out that Baghdad and Erbil now have a common cause when it comes to confronting ISIS. As a result we are now seeing a situation develop whereby in Zebari's words , “The Iraqi Army and the Peshmerga are fighting side-by-side in the same trenches.”An interesting turn of events in just a few weeks. Nevertheless this doesn't necessarily signify that ties between Erbil and Baghdad have substantially warmed. The present geopolitical situation merely necessitates such cooperation.During the 1990's when American and British military aircraft enforced a no-fly zone over Northern Iraq the two main Kurdish factions fought a very counterproductive civil war. This came to be given the fact that Iraqi Kurdistan was under de-facto sanctions from the rest of Iraq, then controlled by the Saddam Hussein regime, and under U.N. sanctions due to the fact they were technically part of Iraq. This saw to the economy run largely through the black market and also saw to the two dominant Iraqi political figures the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's (PUK) Jalal Talabani and the present President of Iraqi Kurdistan the Kurdish Democratic Party's (KDP) Massoud Barzani fight over control of trade routes.Barzani allowed Saddam's government to illegally export petroleum through KDP held territory enabling his party to earn money on this trade. When Talabani's PUK felt the KDP was enriching itself from the trade at their expense he formed an alliance with Iran in order to counterbalance the growing power of the KDP. This in turn resulted in Barzani forming a temporary alliance with Saddam to counter the power of an Iran-backed PUK. Saddam launched another northern campaign in late August 1996 to retake Kurdistan with 30,000 troops. They seized Erbil from the PUK and executed 700 PUK troops. Iraq was again bombed by the Clinton administration (see Operation Desert Strike) due to American fears that Saddam would once again unleash a genocidal campaign against the Kurdish minority. Saddam retreated leaving Erbil in the hands of Barzani's KDP forces.Of course factional feuds and disputes like those of the past are now resolved through the Kurdish parliamentary process. While the campaign against ISIS will indeed see to Baghdad and Erbil cooperating productively to eliminate a threat to both of them it doesn't necessarily mean their ties will warm in the near future. Similar in a way to how that brief Barzani/Hussein alliance of necessity against the PUK wasn't an indication that both those parties were necessarily becoming friendly with each other.The Obama administration was initially lukewarm about assisting Iraq against ISIS until the unproductive and somewhat sectarian form of governance Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been notorious for in recent years was meaningfully reformed. The Kurds endured a lot of the fighting against ISIS's relatively lightly-armed as they would likely have spilled the most blood had it not been for America's latest intervention in Iraq.But certainly for the future after this ISIS threat is combated and rendered inert if Erbil and Baghdad are going to enjoy healthy and productive relations in a unified federal Iraqi state substantial reform as well as compromises between the two are going to have to be made for the good of Iraq's future as a unified multi-denominational and multi-ethnic polity. If indeed any future is to be had for the unified state as a whole. This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com More about Islamic state, Iraq, Kurds, PUK, kdp More news from Islamic state Iraq Kurds PUK kdp Barzani talabani