Today, Iraq stands at a pivotal moment that does not tolerate hesitation and does not allow for the reproduction of the phases that have burdened the state and society and pushed the country away from the path of stability and construction.
In recent years, Iraq has gone through harsh conditions that have left their marks on both the state and the citizen, from terrorism to corruption, from political division to factionalism, from weak institutions to multiple decision-making centers and arms. What is required today is not to retread the details of those years, but to extract its most important lesson: a stable and strong state cannot be built with two parallel logics: the logic of the state and the logic outside the state...
Thus begins the new phase with a clear and explicit question: Do we want a state where everyone adheres to the constitution and law, or do we remain prisoners of a reality with multiple references and centers of power and arms?!!
Restricting arms to the state and its security and military institutions is not just a political slogan, but rather a fundamental principle in building the modern state, protecting the citizen, and safeguarding sovereignty. Therefore, the timelines for disarming and organizing arms and restricting them to official institutions should be treated as a national entitlement, far removed from betrayal, escalation, and mutual accusations....
At the same time, addressing this issue should be done in the spirit of state dialogue and gradually in a manner that preserves security and prevents clashes, ensuring respect for the law and preserving the dignity of all parties. The true strength of the state lies not only in its ability to impose order by force but in its ability to convince its citizens that the law is the umbrella protecting everyone.
The popular, political, religious, and social forces have a historic responsibility at this stage, and they are required to contribute to calming the rhetoric, supporting the rule of law, and encouraging the transition from the language of weapons to the language of institutions and from the logic of confrontation to the logic of the state and dialogue....
Furthermore, any new government formation needs to complete its institutions and ministerial cabinet based on competence and the ability to manage national files, away from paralyzing state institutions or turning them into arenas for political bargaining. The stability of the government is inseparable from the stability of the state, and the effectiveness of institutions cannot be achieved without ministers capable of bearing responsibility and implementing government programs and policies.
Iraq today does not need further militarization or the production of new crises or the opening of doors to internal conflict in a turbulent regional and international environment; rather, it needs a strong state, effective institutions, enforceable laws, a complete government, security subject to the state's decision, and foreign relations that safeguard interests and sovereignty and prevent Iraq from becoming a battleground for settling conflicts.
The success of the security forces in fulfilling their security responsibilities, along with the subsequent reorganization after foreign military withdrawal, opens the door to a new phase where the question becomes: How do we transition from a state that responds to crises to a state that prevents the production of crises?! The answer is
National unity, complete sovereignty, one law, and one weapon under the authority of the state and institutions that are governed only by the constitution, along with a complete government capable of functioning, and an economy that invests Iraq's wealth for the benefit of its citizens.
These are not demands of one faction against another nor a project from one side against another; these are issues related to the future of the Iraqi state itself...
Iraq is at a crossroads where disagreements are settled within institutions, disputes are resolved through dialogue, the arms are solely in the hands of the state, and the law becomes the supreme reference for all, compared to another path that reproduces chaos and multiplicity of centers of power and decision....
The upcoming phase deserves to be the beginning of the transition from the logic of arms to the logic of work, from militarization of life to science and reconstruction, and from crisis management to building the future....
What is required now is to transform capabilities into institutions, to transform security stability into political and economic stability, and to ensure that respect for the law becomes the norm, not the exception. The state is not built by the abundance of arms but by the strength of its institutions, and it is not protected by the multiplicity of rifles but by the unity of its decision...
Its future is not safeguarded through conflict, but through knowledge, work, and law. This is a moment that deserves Iraq to take a step forward, with the state as the unifying title, the law as the arbiter, and the citizen as the ultimate goal.