Massoud Barzani between corruption, political crisis, psychology

Serwan Zangana | Exclusive to iKurd.net

Reviewing the history of the Barzani’s family and underlining the actions of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) under the Barzani’s control can easily reveal the dark side of this family. Carefully resembling Massoud Barzani to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to a certain degree should not be an exaggeration.

Throughout history, many rulers and dictators who have been perceived as revolutionists subsequently diminished and became the forgotten unpleasant history. Now, Barzani is one of the symbols in Iraqi Kurdistan as he claims the Kurdish revolution and the Regional Government. But what is the fact behind such claims?

A song praising the Barzanis, similar to those once sung for Saddam Hussein.

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However, there are examples of leaders who hypothetically became saviors and heroes of their nations but in fact their mindset caused disasters for their citizens. Obviously, Barzani is among those leaders who can be seen as a hybrid which means based on two perspectives among the Kurds: one, he is a long-time struggler and revolutionist whose name is shining in Kurdish history, and two, he is a dictator, betrayal, and the most corrupt leader.

The truth about Barzani is not accepted by many Kurds as their emotional thinking conquers their rational thinking in seeing the fact of a person who has been perceived as the only and the main leader, and perhaps as a sacred leader by some Kurds.

But Barzani has been overestimated and credited with accomplishments but neither he nor his family members had roles in advancing the Kurdish political process and lifting the economic hardship on the working people of Kurdistan.

While Mustafa Barzani failed to shift the direction of the September revolution that began in 1961, and announced the collapse upon the 1975**’**s Algiers agreement between Iraq and Iran against the Kurds, his sons, including Massoud were unable to reignite the Kurdish revolution and embrace all the Kurds for the sake of the Kurdish goal per se.

Evidently, the so-called Gullan revolution and reestablishing the (KDP) after the 1975 collapse was nothing but a wave of catastrophes brought by Massoud and his brother Idris. Obviously, Barzani’s history is stained with conspiracies, crises, betrayals, and conflicts.

Massoud Barzani with Iraqi intelligence agency officials — Massoud Barzani (L) meets with Iraqi intelligence agency officials over the deployment of Iraqi tanks to Erbil to chase Talabani’s PUK, 1996. Nechirvan Barzani (left). Photo: iKurd.net/Archive

Apparently, under Barzani’s leadership, the (KDP) was operating as a mercenary in the form of a revolutionary and fighting the other Kurdish parties in the region. In early the 1980s, the (KDP) mounted the Iranian tanks and fought the Kurdistan Democratic Party-Iran, in 1992, indeed along with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), brought the region to a devastation by conducting the Turkish plan in fighting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and in 1996, Massoud blatantly sent a letter to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein requesting military assistance to fight the (PUK), in the City of Erbil, which was in fact another bloody operation that Massoud had a main role in carrying out.

The mindset of Massoud is very similar to Saddam Hussein’s, which believed in a complete destruction of the opposition and its surroundings regardless of the nature and the degree of the involvement of such an opposition.

For example, in 1995, while the (KDP) and the (PUK) were in an ongoing conflict or civil war, a prominent member of the Surchi tribe, Zeid Agha Surchi, was accused of cooperating with the (PUK), and therefore, Massoud deployed a group of the (KDP) fighters and attacked the village of Kalakien. As a result of such an attack, the tribal leader, Hussein Agha Surchi was killed along with some other residents and major destruction to the village.

It is noteworthy that the (KDP) fighters who attacked the village of Kalakien were from the Sulaimani region, which means they had no link or relations to the Surchis, and hence, the (KDP) mercilessly conducted the attack.

Massoud Barzani, KDP party leader, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. — Massoud Barzani, KDP party leader, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, August 16, 2018. Photo: Reuters

Massoud has used the same tactic that Saddam was using in deploying troops that were from a different region to conduct operations, and also, the sweeping strategy is the key operation of Massoud as it was the key operation of Saddam. That means in order to punish the offender, punish all the surroundings! This is what occurred in the village of Kalakien.

The Barzani’s family’s leadership and control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) contributed to economic and political crises. The greed and the corruption of this family resulted in a failure to manage Kurdistan’s budget and pay the salaries of the civil workers, and hence, led to giving up such a responsibility to the Iraqi Federal Government.

Ironically, the Regional Government is not profiting from the oil sale, but Barzani’s family is continuously increasing its fortune. Here is the question: Is Barzani’s family privileged or entitled to fortune from Kurdistan’s oil sales?

Unless a large number of Kurds who emotionally perceive Barzani’s family as distinguished and the Kurdish first family free their mindset from such a belief, Kurds will remain to live in a delusion ruled by this corrupt family.

Obviously, Barzani’s political failure is attributed to his major corruption as he and his family members’ international bank accounts have been inflated while the Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan struggle to receive their paycheck. However, the fact of Barzani’s family’s corruption is obvious to the public as its members live a lavish lifestyle, conspicuously.

Barzani’s lack of political influence on the Iraqi politicians and loss of credibility with the Federal Government has indeed impacted the people of the Kurdistan region. Apparently, withholding the salaries of civil workers of Kurdistan by the Iraqi Federal Government is another political crisis which was the result of Barzani’s corruption. Seemingly, the Iraqi Federal Government is discerning the corruption of the Regional Government, specifically, among Barzani’s family.

Iraqi finance minister Taif Sami sent a letter and explained the annual budget of Kurdistan Region from 2023 to 2025. Out of 19.9 trillion dinars in revenues of oil and non-oil, the Kurdistan Region had handed over to the Federal Government only 598.5 billion dinars.

The Kurdistan Regional Government must explain to not only the Federal Government but also to the People of Kurdistan about such a difference in this calculation and the fate of the remaining money that was kept.

“Unable to continue funding the region,” finance minister Sami said in a letter, which outraged the Kurdish politicians. However, speaking of the Kurdistan Region, head of Kurdistan Regional Government in Baghdad Faris Isa said, “ It is not as weak as some think it is.” Conversely, the (KRG) is standing on a hollow foundation maneuvering the collapse and manipulating the people of Kurdistan.

Since Barzani’s family members assumed control of the (KRG), the region has been undermined and the political conflict between the Regional and the Federal Government has always forced civil workers to carry the economic burden.

The psychology behind Barzani’s actions

Understanding the psychology of Barzani and learning about the hormones of his brain that trigger the actions can brighten many dark corners to accept the reality of his personality more rationally than emotionally.

To analyze Barzani from a psychological aspect and understand his actions and reactions, the amygdala and the frontal lobe of his brain should be reviewed.

Illustrative photo Tribal leader and the head of Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP Massoud Barzani, Iraqi Kurdistan, 2025. Photo: iKurd.net/created by AI

“The amygdala is part of the limbic system, which regulates emotional and behavioral responses.” (healthline) However, based on his reactions, the amygdala hijack is what can be seen in Barzani. “An amygdala hijack is a fight-or-flight response to stress.” (healthline) It is noteworthy that the amygdala activates fight or flight which alerts a human that there is a threat or a danger to react for safety.

For example, when in 1996, Barzani ignored all human morality and aligned with Saddam Hussein to send the military tanks to sweep Erbil, it was a reaction as he felt a threat from the (PUK), and this can be seen as an amygdala hijack which was a fight but with Iraqi’s assistance, otherwise, it would be a flight.

The other part of the brain is the frontal lobe that regulates actions, reasoning, decision making, movement, and planning. Apparently, Barzani lacks all of the above as his frontal lobe, that evaluates emotion and uses experience and judgment to respond consciously to situations, is unable to properly activate.

After all, Barzani and his family members are obstacles in front of the political process, and a better Kurdistan comes without Barzani.

Serwan Zangana, a contributing writer for iKurd.net, lives in Virginia, U.S. He serves as a correction officer.

The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of iKurd.net or its editorial team.