Posted on 07/20/2014 4:42:06 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
As Iraq continues to disintegrate, its powerful eastern neighbor, Iran, struggles to keep up with a wide range of issues and threats.
For Iran, nothing is potentially more problematic and threatening than Kurdish independence. Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani raised the stakes for all key regional and international players by signaling determined political intent in Erbil to push for independence.
An independent Kurdistan undercuts Iranian influence in Iraq. A nascent Kurdish state also signals a permanent base for American and Israeli influence on Iran's doorstep. As if this was not bad enough, Kurdish independence in Iraq will inevitably embolden irredentist Kurdish elements in Iran, which complicates the Islamic Republic's political and security calculations in the country's Kurdish-majority provinces in the west.
The threat of irredentism
As the Islamic State (IS) spearheaded a massive rebellion in Iraq's Sunni heartlands, Iraqi Kurds exploited the security vacuum by occupying oil-rich Kirkuk and other so-called "disputed" areas. These areas stretch from the heart of Nineveh province in the north all the way to Khanaqin close to the Iranian border.
The takeover of Kirkuk - touted as the Kurdish "Jerusalem" - fulfills historic Kurdish ambitions to assume control of areas it regards as Kurdish territory. The fulfillment of this ambition - coupled with control over the area's oil reserves - prompted Barzani to act in favor of a formal bid for independence.
For Iran, this bid could not come at a worse time. Iranian allies in Baghdad are under intense pressure to contain Iraq's centrifugal forces. The staggering weakness and incompetence of Baghdad's armed forces forced Iran to intervene directly in the latest Iraqi civil war. Besides the burden on resources, Iran has suffered human losses, with reports of an Iranian pilot and at least one member of the elite Qods force killed fighting IS-led insurgents.
(Excerpt) Read more at atimes.com ...
Not sure it would be viable. It would be surrounded by hostile powers and completely landlocked. How would it survive?
Kurdish independence and American military support for it should have been American policy from 1991 on.
The Brits were wrong to accede to the Sunni demands for “Iraq” under a Brit-appointed Sunni Hashemite “King” as reward for the Arabs help with the Brits against the Ottoman Turks.
They helped install perpetual Sunni air of superiorty in Iraq, against the sizeable Shia and Kurd minorities and aided the cause of the sectarian strife that continues today.
The Kurds are our allies. It’s time to recognize Kurdistan and work with them to supply the Iranian opposition (and the opposition to ISIS too.)
It seems Turkey has given tacit support for Kurdistan in exchange for Kurdish oil and if and when Kurdistan is proclaimed it will renounce any territorial claims on Turkey.
“The Kurds are our allies. It’s time to recognize Kurdistan...”
But I don’t want to get too mixed up in all this. The Kurds are motivated and well-organized, they don’t need that much help. Like the Israelis.
“It seems Turkey has given tacit support for Kurdistan in exchange for Kurdish oil and if and when Kurdistan is proclaimed it will renounce any territorial claims on Turkey.”
And that could solve the Kurds’ landlocked problem.
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