Posted on 01/13/2004 10:11:20 AM PST by Holly_P
The Bush administration has yet another, although this time not unanticipated, problem on its hands in Iraq. In meetings with Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, the Kurds have demanded almost complete autonomy from the Iraqi central government that is supposed to take over June 30. That likely would amount to de facto partition of Iraq, but going in, the United States is committed to preserving the integrity of the Iraqi state. The Kurdish areas, we insist, will remain part of Iraq.
The problem is, in a sense, of the United States' own making. By enforcing the no-fly zone over northern Iraq, the United States protected Kurds from the depredations of Saddam Hussein. During those 12 years, the Kurds developed their own local governments, militias and taxing authority.
The result is that the most stable, prosperous and U.S.-friendly parts of Iraq are the Kurdish areas.
Aside from our commitment to keeping Iraq intact, Kurdish autonomy poses other problems. The Shiites in the south might insist on autonomy, too, further partitioning the country. And Turkey and Iran, both with substantial Kurdish minorities, fear that autonomy will lead to the Iraqi Kurds declaring an independent state and agitating for a Greater Kurdistan.
Turkey, in particular, wants the United States to keep a lid on Kurdish nationalism. It fought a 15-year war against Kurdish insurgents that came to an uneasy end only in 1999. The Turks are valued U.S. allies in the region, and their prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, is certain to have Kurdish autonomy at the top of his agenda when he visits President Bush later this month.
Secretary of State Colin Powell says, "Our position is to let the Iraqis work this out." But since the former regime's way of working things out with the Kurds was to gas and bomb them into submission, the Kurds aren't likely to fully trust a government in Baghdad anytime soon.
Complicating matters further is the question of who gets the revenues from two major oil fields now under Kurdish control.
Bush advisers must be muttering over and over to themselves, "The war was the easy part." And they're right.
This is good news (not new though) to me.
My uncle has been in Iraq for a few months and his unit is steadily moving north. The last I heard they are going to an area near Mosul.
The further north he gets the safer he is, in my opinion.
With so many different factions in Iraq demanding autonomy, I don't see any solutions.
My thinking too. Wouldn't that make the liberals squeal that we are trying to make Iraq into the U.S.
As you said, it works here.
Seems to be the current drift of events. Kurd infighting may very well prevent it though. Three of the largest Kurd-Iraq groups can be found at these links:
And finally, a clarify book from Amazon: The Kurdish Predicament in Iraq: A Political Analysis
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.