Posted on 05/19/2004 7:15:09 AM PDT by presidio9
DOHUK, Iraq -- On a recent afternoon in this northern Iraqi city, children romped about a lawn and adults munched cake on land that was once a base for Saddam Hussein's military. The crowd had gathered for the grand opening of a new home-furnishings outlet in Dream City -- a megastore and amusement-park complex.
Entrepreneur Hamid Hajji Mashod rattled off his plans for the former military site: twin office towers, a hotel, a Coca-Cola bottling franchise. Standing amid carefully tended violets and marigolds, Mr. Mashod saw the blossoms symbolizing a new era for the region, home to most of Iraq's ethnic Kurdish minority. "Our homeland is like a flower," he said.
Unabashedly pro-American, secular and democratic, the Kurdish north is the one part of the country that's living up to the Bush administration's vision of postwar Iraq. The problem: The Kurdish population is showing little interest in converging with the rest of the country -- and its strong independent streak could hamper efforts to bring Iraq under one central government.
For more than a decade before the war, international sanctions aimed at Mr. Hussein insulated the rebellious northern region from the rest of the country. Since Mr. Hussein's ouster, the Kurds have pulled even closer together, and turmoil to the south has hardened their determination to set up bulwarks against Iraq's ethnic Arab majority.
"We're afraid of participating in a larger Iraq," says Fadil Omar, a Kurdish writer and physician. "We can't stand up for long against Arab culture."
The Kurdish leadership has vowed that the region will remain part of Iraq -- but only if it is granted autonomy from the central government. Meanwhile, popular sentiment for full independence appears to be rising. About 1.75 million Kurds -- half the population of the north -- have signed a petition demanding a referendum on Kurdish independence.
"We were forced to merge with Iraq 83 years ago," says Sherko Bekas, a leading poet and Kurdish nationalist who started the drive. "Now we want to be free in our own land, like other nations."
For the Kurds, full independence would bring great peril. Iraqi Kurdistan is surrounded by Turkey, Syria and Iran, all of which historically have been hostile to Kurdish independence -- as have the non-Kurdish populations in Iraq. After crushing a rebellion among its own restive Kurds in the 1990s, Turkey now could be rethinking its opposition to the aspirations of Iraqi Kurds. But a sudden move by Iraqi Kurds to grab the oilfields around the city of Kirkuk -- disputed territory the Turks have always vowed to never allow the Kurds to have -- could quickly reverse opinion in Turkey.
The north's assertiveness underscores how Iraq's three roughly defined regions are increasingly developing on their own paths. The south is under the sway of Shiite Muslim clerics, most of whom want some form of an Islamic state. The Sunni Muslim center, meanwhile, is increasingly influenced by members of the former regime, many of them Arab nationalists.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
The kurds should not be forced to unify with the rest of the country. They should be given autonomy over their region.
If not the rest of the country will do it's best to drag them down into the gutter with them.
Kurdish Independence NOW!
The percentage of oil reserves in Kurdish controlled lands is comparatively small.
Doesn't look like that fact has hurt them at all.
I hear that a lot around here, but I never see anyone explain WHY the Kurds should be provided their own country in this process. So I'll ask you: What exactly is "their region"? What do you think the response of other countries of the region - especially Turkey - would be if we established a autonomous Kurdish state in "their region"? What is it about the Kurds that makes you think they are somehow superior or unique when compared to the Arab Sunnis or Shi'a of Iraq?
These aren't frivilous inquiries, because the establishment of a Kurd state would immediately thrust a whole new set of profound political and military difficulties onto an already difficult situation.
What is your rationale behind this move?
The Kurds are NOT Arabs. The world's indifference to them has something to do with a notorious three letter word. Which is a resource the Arabs control. However, now that the Kurds have possession of it in Kirkuk, in their backyard, that changes the whole picture. Iraq at best is an artificial construct of British colonialism and its disappearance would leave its disparate peoples better off in terms of charting their own destinies. Its called self-determination and the Kurds are more deserving than the Palestinians and already have a country now in all but name.
I never said their own country, I said autonomy over their region. Iraq should be broken into a few "states" to keep the religious nutjobs from running the whole country.
Despite what we set up the moment we leave that place will degrade into a muslim state. We should not allow the kurds to be pulled down into that mess.
I could not care less about the Turks or what they would think. They are not allies in my opinion.
The kurds have proven themseleves to be pro-democracy, pro-freedom, pro-US and not religious zealots. The same cannot be said for the Sunnis or Shi'a. They're religious whacko's who are just looking to control it all, the kurds included.
Last but certainly not least the Kurds were all but wiped out by the previous regime, they have no reason to trust their governance to anyone but themselves.
I'll bet these boys can identify the outsiders fairly quickly.
Do the majority of the Iraqi's have any real interest in the Kurdish areas? Not much oil, not many relatives that would not move back to Bagdad. Is there no real chance to have a friendly border?
I don't know. I'm just curious, are there no alternatives?
"I hear that a lot around here, but I never see anyone explain WHY the Kurds should be provided their own country in this process."
Because? Go ask Klintoon the blow, NATO, and Coffee Inane of the NN about Kosovo and why they gave the Muslimes there Serbian territory.
Their only interest in the Kurdish areas is due to a desire to control it and nothing more.
Good fences make good neighbors. The Kurds need a fence.
I see you've given a lot of thought to this.
Seeing as they are probably our staunchist allies in all of this...maybe we should reward them and let them have 'their' country back... And use them to keep the new Iraq under control....just keep the Turks out of it... imo
The Kurds are not arab, neither are the Turks or the Iranis or Azeris. Kurds are Iranic/Indo European not semitic, like the Iranis and Azeris. however, unlike those two, they are Sunnis.
Thanks for the clarification. I agree with that, and I think the Iraqis will have a form of Federalist governing unit with three states.
You better care about what the Turks think if you are interested in peace in that region. The Turks have said, unequivocally, that any Kurdistan with Kirkuk included is not tolerable to them, for their own domestic security. It's clear as day.
What kind of society and institutions do you think the Kurds would have if we hadn't been protecting them from Saddam for the last 13 years?
A Kurdish "state" as part of Iraq is a plausible option, but an independent Kurdish country carved from the Iraqi nation is a non-starter and nobody of import ... even the Kurdish leaders ... is discussing it seriously.
A Kurd state would stabilize the border with Turkey. Kurds from Turkey could migrate down. A Kurdish state would also piss off the Syrians to no end. It would force the Syrians to think about a Kurdish front on one side and an Israeli front on the other.
With some oil reserves the Kurds could very well have a market driven economy eventually. Might seem ridiculous. However it also might be the best thing for the region.
1918, almost 100 years ago. Most worthless comeback I've seen in awhile.
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