Posted on 05/22/2004 9:18:02 PM PDT by Destro
This is all news to me!
Alright rack South Korea on help in Iraq rack itttt
God bless the Kurds.
There is only one "must do" in this Iraq war. The Kurds MUST be given the means to be autonomous. The rest of Iraq will either rise to the occasion or fall due to their own stupidity. The Kurds have proved more than capable of becoming what we all hope all of Iraq will be.
I agree. They have done some spectacular things in the 10 years the no fly zones kept them safe. We have to make sure that they can continue to be free and still a part of Iraq.
That is good. I am glad that you are able to stomach broadcast news. I stopped watching the 30 minute info-snippets that pass for news on the mainstream networks. I have used trusted internet sources, shortwave radio stations and FNC as my main news sources.
It is good to hear that the mainstream media may be making some change in a positive direction. Tnanks for the "heads up."
It seems logical to put it/them where the population is the most pro-American, which of course is Kurdish territory.
Have you heard of any plans along these lines?
Are American soldiers and civilians generally safe in Kurdish areas as opposed to other parts of Iraq?
Do civilians walk and travel about freely in Kurdish areas?
The Iraqi blogs tell a better story of what is really happening there. Some even post pictures of everyday life in Baghdad. For the most part it is thriving.
No, but I would imagine we'd probably have a base somewhere in that area. More than likely any base would be located out in the desert, away from population centers and between the Iraqi people and those who would threaten them. The Kurds are more than capable of taking care of themselves, the Peshmerga are fierce fighters and have been working with us for a long time. We should locate a base where we will not interfer with daily life. To be welcomed guests we should be out of sight most of the time and when they do see our military, they should be in civies acting like normal tourists.
The " friend of my friend" ....if we can allow friendly Iraqis to "save face" by welcoming South Koreans during the transitions, I'm all for it.
Anything that shows that they are willing to deal with outsiders is a good sign -
I'm going to have to brush up on the geography of the area.
You're welcome. It's a facinating subject. I was pretty shocked when I found out exactly how much our media has been misrepresenting it to us and set about to make sure I was as informed as possible.
Ken, this article will answer all your questions.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-04-25-kurds-edit_x.htm
Kurds' success provides lesson for rest of Iraq
By Ralph Peters, 4/25/04
The garbage truck was inspiring. Making the early morning rounds, its energetic crew collected the trash from a tidy residential street in a hopeful city booming with construction sites. That wouldn't be a big deal in America. But this was in Iraq.
While the media concentrate on the combat and confusion to the south, I recently visited the north of the country, where Iraq's 5 million Kurds have brought off a near miracle: They've built a financially efficient, rule-of-law democracy in the Middle East. Elsewhere, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) spends billions to keep a failed state on life support. While the rest of Iraq's population wallows in the region's addiction to blame, the Kurds have rolled up their sleeves and gone to work. There is a lesson here for Iraq — and U.S. policymakers, who insist on keeping Kurdistan a part of that blood-soaked country.
This month, in the Arab sections of central and southern Iraq, insurgents, religious extremists and international terrorists indulged in an orgy of kidnapping and killing of U.S. troops. Yet, in the north lies Suleimaniye. Here, in the capital of one of the two Kurdish regional governments, officials are writing zoning laws, demanding environmental impact statements from builders and making education funding a priority.
In the streets, women walk freely and safely, dressed any way they wish. Only a minority choose Islamic garb — head scarves, not veils. The regional prime minister, Barham Salih, wants to increase the number of female government officials, describing them as "harder working" than men and "utterly incorruptible." And there are no forced marriages.
Just over 45% of the university students are women. Males and females study side by side. Internet use is free to all students. There is no censorship or political influence on campus. Not one of the oil-rich Gulf states rivals this still-poor country's educational freedom — or standards. There's a department of religious studies, but it's only one of 16 departments (and far from the most popular).
Still, the Kurdish government isn't content. It hopes to build a world-class "American" university to develop its human capital. As the rest of Iraq threatens to implode, the Kurds are racing against time to develop their infrastructure and provide opportunities for their population. International business is welcome, contractors aren't murdered, and even the Turks, longtime opponents of the Kurds, are investing.
If only the Kurds had a disaster or two, then someone might tell their story.
Of course, the Kurds do face significant problems. After decades of underinvestment, a growing economy has overtaxed the power system. Refined petroleum products have to be imported — in an oil-rich country. And hundreds of thousands of internal refugees, displaced by Saddam Hussein, face uncertain futures.
The biggest problem, though, is Washington's insistence that Kurdistan remain part of Iraq. The Kurds are doing their best to support our policies, despite skepticism about the country's future. They're determined that, if Iraq disintegrates, they won't be to blame. They want to make us happy, almost desperately.
If anyone believes that no good came of deposing the old regime, he or she should talk to the Kurds. For them, generations of oppression, ethnic cleansing, torture and massacre ended when Saddam's statue fell. But with hostile powers on their borders, their future security depends on America's goodwill. As terrorists campaign to drive the U.S. from the Middle East, the Kurds are begging for U.S. military bases on their territory.
When American politicians of either party describe the Middle East they'd like to see, they're describing the Kurdistan that already exists — in fact, if not in law. Yet, coalition authorities in Baghdad devote their efforts to holding a Frankenstein's monster of a country together — just as we and our allies earlier tried to force Yugoslavia to remain whole — while ignoring what the Kurds have already achieved. Instead of supporting our only friends in Iraq, we try to please implacable enemies by pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into cities whose people assassinate U.S. soldiers.
An ironclad military rule is "Don't reinforce failure. Reinforce success." In the attempted reconstruction of Iraq, our policy is just the opposite.
Diplomats always have plenty of "good" reasons for doing the wrong things. Borders can't change; stability must be achieved; regional sensibilities must be taken into account — the list of reasons why we cannot live up to our own professed ideals and support Kurdish self-determination is nearly endless. But a moment of truth is approaching: Either we support democracy, or we don't.
Why not hold a referendum? Why not let the Kurds decide their own future?
The United States needs to be clear: America isn't failing the rest of Iraq. The Iraqis are failing themselves. The war to depose Saddam handed them an opportunity no other power would have or could have given them. If, despite the U.S. investment of blood and treasure, Iraq's Arabs decide to squander their chance for a peaceful and prosperous future, there may be painfully little the United States can do about it.
But where freedom, the rule of law and democracy already exist, the United States should offer its support. There are three things the United States can and should do for the Kurds: guarantee their long-term security against neighboring countries; ensure that they receive their fair share of reconstruction aid and Iraq's oil revenue; and, if the rest of Iraq pursues bloodshed and destruction, support an independent Kurdish state.
Kurdistan isn't Iraq.
Go there and see.
Ralph Peters is the author of Beyond Baghdad: Postmodern War and Peace
Whether Iraq remains intact is up to them and not our concern as long as it remains pro-coalition and terrorist free. I suspect the Sunni portion will not. Screw them. They have little in oil ressrves and no economical way to export it if the COZ is shut off to them. Likewise with the two other zones, though I expect the Kurds will be cooperative from the beginning, the Shiites may take a little longer. If anyone deserves an independent state out of this should the plan fail, it is the Kurds. We have an obligation to them. We owe nothing to the Sunnis and Shiites.
I agree. The Kurds have both the desire to be free and the resources to support themselves. We need to get them and the Turks to agree once and for all on a territorial/security arrangement so we can chalk up one damned success.
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.