Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

America ponders cutting Iraq in three
The Sunday Times ^ | October 08, 2006 | Sarah Baxter

Posted on 10/08/2006 9:51:04 AM PDT by US Navy guy

AN independent commission set up by Congress with the approval of President George W Bush may recommend carving up Iraq into three highly autonomous regions, according to well informed sources.

(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: iraq
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-37 last
To: mhx
Turkey's going to be hating this.

Yep. And that's why the US hasn't given the Kurds full autonomy. I suppose if US-Turkey relations deteriorate enough we might...

Imagine all the Dims (MSM) jumping on Bush for "betraying" our NATO ally Turkey.

21 posted on 10/08/2006 11:10:46 AM PDT by Poincare
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: US Navy guy

Just more speculation from the Times about what the President and Congress 'may' do.

Tripe.


22 posted on 10/08/2006 11:12:50 AM PDT by Bigh4u2 (Denial is the first requirement to be a liberal)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bigh4u2
Honestly, I wondered why we didn't go for federalization when we conquered Iraq. I thought it the most practical way to do things. Oil revenue could be divided according to population, and each area could have their own laws. Explaining it to the Iraqis would be easy, as everyone in the world knows Texas, and no one thinks Texas is humiliated.

I blame the State Department for not using this idea.

23 posted on 10/08/2006 11:15:34 AM PDT by Miss Marple (Lord, please look over Mozart Lover's and Jemian's sons and keep them strong.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Nuc1

I agree, great idea. But then I also support breaking this country up into two.


24 posted on 10/08/2006 11:17:04 AM PDT by gorush (Exterminate the Moops!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Miss Marple
I blame the State Department for not using this idea.

Really? I put the blame squarely at the feet of the Commander-in-Chief. That is where the buck stops, after all.

25 posted on 10/08/2006 11:18:59 AM PDT by Wormwood (Everybody lies, but it doesn't matter because nobody listens.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Poincare

"Imagine all the Dims (MSM) jumping on Bush for "betraying" our NATO ally Turkey."

Turkeys been our ally for a long time, why should be betray them.


26 posted on 10/08/2006 11:19:49 AM PDT by Gradient Vector
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Wormwood

Well, yes, President Bush must share some of the blame. But I think the idea originated in the State Department.


27 posted on 10/08/2006 11:22:57 AM PDT by Miss Marple (Lord, please look over Mozart Lover's and Jemian's sons and keep them strong.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: US Navy guy

A solution looking for a problem. Kill all the terrs then everything else can work out diplomatically. The majority of the violence stems from Al Qaeda, Syria, and Iran. Contrary to popular belief, the problem is not sectarian or ethnic. Iraq is being invaded.


28 posted on 10/08/2006 11:37:28 AM PDT by Killborn (Pres. Bush isn't Pres. Reagan. Then again, Pres. Regan isn't Pres. Washington. God bless them all.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GSlob

"A bad peace is even worse than war."
-- Tacitus


29 posted on 10/08/2006 11:44:34 AM PDT by Rome2000 (Peace is not an option)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: US Navy guy

Iraq needs a Muslim king friendly to the West. If it doesn't happen we will see a secular or religious dictator rise up as soon as we leave. Different cultures require different forms of government. The Middle East has always respected strong leaders. Democracy (sharing) is not strength but an opportunity for a powerful individual, good or bad.


30 posted on 10/08/2006 11:58:01 AM PDT by Canticle_of_Deborah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Canticle_of_Deborah
Nah... three-step solution:
1. depopulate Mid-East;
2. re-name it Mid-West;
3. re-settle it with midwesterners.
31 posted on 10/08/2006 12:14:57 PM PDT by GSlob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: US Navy guy

Why dont the Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo get to do the same?


32 posted on 10/08/2006 12:25:18 PM PDT by oilfieldtrash
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Zhang Fei

Turkey doesn't want an independant Kurdish nation on their border, if I remember right.


33 posted on 10/08/2006 12:28:09 PM PDT by MrLee
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: US Navy guy

On the surface this may seem like a last ditch effort to get out of there, but I think it has merit. Iraq has always been a country fractured by ethnic and religious differences. The real problem comes with oil profit distribution, most of it would end up with the Shiites in the center and south of the country. If we are speaking of truely autonomous areas then the oil-rich are not likely to share with the oil poor.
The Kurdish section of Iraq is nearly autonomous and has been spared much of the strife that the sunni areas have been through. The difference is that an autonomous Kurdistan may be inclined to strike at, or at least render itself as an infernal nuisance to Turkey. (Full of kooks like the rest of the neighborhood, but at least they are secular.)
In a single source economy like Iraq, anouther question is who gets the ports and major roads that the oil must flow through? If Shiitestan and Sunnistan are at odds, can one strangle the other?


34 posted on 10/08/2006 12:36:57 PM PDT by When do we get liberated? ((Multi-culturism, go for a dirt nap. If you cant stand behind our troops, stand in front of them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gradient Vector
Turkeys been our ally for a long time, why should be betray them.[?]

The Turks have long brutally suppressed Kurdish nationalism and a Kurdish state on their border is one thing they don't want.

35 posted on 10/08/2006 1:54:16 PM PDT by Poincare
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: gorush
At the rate things are going this country may do it for you. On the other hand the people of the left must be in total control. They cannot stand people being free. However, many of the liberal strong holds are targets for the muzzies. Since the libs won't fight them now the muzzies may take care of much of the problem before the libs come around to seeing things our way.;)
36 posted on 10/08/2006 5:14:51 PM PDT by Nuc1 (NUC1 Sub pusher SSN 668 (Liberals Aren't Patriots))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Poincare
"The Turks have long brutally suppressed Kurdish nationalism and a Kurdish state on their border is one thing they don't want."

Exactly because that Kurdish state would fight Turkey for land Turkey currently has. Why should we do that to our allies? Even now before a state, communist Kurdish groups are committing terrorism across the Iraq/Turkey border.
37 posted on 10/08/2006 5:32:56 PM PDT by Gradient Vector
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-37 last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson