Iraqi Kurds seize Kirkuk as army flees

Hotair ^ | 06/12/2014 | Ed Morrissey

[Straight Vermonter]

Absent a strong charismatic brutal leader the synthetic nation of Iraq will and is devolving into three natural constituencies.

Fixed it.

[expat2]

Or for the long-term security of the Saudis and the Emirates.

[Straight Vermonter]

Lest we forget, supposedly major oil was found in Anbar Province, so the Sunni’s could have their own oil fields, as the Kurds and Shiites in the south do now.

Wow, I didn't know that. That really changes the calculus over there. At least it will when they actually get the wells on line.

[expat2]

Biden tends to favor Iran and the Shia, and both your points 1,2 would weaken Iraq and the Sunnis.

[expat2]

They are not going to stop until they gain the riches in the North and South (oil) or the riches in Baghdad. The land they control now is mostly impoverished.

[demshateGod]

I agree. I guess they will.

[demshateGod]

To that he would say, “Thank you.”

[laplata]

Gee, this is gonna be fun. Three more years of obama. The world will not survive.

---

For those who believe in the anti-Christ, it’s easy to see. The world will be in such a mess that the anti-Christ will be welcomed by many to “save the world”.

Obama is putting the mess in place for the anti-Christ to show up.

[Elsie]

“The whole of Kirkuk has fallen into the hands of peshmerga,”

Kurdish spokesman Jabbar Yawar told Reuters. “No Iraq army remains in Kirkuk now.”

                                                                                          

[Elsie]

No way the Saudi’s back ANY Shiite group. Saudi’s are Sunni and will back ISIS and the Kurds...

---

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said, "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he said.

 

I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

He said, "Like what?"

 

I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?"

He said, "Religious."

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"

He said, "Christian."

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

He said, "Protestant."

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

He said, "Baptist!"

 

I said,"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of GOD or Baptist Church of the Lord?"

He said, "Baptist Church of GOD!"

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of GOD, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of GOD?"

He said,"Reformed Baptist Church of GOD!"

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1915?"

He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1915!"

 

I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off.

-- Emo Phillips

[demshateGod]

I never really understood what the Neocons had against it. It could have been done a long time ago with little bloodshed. Now it will happen with a lot of bloodshed. Maybe they feared a Sunni state and a Iran-leaning Shiite state? Maybe they, in their stupid Neocon minds, thought one state would allow checks and balances.

[no-to-illegals]

The world will not survive.

if obama has his way neither will any media.

[xzins]

The Kurds might actually come out of this with their own country.

That will be anathema to Turkey, so expect NATO to do something.

Would they now be so stupid as to come in on the side of Al Qaeda? I wouldn’t be surprised. That’s how much all these people hate the idea of Kurdistan.

[Blackyce]

The problem with partition is that it left the Sunni Arab region landlocked with no natural resources, an oil rich Shia region with even stronger ties to Iran and an independent Kurdistan which would drive Turkey nuts. The worst part was that having a bitter(at being deposed by us), dirt poor and loosely governed Sunni Arab state on the Syrian and Jordanian borders wasn’t an ideal outcome for our purposes. We were afraid they might become infiltrated dominated by Islamist elements that would leak back over into Jordan and Syria.

Of course the current situation is far worse, so hindsight is making partition look like the best bet.

[demshateGod]

Hmm, so it sounds like the problem was the people. Many people on FR said the solution was a “no state” solution: turning Iraq into a parking lot.

[Blackyce]

“Wow, I didn’t know that. That really changes the calculus over there. At least it will when they actually get the wells on line. “

That won’t happen with ISIS in control. Even the most brazen multinationals like to avoid getting their heads chopped off.

[ScottinVA]

I wonder how things would have turned out had Bush II listened to Biden here.

It's so amazingly rare that Biden gets anything right, but yes... those are two points to which I wish Bush had listened. Three homogeneous countries within, say, a loose Iraqi federation could've formed their own governments, with their own militaries, and pursued their own goals. Trying to keep stitched together an artifically formed Iraq was folly.

[Georgia Girl 2]

I was just thinking about that last night. As much as I hate to give Biden the time of day he was prolly right about establishing a 3 region coalition. Even a blind bird gets a worm once in awhile.

[SisterK]

When the Ottoman Empire was divided 100 years ago, it was common knowledge that Kurds, sunni and shiite did not play well together - still they insisted on dividing it for long term chaos. Perhaps to keep them all third world.

[Jabba the Nutt]

The Kurds have and have had an effective army for years and years. That’s why I’m saying, say hello to an Indepenent Kurdistan.