Iraqi Invasion: Looting, Arson Triggers Exodus of 100,000 from Kurdish Kirkuk

Breitbart News ^ | 10/20/2017 | FRANCES MARTEL

[huldah1776]

Kurdish authorities estimate that 100,000 people have fled Kirkuk, Iraq, this week, formerly under control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) but now lost to the Baghdad government and its Iran-backed Shiite militia allies. Kurds fleeing Kirkuk—a multi-ethnic city heavily reliant on its vast oil resources—say Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fighters are looting, burning houses down, and attacking Kurdish citizens.

The Iraqi government announced a military initiative to wrest Kirkuk out of KRG authority after September 25, when the KRG organized a non-binding referendum asking Kurds whether they would support the establishment of an independent Kurdistan. While Kirkuk has not traditionally been considered a part of Kurdish territory, the Kurdish Peshmerga have controlled the city and its province since 2014, when the Iraqi army fled an Islamic State attack. The Peshmerga prevented ISIS from taking over the city, and its oil supply, and incorporated it into the KRG.

Unable to trust its own military, Baghdad eventually incorporated the more militarily adept PMF into its armed forces. The PMF have received military backing from both the United States and Iran and appear loyal to the government in Tehran, not Baghdad.

snip

The Peshmerga also claim to have evidence that Iran’s Quds Force terror brigade, a wing of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Cords (IRGC), are fighting against them in Kirkuk. Reports have placed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, in Iraq supporting the PMF.

[NorseViking]

Well, I’m somehow agree that you couldn’t imagine how things would be in the Middle East but one thing for sure is it would have been absolutely different. No ISIS for sure. As for North Africa it was all more predictable and the result is total disaster. A stable middle class nation of Libya which served as a floodgate for African migrants to Europe was destroyed. Also Libya had numerous humanitarian and development programs in Black Africa which had real results at a fraction of cost of UN programs which had mostly generated corruption.

[cherry]

" blunder "?

there are no blunders...everything is done for a reason....

[GJones2]

I agree that it was a mistake to aid in the overthrow of Gaddafi. After the Iraq War he announced that Libya was ending its nuclear program. The deterrent effect of overthrowing Saddam was working. Then what does the United States do under Obama and Hillary? It helps overthrow him.

I believe what our Declaration of Independence states, that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed”. Freedom is what matters most to me, though — and security for my own country — not just democracy. In Libya the opposition to the dictator appeared to be even worse (and they killed our ambassador). I agree it was a mistake to help overthrow Geddafi.

[JohnyBoy]

Man the kurds are idoits. They should have prepped Kirkuk for siege and fought the garbage Iraq army into the dust. Instead, they ran away.

[JohnyBoy]

>If we left the dictators alone we would have a much more peaceful world.

But, but muh Democracy!

[topher]

I pray for the oppressed Kurdish people. Please dear God, help them.

[GJones2]

> It’s been many years [since the Iraq invasion], but I doubt that we’ve accumulated the number we lost on that one day [9-11].)

I see that in nearly a decade and a half the total is several thousand more than I'd thought (I repeat, compared to that single day). Each loss in combat, of course, matters to the family and friends, and to others who feel sympathy for them. I lost a family member in a war myself, and it has greatly affected my own life, but to put the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the context of other wars (and taking into account population):

[The American Prospect, whether a reliable site or not, the numbers are probably close enough to give an approximation]

[pax_et_bonum]

ping

[NorseViking]

Bottom line is every society has a government it deserves an it is not other nations’ business.
Socialists are bad for US but they are better than radical islam for the Middle East.
And some societies are ok with islam so let them suffer.
You can go as far as to observe that islam is better for some societies than that they have without islam.
With rampant theft, AIDS rates and cannibalism in certain African countries islamic anti-gay and fidelity enforcement practices, cutting body parts of thiefs and halal codes are overall positive effect.

[Texas Fossil]

Yes, I posted the state department press release yesterday.

Situation Near Kirkuk, Iraq
Press Statement, Heather Nauert, Department Spokesperson, Washington, DC October 20, 2017
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2017/10/274980.htm

FR Comments: https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3597058/posts?page=1

[Texas Fossil]

Iran and their shia shills in Baghdad are taking over Iraq.

[Texas Fossil]

Thanks.

[PigRigger]

Yep... that about sums it up.

[dfwgator]

Iraq should have been broken up after we got rid of Saddam.

[GJones2]

> “Bottom line is every society has a government it deserves...”

Maybe in the long run, but a really efficient dictatorship can keep its people from having any say in the matter. (Even in the United States I often feel that I don’t deserve the government I have.)

> Socialists are bad for US but they are better than radical islam for the Middle East.

I agree.