[OldFriend]

It's not as simple as you would portray. I am not knowlegeable about the history of the area to answer your questions but your rant is rather ill informed since you obviously don't know the answers to your questions.

[retrokitten]

It's not as simple as you would portray. I am not knowlegeable about the history of the area to answer your questions but your rant is rather ill informed since you obviously don't know the answers to your questions.

I think it's pretty obvious that she doesn't know the answers and that's why she was asking the questions in the first place.

[Cordova Belle]

Dear OldFriend (and I say that sincerely):

About 2 months ago, I saw a half-hour TV special on the Kurds.

A young woman doctor, a native Kurd, took an American news crew on a tour of the city that the Kurds have built for themselves (I'm sorry I can't remember the name, but it wasn't Kirkuk, of course) since the Gulf War. They discussed the gassing of the Kurds by Saddam, and also the all-out effort the Kurds have made in the last 12 years to rebuild their lives in Northern Iraq.

What I saw totally stunned me. I expected to see something like illiterate Bedouins in tents. The city was modern and amazing. The people were dressed in modern garb and seemed to be industrious and smart. It was a mind-opening moment. From that time on, I have believed wholeheartedly in self-determination for the Kurds, who by this account appeared to be courageous, determined, hard-working and wanting to be left alone to live their lives under their own governemnt. These weren't the backward or repressed people I expected.

I was asking the question (in what may have sounded like a "rant") most sincerely, and I'll ask it again:

Why should Turkey have anything to say about what happens to the Kurds or Kirkuk? IMHO, Turkey hasn't earned the right to have control over their destiny.