An Apparent Change on Kurd Autonomy

www.iht.com...

Self-rule timetable cited for decision; federal state at stake

The Bush administration has decided to let the semiautonomous Kurdish government remain as part of a newly sovereign Iraq despite warnings from Iraq's neighbors and many Iraqis not to divide the country into ethnic states[...]
The officials said that their new position on the Kurdish state was effectively dictated by the Nov. 15 accord with Iraqi leaders that established June 30 as the target date for Iraqi self-rule. Such a rapid timetable, they said, has left no time to change the identity of the Kurdish stronghold in the north, as many had originally wanted.

Intruiging, I had actually thought that this was the policy from the start. Why supress Kurdish nationalism, use it to give them an interest in the success of the iraqi state by tying their autonomy and self-actualization to the Iraqi State itself.

As an incorporated Kurdistan, they are 'buffered' from their traditional and powerful nemesis, the Turks, and any other 'outsiders', in exchange for cooperating with the arabs and other iraqis.

Administration and Iraqi officials insist that leaving the Kurdish autonomous region intact does not preclude Iraq's consolidating itself without ethnic states in the future when Iraq writes its constitution. Indeed, the Bush administration plans to continue to press Iraq not to divide itself permanently along ethnic lines, officials say.

Hopefully they can accomplish that, as a break up of the iraqi state will be disasterous, not 'oh iraq is a quagmire' disaster, but 'holy crud, the middle east just fell apart' disaster.

Some academic experts have suggested that Iraq should be divided into a Kurdish enclave in the north, a Sunni one in the center and a Shiite one in the south. But this idea has little support with the Iraqi Governing Council and none with the United States.
"You know what the largest Kurdish city in Iraq is?" Istrabadi asked. "It's Baghdad. It isn't like you could draw a line in Iraq and say the Kurds live here or the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, or the Turkmans or the Shiites or the Sunnis live there. In the supposedly Shiite south, there are a million Sunnis in Basra."

To show that they have their own 'character', here is the Kurdish Autonmy Flag, its the iraqi flag with the Sun, a symbol that the Kurds have adopted.


I'd be interested to hear what some of the poster here think about this 'charge of heart' on the part of the US admin.

The Turks are afraid of an independant Kurdistan since they have Kurdish areas that may want to break away and join the Kurdistan formed from Iraq. Since Turkey is a NATO ally, the U.S. has to be aware of their concerns I guess...

I think Iraq should become a federal country like the U.S. with sovereign states under a federal government, but I don't know if that will happen.

Very interesting that the Kurds has reminded quiet about the invasion and the war, while they, in their own has created a nice piece of haven away from the nightmares of war.

The last I read about US was adamant about their Independence and the Kurds even had their own vote on the matter for autonomy.

Now is very interesting also, that the lands they occupy are not theirs and they also know that they are rich in oil.

The whole division of Iraq is to bring some bad vibes around the world.

I remember back in the pre-invasion, that one of the President's advisor's Chalabi had in mind the division of Iraq, to Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds but also included a take over by oil base companies the areas to be exploited for oil. That included Texaco, Chevron and others, after the privatization of their oil.

Funny how willing the administration now about the Kurds autonomy, soon the Sunnis will scream autonomy also.

marg, the U.S. has never advocated a totally independant Kurdistan.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
marg, the U.S. has never advocated a totally independant Kurdistan.

Yes you are right, but the Kurdish people have their own plans in mind not matter what the new Iaqi government or the US will do.

And they are in the planning with their military, also, (trained by the US occurs) to protect their new found borders and occurs when they tell the world that they voted (between themselves) for autonomy they will protect their borders with their ready military also.

Funny that with a such a well prepared military US did not ask them for help to keep the rest of Iraq in control.