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Michael Totten on the "Dream City" of Kurdistan
ERBIL, IRAQ Kurdistan is a place of the mind. It doesnt exist on any maps unless the maps are made by the Kurds. Southern Kurdistan is known to the rest of the world as Northern Iraq. Northern Kurdistan is described as Eastern Turkey. Southwestern Kurdistan is Northeastern Syria. And Southeastern Kurdistan is Northwestern Iran.In no country are Kurds closer to realizing their dream of freedom and independence than they are in Iraq. They are wrapping up the finishing touches on their de-facto sovereign state-within-a-state, a fact on the ground that will not easily be undone. And theyre transforming the hideously decrepit physical environment left to them by Saddam Hussein a broken place that is terribly at odds with the Kurdistan in their hearts and in their minds into something beautiful and inspiring, the kind of place you might like to live in someday yourself. The heart of the new Kurdistan is soon to be known as the Dream City, a massive construction site going up on the outskirts of Erbil. . . . Follow the link for photos. It looks like the kind of thing people build when they believe life is getting better.
Posted by: Mike 2006-02-16 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=142843 |