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| Axis of Evil |
| U.S. troops are welcome in Kurdish-controlled region |
| 2003-01-31 |
| As American troops move into the Gulf and George W. Bush wags an angry finger at Saddam Hussain, a nervous euphoria is descending on the Kurds-controlled areas in northern Iraqi, the enclave protected by the "no-fly" zone and governed by Iraq's rebel Kurdistan Regional Government. The feeling is very different from that in Europe, where the American president is constantly being admonished for his "cowboy" tendencies. "Occupy us - please!" a Kurdish man on the street demands of an American visitor. Indeed, the main fear of Iraqi Kurds I spoke to is that Washington will not attack. "Iraqi officials warn us that Bush is all talk, that America will not invade," says Ismet Aguid, a former Iraqi foreign service officer. "But we remain optimistic." During their 12 years of freedom, the Kurdish, Turkmen and Assyrian inhabitants of this land have rebuilt most of the 4,000 villages Saddam's troops bombed and bulldozed into oblivion. They have also created at least the semblance of democracy, complete with elections and a representative parliament. They have laced the country with highways and transformed Sulaymaniya, Arbil and Dohuk into modern cities with multiple newspapers, traffic jams and omnipresent Internet cafes. The people are warm and well fed, thanks to the Iraqi-UN oil-for-food programme. But with Turkish tanks hovering above Dohuk, a militant group shelling Halabja and Saddam's troops patrolling their southern border, residents realise all too well how fragile their beautiful new world is. That's why they hope that the airstrip near Sulaymaniya will be put to use soon. The Kurds, world-class survivors, are planning for worst-case scenarios and working to stock emergency camps inside their borders. But they lack protective materials, medical supplies and the trained doctors who would be needed in case of chemical attack. We better maintain a tight air cap over this area because Sammy is just the kind of guy to drop chemical weapons on them before he goes down. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #5 They have reason to be nervous: The Merkins led them on, then left them out to dry after GW I. I will be highly annoyed if we let these people get shafted again. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-01-31 20:16:38 |
| #4 And let's not forget what the Turks did to Cyprus in 1974. They invaded, killed thousands, pushed 250,000 Greek Cypriots out of their homeland, and still occupy nearly 40 percent of the island. If we have such "allies," our enemies look paler by the day!! |
| Posted by: Brandon D. 2003-01-31 13:16:00 |
| #3 Kurds are our allies today. However, they have a history too. Part of that history includes persecution of the Assyrian Christian minority in their territory. Nothwithstanding this, the Kurds deserve nationhood far, far more than do the Palestinians. I'm told they would be happy with a federated state within the reformed Iraq nation. |
| Posted by: mhw 2003-01-31 12:51:03 |
| #2 As war looms, let's not forget what the Turks did to the Armenians and the Greeks between 1915 and 1922: they exterminated nearly 2 million people in total to meet the genocidal criteria of "New Turkey." They won't hesitate to do the same to the Kurds in northern Iraq, whom they see as a potential "destabilizing" threat. Under no circumstances this should be allowed to occur while U.S. troops are around. I am well aware of the strategic stakes involved, but the U.S. must not involve itself, even tacitly, to massive ethnic cleansing to accomodate our "friends," the Turkish generals. Let's not make Iraq a bigger, bloody mess than what it already is... If we allow the Turks to put the Kurds to the sword, we won't be all that far from Saddam's own "philosophy" of criminal power... The U.S. MUST NOT tolerate massacres. |
| Posted by: Marvin 2003-01-31 11:01:23 |
| #1 Amen to your final comment! I hope this consideration does not fall through the cracks of operational plannlng. |
| Posted by: Rifle308 2003-01-31 10:31:31 |