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| Iraq-Jordan |
| WHERE THE FIGHTING ISN’T |
| 2004-04-08 |
| AS violence in Iraq dominates the news, imagine a Middle Eastern country in which the government works in simple offices and spends its money on education, a state in which the prime minister still lives in his parents’ home and builds libraries instead of palaces. How about a Middle East in which young men and women study together at a university where no political party rules the campus, freedom of speech is encouraged and internet access is unrestricted. Try, if you can, to imagine a Middle Eastern population that regards America with respect and gratitude. It isn’t a dream. It’s a reality. Welcome to free Kurdistan. As my former comrades in the military struggled against terror and violent rebellion in central and southern Iraq, I was embarrassingly safe in the same country. While mortar rounds were landing in Baghdad and our military displayed its power and resolve in Fallujah, I was sweating in a traffic jam. It was a great traffic jam. In this case, it was a sign of the economic progress the Kurdis have been making. And the only "terrorist" is the occasional lousy driver. People walk the streets and live their lives without fear. And women aren’t attacked for dressing as they choose. The Kurdish capital city of Suleimaniye can seem like a giant construction site. But in place of the corruption that plagues development elsewhere in the region, much of the work is done under rigorous government-private sector partnerships. The Kurds are even implementing zoning codes and thinking about the environment. Anyone who has ever been to the Middle East knows that this is just short of a miracle. The prime minister, Dr. Barham Salih, doesn’t fit the pattern either. Instead of fearing him or hating him, the people love him - he’s the closest thing Kurdistan has to a matinee idol. And instead of using his popularity to enrich himself or establish a ruling dynasty, he’s encouraging democracy. (He’s even had a kebab shop named after him. I’m still waiting for Bush Burgers in D.C.) The University of Suleimaniye, devastated by Saddam, has been rebuilt and now has over 7,000 students. And they’re a lively bunch - serious, hardworking and, most important, full of probing questions. Female students can choose for themselves whether or not to wear headscarves. Most choose not to - but everyone respects everyone else - and they all sit and study together. American parents of college-age sons and daughters could only envy the intensity and hunger with which these young people pursue education. Go to that university and, instead of hearing anti-American protests, you’ll hear how the 101st Airborne Division got their Dell computers through to them, red tape be damned. On how many campuses in the world do the students regard an American general (in this case, Maj. Gen. Dave Petraeus) as a hero? The United Nations stole the money the Kurds should have received under Saddam. Now, the United States has redirected the remaining Oil-for-Food funds and the Kurds are using them with an efficiency never before seen in the region. Astonishingly, the money is really going to the people. Instead of the U.N.’s outdated, overpriced medicine, the Kurds can now bargain hard in the marketplace for the goods the people desperately need. Most importantly, instead of succumbing to the culture of blame that plagues the Middle East, the Kurds have gone to work to build a better future. Their country is still very poor. But it’s free. And freedom really does work. Business is encouraged, the government stresses the future, not the past, and the leaders are trying their best to work constructively with old enemies. De- spite horrific suffering in the recent past, the leaders are hopeful, not vengeful. They know that a unified Iraq may not work - but they’re determined that the failure will not be their fault. And they cherish freedom. Isn’t this what we claim we want in the Middle East? At a time when elements within both Sunni Arab and Shi’a Arab Iraqi society are trying to kill the Americans who liberated their country and when there is no sense of gratitude for our sacrifices, how can the Bush administration fail to grasp that the future of the region lies in what the Kurds have done successfully, not in the Arab cult of failure? The Kurds are far from perfect. So are we. We’re all human. But this small people deserves our respect and support - no matter what else happens in Iraq. If we truly want to help spread freedom, we have to start by backing those who have made freedom work - against tremendous odds. Almost 100 years ago, Lincoln Steffens, an American charlatan, returned from the brand-new Soviet Union. Disembarking from his ship on a New York City pier, he told a great lie. A radical socialist, he said, "I have seen the future, and it works." I hope I’m more honest than Steffens was, but I’ll paraphrase his words and say, "I’ve seen what the future of the Middle East could be. And we should all hope to God that it works." Ralph Peters is the author of "Beyond Baghdad: Postmodern War and Peace." |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #12 Continue to let the Kurds amass monetary wealth and political influence. While Shiite and Sunni insurgents decimate their own populations, cities and internal economies, the Kurds will merely gain even greater preeminence. All the better for whatever pluralistic government rises from Iraq's ashes. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-08 9:13:24 PM |
| #11 . OTOH an independent Kurdistan that included Kirkuk is A. Subject to an ongoing intifidah by non-Kurds (Turkmen, Sunni Arabs, and Assyrian Christians) in Kirkuk. B. Reliant on US protection from a. Turkey b. Rest of Iraq Though I suspect Kirkuk would get pacified rather quickly and brutally, I have to agree with the rest, especially wrt Turkey. Talk about reviving 'Byzantine'! I'd also add Iran to the mix. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-04-08 8:50:58 PM |
| #10 Agreed with LH. BTW when was the last non-voluntary, 3rd party controlled partition? I would guess it was someplace in Africa in the early 60's. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-08 4:02:19 PM |
| #9 Les arguments against a Kurdish state 1. Breaking up Iraq, will be seen across the arab world as against their interests, and will confirm what the antiamericans are saying, that this was an invasion to break up an arab country. IF you think that we need to worry about arab hearts and minds, this is a big consideration. If not, not. 2. Pulling the Kurds, the most democratic and secular element, out of Iraq, substantially increases the odds that the rest of Iraq will end up as neither secular nor democratic. IF you still think the project of establishing Iraqi democracy is viable, this is a big issue. If not, not. 3. What borders for kurdistan??? Kurdistan with only the 3 governorates that were under Kurdish control prior to Op Iraqi Freedom is A. Weak economically and B. Unable to protect the interests of fellow Kurds in Kirkuk. OTOH an independent Kurdistan that included Kirkuk is A. Subject to an ongoing intifidah by non-Kurds (Turkmen, Sunni Arabs, and Assyrian Christians) in Kirkuk. B. Reliant on US protection from a. Turkey b. Rest of Iraq All in all, from the US POV, its a big mess, and worth going for only as a last resort, and questionable even then. The best answer is to have the Kurds INSIDE Iraq, remaking Iraq in their image. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-04-08 3:22:25 PM |
| #8 .com---that thing with Kerry and the dems is EXACTLY what I fear most. They do that with everything. Like in civil engineering with cut and fill, you take off the hill and put it in the hole and everything is average. The LLL takes off the top down to the level of the hole and then walks away. /analogy |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-04-08 3:11:58 PM |
| #7 Be it ethnically or linguistically the Kurds aren't emparented with Arabs or Turks so why should they live under Arab or Turkish domination? |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-04-08 2:48:22 PM |
| #6 ex-lib - You bet they would, a perfect "Arab" response, in fact. AP - I hope you're right about Dubya, but first we have to get him re-elected. Prez Skeery would echo the Arab response ex-lib points out, and prolly propose a "busing" type of policy: drag everyone down to the Lowest Common Denominator, rather than make the Arabs clean up their own mess. Just opinion based upon Donk history. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-08 2:26:57 PM |
| #5 This ppl deserve there own country,we should really give them one. |
| Posted by: djohn66 2004-04-08 2:23:52 PM |
| #4 It is gratifying to see what the Kurds have done, even when they were only getting protection from the no-fly zones in the 90s. I have real problems with people who give their kids scalp wounds that cause bleeding all over (the Shiites). In most of the world, this is child abuse and the law would be all over you for doing it. That is only one symptom of that sick society. My intuition says that we are giving Iraq our best effort at having representative constitutional government (democracy is the wrong word and is misused). It is an uphill battle. But if the Sunnis and Shiites cannot get their sh-t together, partition will take place. GW is not going to walk away from the Kurds. They are achieving what we are setting out to do in all of Iraq. If the Iraqis want a better life, they better starting choosing sides and run the Riff-Raff Rat Club out of town. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-04-08 2:22:14 PM |
| #3 Great post, tipper. Right on, .com. I've always liked the Kurds, generally speaking. They will do a lot better if they're self-governed--but then, wouldn' t the Arab whackos just get jealous and accuse them of stealing Iraqi "wealth" and prosperity? |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-04-08 2:13:48 PM |
| #2 I wonder if Murat or Aris would welcome an independent Kurdish state? What would the argument against a Kurdish state be? |
| Posted by: Les Nessman 2004-04-08 1:39:33 PM |
| #1 Cut these people loose from the Arabs. Freedom. They get it and they obviously know what to do with it. The difference between the Kurds and the Iraqi Arabs defines stark. As a whole, the Arabs are perverse freaks of nature. They manage to combine a wide range of self-defeating and dead-end traits into a confabulation of blame and chronic self-cuckoldry -- a singular regression of the human condition -- and this they call their society. The Iraqi Arabs, again as a whole, sadly meet the Arab "standard" as defined. The exceptions, and we know there are, indeed, outstanding examples - should leave. Go North, young man, go North! As for the rest, just recall the picture of their outstanding "moderate" "leader" Sistani. He lives in the Caliphate of his mind. He defines insane. Chalabi? He's one of the more successful schemers of our age - and defines untrustworthy and duplicitous. The rest of the GC? Others, such as the Tribal Leaders? Is there a Jefferson or Washington in the lot? Is there a Saddam or ten? Partition. Forcing the Kurds to wait for the Iraqi Arabs to get a clue, much less change, is akin to shackling them to mankind's lepers. Cut them loose. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-08 1:06:59 PM |