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2006-03-17 Iraq
Kurds Destroy Shrine in Rage at Leadership
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Posted by Steve White 2006-03-17 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11130 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Reading the Kurdish Media reports, this is what it appears to be. A spontaneous protest against corruption and (clan based) favoritism.
Posted by phil_b">phil_b  2006-03-17 00:19|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]  2006-03-17 00:19|| Front Page Top

#2 Inside, protesters poured propane from a can

Another example of clueless journalists and editors at the NYT. Propane is a gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, and hence cannot be poured.
Posted by phil_b">phil_b  2006-03-17 04:16|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]  2006-03-17 04:16|| Front Page Top

#3 Huh. I had been under the impression that Kurds might be a shining example of how not all Muslims are inherently violent self-destructive sub-human savages. Seems I may have been wrong.
Posted by Scooter McGruder 2006-03-17 05:10||   2006-03-17 05:10|| Front Page Top

#4 this is the first genuinly disturbing story to come out about the Kurds since the war started i think. This is indeed a dark event for Iraqs future unlike so many other bad events which are hyped by the media as 'the start or civil war' but alot of incidents like this could well upset the apple cart. A quick question- just how intergrated is the kurdish region with the rest of Iraq, is it getting more distant and seperate or is it just the media loathe to mention the success story that has been the Kurdish area.
Posted by ShepUK 2006-03-17 05:48||   2006-03-17 05:48|| Front Page Top

#5 There has been very little decent reporting in the mainstream press about the internals of Kurdistan. Almost everything I've seen has been about the insurgency, the elections, the parliamentary wrangling, the "civil war". We don't know what led to this except in the broadest brush sense. Now that it has boiled over we'll probably get some of it, but not all.

After over a decade of involvement with Iraq now, these are definitely the good guys of the lot. I don't doubt for a minute they had their reasons, either, as intelligent people don't face down machine guns over trivia, and the Kurds have shown they're very intelligent. Fighting political machines and their inherent corruption is a time-honored American tradition, assuming the Times got that much right, at least.

Thank you, phil_b, for the link. That's an even better place to start. Just as with everything else, including here at home, I'll have dig and educate myself.
Posted by Flirt Ebboting9253 2006-03-17 06:08||   2006-03-17 06:08|| Front Page Top

#6 Hey at least it is over govt. corruption not a damn cartoon.
Posted by djohn66 2006-03-17 07:20||   2006-03-17 07:20|| Front Page Top

#7 I'm not sure this is a bad thing, aside, obviously, from the loss of life. Given enough time in office, all politicians become corrupt. Perhaps they'll follow this up with effective campaigning and action at the ballot box. At least they don't have to be worried about being gassed.
Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-03-17 07:48||   2006-03-17 07:48|| Front Page Top

#8 problem was, back when Saddam was in power, and liberated Kurdistan was under the protection of the no fly zones, the KDP and PUK, managed a peace by dividing the land into two subregions. KDP and PUK were former rebel groups, and this may have been a necessary step in their transition to political parties. As has been widely noted, their administration was orderly, stable, secular, and more or less open - no political prisoners, torture, etc. OTOH it wasnt really democratic, each party controlling its own zone, and I presume there was at least some corruption, if not out of the ballpark by third world standards.

Well, while supporting democratic politics nationally, the KDP and the PUK continue to exercise firm dominance in Kurdistan. And Kurdistan, much more so than the rest of Iraq, is prospering - which means more temptations for officials to extract corruption.

Hopefully the PUK and KDP will take this seriously.
Posted by liberalhawk 2006-03-17 09:08||   2006-03-17 09:08|| Front Page Top

#9 Someone needs to give them history books replete w/the lessons when the great unwashed doesn't get what they think is their "fair share."

Then they won't be surprised when the pitchforks are sharpened.

Posted by anonymous2u 2006-03-17 10:26||   2006-03-17 10:26|| Front Page Top

#10  their administration was orderly, stable, secular, and more or less open - no political prisoners, torture, etc. OTOH it wasnt really democratic, each party controlling its own zone
Yes it does sound like New York.
Posted by 6 2006-03-17 12:46||   2006-03-17 12:46|| Front Page Top

#11 Many Kurds have grown angry at what they view as the corruption and tyranny of the two dominant political parties here. They accuse their regional government of stealing donations gathered to help survivors of the poison gas attack.

The memorial's burning by the Kurds reminds me very little of the Amish who, when angered, burn down their own barns. Goodness knows that the Halabja memorial was probably built with diverted aid money so it did not have to come out of official pockets.

I doubt many of us, including myself, can truly imagine the staggering level of corruption in the region, much less the profound impact it has on daily lives. Graft and bribery literally keep these people suspended in the stone age. It warms the cockles of my heart to think that Iraqi sunnis are finding the shoe on the other foot.
Posted by Zenster 2006-03-17 14:56||   2006-03-17 14:56|| Front Page Top

#12 Many Kurds have grown angry at what they view as the corruption and tyranny of the two dominant political parties here. They accuse their regional government of stealing donations gathered to help survivors of the poison gas attack. The town's residents chose Thursday to close off the town's main road and rally against government corruption. When government guards fired weapons over the protesters' heads, the crowd went wild and attacked the monument.

The logic quite escapes me.
Posted by gromgoru 2006-03-17 19:31||   2006-03-17 19:31|| Front Page Top

#13 The logic quite escapes me.

gromgoru, think of the old saying, "you screw your friends because your enemies won't let you get close enough." Now, apply that same modus operendi to the shrine, merely a proximity factor at work.

Plus, if you think about it, here's this expensive building that essentially rubs their nose in commemorates a ghastly episode which left many still living in worse structures than that of the shrine. Sort of like the old t-shirts that say, "my folks got gassed went to Hawaii, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."
Posted by Zenster 2006-03-17 20:09||   2006-03-17 20:09|| Front Page Top

#14 I didnt' know that about the Amish, Zenster. That does show an admirable understanding of the difference between mine and thine, although burning down the barn is one heckuva temper tantrum.

I am confused, though: where did the Sunnis come from in the final paragraph?
Posted by trailing wife 2006-03-17 20:45||   2006-03-17 20:45|| Front Page Top

#15 I am confused, though: where did the Sunnis come from in the final paragraph?

It's about the Kurds protesting corruption and how the minority Sunnis who have caused so much grief and were responsible for so much of the official corruption are now on the receiving end from Shiites and Kurds alike. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.

Now, as to that "mad as a hatter" bit of diatribe dialogue in yesterday's "Life Was Better" thread (http://rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=145635&D=2006-03-16&HC=1), please retrieve it from the Rantburg Archives and then Google on these two words:

Dead + Parrot

[Big Grin]

Have a good weekend, trailing wife. I hope this leaves you with a smile.
Posted by Zenster 2006-03-17 21:12||   2006-03-17 21:12|| Front Page Top

#16 I've poured propane out of a vessel, but it was 50 below zero (C or F, it doesn't matter). Then light it and stand back! Once it gets some heat, it starts vaporizing and BOOSH! You have one hell of a fire!
Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul  2006-03-17 21:44||   2006-03-17 21:44|| Front Page Top

#17 Alaska Paul, this is why we keep you engineers isolated from the rest of humanity. ;-)

Aaaah, Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch. Got it, Zenster. Thanks!
Posted by trailing wife 2006-03-17 22:24||   2006-03-17 22:24|| Front Page Top

16:42 Bystander
16:00 Bystander
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12:25 Bystander
23:55 trailing wife
23:52 trailing wife
23:48 twobyfour
23:46 3dc
23:44 D Harris
23:40 DMFD
23:39 SteveS
23:38 trailing wife
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23:27 Grunter
23:23 Sherry
23:22 Duh!
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23:12 Duh!
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