Bush failure: Iraqi Kurds Will Proclaim Independence in Case of Civil War

[Wordie]

The recent violence in the Kurdish area of Iraq has exposed yet another failure to plan for the aftermath of the invasion by the Bush team. The Kurds in the north have for generations dreamed of an independent homeland, an understandable goal. Yet a push for independence coming now, as a result of the ill-fated Bush occupation of Iraq, will only draw the entire region into further chaos, further damage US credibility and damage our relationship with Turkey, a secular Muslim democracy, a good ally in the region and NATO member. It would also further erode our hopes of ever "winning hearts and minds" in the Arab world, which is crucial to contain the recruiting efforts of the REAL terrorists, such as ObL.

Ethnic Kurds are found in the nations of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Armenia and Syria. The breakup of the old Ottoman empire led to a Western imposition of borders irrespective of the ethnic loyalties and natural divisions of the populations involved, much as done in the rest of the middle east, inevitably leading to innumerous difficulties and bloody struggles. If a civil war breaks out in Iraq, the instability could easily spill over into these other countries, drawing them all into a chaotic conflict that would ultimately be blamed on the US. This potential destabilization of the entire region is a direct result of the failure of the Iraq war, and in NO WAY serves the interests of the US.

A further distressing development are the recent reports that the Kurds have entered into a separate contract to build an airport in the Kurdish region of Iraq, which is considered a necessary pre-condition to independence.

The US media has paid little attention to this crucial aspect of the looming disaster in Iraq. It is time it did so, as this will affect all of us.

Note these recent comments by Massud Barzani, president of northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish zone, as reported by Assyrian International News Agency:

Iraqi Kurds Will Proclaim Independence in Case of Civil War

ANKARA -- ...

In an interview with Turkish television station NTV on a day of fresh bombings of Shiite mosques in Iraq, Barzani said an outbreak of civil war would force Iraqi Kurds to exercise the "right" to independence.

"May God save us from civil war, but if others start fighting among themselves and there is an outbreak, we will have no other alternative," he said.

He said that while independence was a "natural and legitimate right" for Iraqi Kurds, they would "at this stage" implement the country's new constitution in support of a "democratic federal and pluralist" Iraq.

Turkey fears a declaration of independence by Iraq's Kurds would inflame a rebellion by separatists within its own large Kurdish minority.

So, this is even worse than a quagmire in Iraq only. I don't see anyway out. If we stay, we're screwed; if we leave, we're screwed.