|
Kurds Show Path To Success in Iraq
31.7.2006 |
|
|
|
Did you know there is a
vast region of Iraq where no U.S. troops have been
killed, enemy terrorist activity has been
negligible, there are few U.S. troops deployed, it
is safe for Westerners to walk the streets, new
business investment is taking off and there is a
stable, democratic government providing more than
adequately for the regions security? The good — no,
make that outstanding — news from Kurdistan is that
life in the northern Iraqi region is well on the way
to normalcy. It’s not your fault for not knowing.
The relentlessly negative Western media have not
told the Kurds’ story.
This is the same region whose people Saddam Hussein
tried to wipe off the face of the Earth. His regime
murdered some 200,000 Kurds with new-fangled
chemical weapons and old-fashioned thuggery. After
the first Gulf War and the debacle in which the
first President Bush failed to provide protection
against Saddam’s helicopter squadrons, the Kurds
recovered and began to rebuild their society under
cover of a U.S. and Coalition-enforced “no-fly
zone.” But fear of Saddam’s regime still was a
powerful dampening force.
When the U.S. invasion of Iraq came in 2003, Kurds
joined with U.S. forces to topple Saddam. Today they
tightly control their own regional border, mostly
keeping out foreign terrorists who can more easily
penetrate Iraq’s larger border and make their way to
Baghdad to wreak havoc. The rebuilding process in
Kurdistan is going so well that some of the region’s
leaders now are engaged in an economic development
and “thank-you” tour of the United States.
The Kurds’ desire for complete independence is, of
course, a well-known and tragic story. During the
past century, they’ve found themselves under the
often brutal rule of Turkey, Syria, Iran and
Saddam’s Iraq. But they’ve made the pragmatic choice
to participate in the new Iraqi government, because
they are in a pretty rough corner of the globe.
Their formula for success is pretty simple: Secure
their borders and keep out terrorists, push as many
governance decisions to the local level as possible,
and promote economic development.
Their message to the United States: Stay the course.
Provide to Baghdad and other trouble spots the same
security umbrella that made Kurdistan’s success over
more than a decade possible. Secure borders, one
province at a time, until foreign terrorists are
swept out. Don’t try to apply a TV-episode,
video-game attention span to a security and
rebuilding effort that will take years. It is good
advice for success — from a region of Iraq where
success seems to be occurring.
theintelligencer net
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 