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Bush plan may bring thousands of Kurds to
battle in Baghdad
14.1.2007 |
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Bush plan would add Kurds to civil war mix. Many
fear deploying Kurdistani troops to the capital
would expand the conflict between Shiite and Sunni
Arabs. If America and the Arabs aren't able to stop
Sunnis and Shiites from killing each other
indiscriminately, then what use will it be to send
in our Kurdish forces?
January 14, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- Already a dangerous battleground
for an array of forces, Baghdad soon could be
flooded with another volatile element: thousands of
Kurds from Kurdistan region (northern Iraq).
As part of President Bush's new strategy for Iraq,
8,000 to 10,000 Iraqi troops will deploy to Baghdad
in the coming weeks, American and Iraqi officials
said, and as many as 3,600 could be Kurds. It would
be the first time such a large number of Kurdish
forces have been sent to the capital.
The impending deployment has raised fears among
Kurds, most of whom live in a protected autonomous
'Kurdistan' enclave, that they are being dragged
more directly into Iraq's bloody and complex civil
war.
Most of the fighting in Iraq is between Shiite and
Sunni Arabs, but Kurds, most of whom are Sunni
Muslims, fear that could change if they are seen as
players in the country's main struggle.
"I don't think it's wise," said Mahmoud Othman, a
Kurdish lawmaker in Baghdad. "This is a Sunni-Shiite
conflict."
Most Kurdish troops are not acquainted with Baghdad,
many speak neither Arabic nor English, and their
participation could create an even deeper conflict
between Kurds and Arabs, he said.
Large numbers of Kurds mix with Arabs in the Kirkuk
and Mosul areas of northern Iraq, and a small number
live in the capital, but Arab politicians also
question the wisdom of bringing Kurdish soldiers
into the conflict.
"I advise the Kurdish people to apply pressure on
their leaders to prevent this step," said Mohammed
Daini, a lawmaker with a major Sunni bloc. Kurdish
forces, he said, "will face firm resistance from
both the Sunnis and the Shiites."
Sheik Abdul Razzaq Naddawi, an aide to anti-American
Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, agreed that Kurdish
troops would not be welcome.
"The Kurds, frankly speaking, consider themselves
superior to other Iraqis," he said. "Would they
allow troops from the middle or the south to arrive
in Kurdistan?" he asked. "Their borders are closed,
and they are practically independent."
The idea of using Kurdish troops to quell violence
in both Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods of Baghdad
originated in backroom talks among the country's
main power brokers. With a chance to live their
dream of autonomy, Kurdish lawmakers were extremely
reluctant to take part in the plan. But Iraqi
officials as well as U.S. military and political
officials argued that if they failed to participate,
it would show their lack of commitment to the
nation.
Word of the planned deployment took Kurds by
surprise. In their small but prospering northern
enclave, they shook their heads over the prospect of
getting involved in a conflict that has bedeviled
the most powerful army on Earth.
"If America and the Arabs aren't able to stop Sunnis
and Shiites from killing each other
indiscriminately, then what use will it be to send
in our forces?" asked one Kurd in an online forum.
"We do not need to have our young men getting killed
in a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites," read
another posting.
"They are both our enemies."
Allegiances and neutrality
The Iraqi government has planned for a 50% troop
increase in Baghdad, adding the equivalent of an
entire division. U.S. and Iraqi officials say two or
three predominantly Kurdish brigades will
participate.
A U.S. advisor to the Iraqi Defense Ministry
acknowledged that language was a concern, but said
the problem would be mitigated by the mix of Arab,
Kurdish and American troops in Baghdad.
Politicians in favor of the deployment say Kurdish
troops are more impartial than security forces
currently in the capital.
Khaliq Zenghana, a Kurdish lawmaker, suggested that
Kurdish forces could help protect ministries and
government institutions, now mostly run as fiefdoms
by sectarian militias.
"The Kurds are neutral in that we do not concern
ourselves with the Sunnis or Shiites," he said.
"That must be understood by the Arabs here in
Baghdad: We do not want to come to protect a
neighborhood over another one."
However, many Kurdish soldiers are loyal first to
leaders of their own ethnic group, even if they wear
the uniform of the national army.
The late Saddam Hussein's regime oppressed the
Kurds, killing thousands in a military campaign and
sowing division between Kurds and Arabs. After the
1991 Persian Gulf War, the U.S. enforced a no-fly
zone over semiautonomous Kurdistan.
Although most Kurds are Sunni, they have been
natural allies of the Shiites, with both groups
fighting Hussein's Sunni
Arab-dominated army.
After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the historic
mistrust between Kurds and Arabs deepened as
political groups fought over resources and
government posts. Sunni Arabs complained of
heavy-handed tactics by Kurdish soldiers who took
part in offensives against insurgents in Tall Afar
and Fallouja. Also, Kurds and Arabs are locked in a
dispute over the future of the oil-rich northern
city of Kirkuk.
In Kirkuk, as well as Mosul, Kurdish soldiers wear
Kurdish insignia on their Iraqi army uniforms and
openly proclaim their desire to annex these
ethnically mixed cities to their Kurdish region
farther north.
Calling on the militia
Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki have
promised that Iraqi security forces will go after
Sunni and Shiite gunmen alike. Until now, however,
the Shiite-dominated security forces have focused
mostly on capturing Sunnis.
The allegiance of Shiite soldiers and policemen
often lies with sectarian rather than national
leaders. Renegade Shiite security forces have
tortured and killed Sunni civilians. Sunni rebels,
for their part, have hunkered down in certain
neighborhoods, also menacing civilians and fighting
off the security forces.
Kurdish officials said that the Americans also have
asked for the participation of the Kurdish militia,
known as peshmerga, but the request was still being
debated in the regional parliament.
Concern about the possible participation of the
peshmerga already has been expressed within Sadr's
Al Mahdi militia.
"They are doing a good job inside Kurdistan, so they
should stay there," said one militiaman who
identified himself only as Abu Karrar.
Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed Askari said the
army brigades coming to Baghdad would answer to
Iraqi army commanders rather than militia leaders.
Far from the civil war raging in Baghdad, residents
in the quiet Kurdish city of Erbil were not
enthusiastic about the deployment.
"It's an Iraqi issue and Iraq contains all of us,
although I think this will cause problems for Kurds
and if there was any possible way not to
participate, I would prefer that," said Rezgar Taha,
34.
latimes com
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