|
The Kurds as Charlie Brown
19.1.2007
By Daniel Schorr |
|
|
|
The
loyalty of the Kurds of Kurdistan (northern Iraq) to
America has cost them plenty.
January 19, 2007
WASHINGTON - In 1973, President Nixon and
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had the CIA
instigate an uprising of the Kurds in northern Iraq
against Saddam Hussein. The United States walked
away from the rebellion when Mr. Hussein and the
Shah of Iran settled their differences, leaving the
Kurds to be decimated by a vengeful Hussein.
After the Gulf War over the Iraqi seizure of Kuwait
in 1990, President George H.W. Bush appealed to the
Kurds, as well as the Shiites in the south, to rise
up in rebellion against Hussein. Victorious in that
war, the US military permitted Hussein to retain his
helicopter gunships, which he used to mow down Kurds
and Shiites by the hundreds.
Tens of thousands died in reprisal killings.
Finally, US public opinion forced the administration
to establish "no-fly zones" to protect the two
populations.
Kurds' loyalty to America has cost them plenty. So
it is with a certain chutzpah that the current Bush
administration presumes to tell the presumably
autonomous Kurds what relations they may entertain
with other countries of the region, including
America's enemy No. 1, Iran.
Now, under orders from President Bush, the US
military has conducted raids on Iranians, some of
whom carry Iranian passports, several of whom claim
to have been establishing an Iranian consulate in
Kurdistan.
The US military says they
had ties to Iran's
Revolutionary Guard.
The raids have taken on the proportions of an
offensive. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said
that increasing activity among these networks had
been noted, including transfer of sophisticated
weapons, presumably intended for the larger war.
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the US
was resisting an Iranian effort to establish its
hegemony throughout the region.
Significantly, the US has not had much help from the
Iraqi government in containing Iranian activity, and
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has paid a friendly
call on Iranian President Ahmadinejad in Tehran.
The Kurds appear to be finding themselves in an
arena of contest between the US and Iran for
dominance in the Middle East.
And once again, the Kurds are being stiffed by their
American friends.
* Daniel Schorr is a senior news analyst at
National Public Radio.
csmonitor com
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 