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Three Suggestions For How To Improve
Matters in Iraqi Kurdistan
6.3.2007
By Ashley Bommer |
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March 6, 2007
UNITED NATIONS ,-- Kurdistan is a mystery to
most of the world. Say that you are going to
Kurdistan. Most people may ask if you will be seeing
Borat, the over-the-top, fictional character from
Kazakhstan.
But say that you are going to Northern Iraq, what
the nation’s neighbors, Turkey and Iran, call
Kurdistan. People will ask "why?" followed by a grim
"be safe."
True, the Kurds of Iraq have been cursed by history.
With a population of over four million, under Saddam
Hussein's brutal regime, thousands were poisoned by
gas, millions were driven from their homes, and more
than 3,000 of their villages were razed.
Now, in the midst of war, history should pay careful
attention to what may happen next. The danger
Kurdistan faces is overwhelming.
Their peripheral region falls between two hostile
capitals, Ankara and Tehran. Below, what is now
known as the world’s deadliest capital -- Baghdad.
In the middle of a political earthquake, what can
Kurdistan possibly do to keep from being buried
alive?
Above all, Kurdistan must protect its security.
Driving through checkpoints and military posts, the
reminder of what once had happened -- and what could
happen again -- lingers thick.
But instead of mobilizing for their own protection,
they are being told by the U.S. Commanding General
in Baghdad to send their local forces, the
peshmergas, known as one of the best fighting forces
in the world, to Baghdad to fight a sectarian war.
The Kurdistan Regional Government is willing to
protect American forces, but a smarter solution
would be to use the peshmergas as a Rapid Reaction
Force in Northern Iraq.
In November 2005, when US troops were in trouble in
Mosul, President Barzani sent 5,000 peshmergas
within one hour to help.
Rapid Reaction in Northern Iraq and along their
frontier border towns -- including Kirkuk, Mosul and
Diyala -- is where they are most effective, not as
permanent deployments in Baghdad.
Second, establish and maintain a political dialogue
which will create benchmarks with Ankara. Right now
if you ask the Iraqi Kurds who is their biggest
problem -- the Turks or the Arabs -- the almost
unanimous response is the Turks.
The reason: years of suspicion, distrust, and
conflicts over hot button issues such as oilfields,
the status of Kirkuk, the PKK (the armed political
movement of the Kurds that the US Government
classifies as a terrorist organization) and
Kurdistan's unknown future independence.
Before these conflicts destroy Kurdistan and
Turkey's hope for a cooperative trade agreement and
future, a dialogue leading to agreements on trade,
Kirkuk and the PKK, between the two governments is
necessary.
Lastly, but no less critical, the promotion of
foreign direct investment and trade with the rest of
the world. The Kurdistan Regional Government should
invite Heads of Government and US Members of
Congress to their capital, Erbil, to visit.
They should encourage and actively recruit business
and hotel leaders to come as well. To generate
economic growth, they should consider making
Kurdistan a free economic zone. The zone concept
based on low tariffs, tax holidays, and other
investment incentives could be an important
component of their strategy.
According to the Kurdistan Regional Government,
already over 300 Turkish companies have come to
Kurdistan, generating over a billion in foreign
direct investment. More initiatives to bring in
further foreign direct investment are needed.
The world can and will be quietly charmed by
Kurdistan. An autonomous region that prides itself
on learning -- so much so that there is a quill on
their flag to symbolize education -- Kurdistan's
leaders are visionary and reflective.
And their people, the Iraqi Kurds, are hard working
and proud. The food is fresh, especially the
sinfully sweet honeycomb, and the hospitality is
unrivaled. If only more people would go and share a
meal with them.
With daily flights to Irbil from Istanbul, and four
flights a week from Amman; Kurdistan is not
impossible to get to. And under the "if you build
it, they will come," motto, the Iraqi Kurds are
actively preparing to welcome foreign visitors.
Driving from the airport to the city, you feel like
you have discovered Northern Iraq's version of
Pudong (the futuristic city outside of Shanghai).
New construction, apartments, and freshly planted
trees line the drive like dominos.
The road ahead won't be easy. Kurdistan's long term
strategy lies upon the Kurdistan Regional Government
and the Iraqi Kurds's willingness to focus on the
future, rather than the past.
Not many people can overcome years of oppression,
terror, and war -- and head to the negotiating table
-- but Iraqi Kurds are peshmergas as well as
attentive students.
What seems like a quagmire to most, can most
certainly bear an opportunity to them.
Ashley Bommer is Chief of Staff to Ambassador
Richard Holbrooke, Vice Chairman of Perseus, a
leading private equity firm. She works alongside him
in his capacity as former U. S. Ambassador to the
UN; Chairman of the U.S. Academy in Berlin;
President and CEO of the Global Business Coalition,
the business alliance against HIV/AIDS; Chairman of
the Asia Society; and Chairman of Special Olympics
2009. She was a Carnegie Council New Leader
(2005-2006) and worked at the U.S. Mission to the
United Nations during the Clinton Administration.
Ashley Bommer is a Contributor to MaximsNews.com, An
Independent Voice from the United Nations.
UN | maximsnews com
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