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U.S. and the Kurds. Washington has
forgotten them
13.8.2007
By Zvi Bar'el
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August
13, 2007
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region (Iraq), --
It began as a natural alliance, a political love
affair. But after four years of American presence in
Iraq, the amicable dialogue between the U.S. and the
Iraqi Kurds is growing increasingly discordant.
Beyond the culture gap, Iraqi Kurdistan is beginning
to feel betrayed by its American allies.
"Between you and me, no one beats the Americans when
it comes to rudeness and sheer gall," my driver
comments, upon seeing a convoy of four cars without
license plates ahead of us on the road from
Sulaimaniyah to Erbil - the capital of Iraqi
Kurdistan. "Look at their driving," he says. The
last car, acting as a rear guard, keeps other cars
from bypassing.
The convoy leader, meanwhile, pushes the cars ahead
of the convoy off the road, to the shoulder. |
Zvi Bar'el |
Etiquette, however, is the least of the Kurds'
grievances. Senior politicians and opinion-shapers
in the Kurdish community generally agree that the
Americans were once valuable allies in the fight
against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. They
also agree that the Americans are starting to turn
their backs on the Kurds' cause.
The latest example of this was seen in the words of
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rica. Referring
to the rights of the Iraqi Kurds, Rice said that the
Kurds' best security guarantee comes not from the
United States, but from the Iraqi constitution.
The Kurds - along with the warring Sunni and Shi'ite
factions - are quite certain that Iraq is no longer
a unified entity.
"There is a civil war going on, but no one will
admit to it," a party newspaper editor tells me.
"We're all pretending in order to gain favors from
[U.S. President George] Bush."
The journalist explains that Kurds cannot travel to
Iraq's other districts. "The Shi'ites have their own
standing army, and the Kurds too. And that's in
addition to all the private militias."
The Kurds dream of seceding, but this is unlikely to
happen. Any sign of Kurdish independence triggers a
Turkish, Iranian and Syrian backlash. Tehran,
Istanbul and Damascus are afraid of an Iraqi
precedent that would agitate their domestic Kurdish
communities.
And so, Washington is striving to make Kurdistan
dependent on the Iraqi government and neighboring
countries by withholding assistance for a separate
Kurdish industrial infrastructure. The assumption is
that the Kurds will accept this and not revolt.
haaretz com
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