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NYT's Tom Friedman's superb article on
Kurdistan
3.9.2007
By Bakhtiar Dargali - opinion
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September 3, 2007
New York, Bakhtiar Dargali, (ekurd.net), --
Tom Friedman from the NY Times
has hit the bull's eye dead center. Well maybe a
hair off the mark, but he's mostly right on. This is
an excellent article that captures the reality of
the situation in Kurdistan vs. the rest of Iraq. A
reality that Friedman points out has largely been
ignored by our government's fear of offending the
Turks, or offending the Arabs, or offending some
other bogeyman (who's in charge here?).
Friedman accuratenly sums up many of the glowing
positives that have been achieved here since 2003.
He sums up the truth of the Kurdistani leadership's
desire to work within Iraq as opposed to the common
American misconception that they are running head
over heels toward independence. He hits on the
background issues of cronyism and corruption here
(this at a time when the NYTimes two days earlier
ran an article titled, "U.S. Says Company Bribed
Officers for Work in Iraq."). And he also hits on
the only possible solution to save the rest of the
humpty-dumpty mess down south...a radical federalism
that only has the country loosely woven together.
Some highlights:
"The only sliver of optimism I find here is in the
one region where Iraqis don’t live together:
Kurdistan." (but actually they do live together as
Iraqis of all stripes - Christians, Arabs and Kurds
- are fleeing here from other parts of Iraq and
minorities of the other communities already live in
parts of the Region).
"But it is democratizing, gradually nurturing the
civil society and middle class needed for a real
democracy."
"Iraq is a disaster in so many ways, but at least
America’s invasion midwifed something really
impressive in Kurdistan. And in the best way: we
created the opening and the Kurds did the rest."
"We have to thank the American people and
government. But we are a lover from only one side.
We love America, but nothing in response. They don’t
want to give the perception that they are helping
us.” - Nechirvan Barzani, KRG Prime Minister
"Why is Kurdistan America’s best-kept secret
success? Because the Bush team is afraid the Kurds
will break away. But the Kurds have no interest in
splitting from Iraq now."
"Iraq’s only hope is radical federalism — with
Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds each running their own
affairs, and Baghdad serving as an A.T.M.,
dispensing cash for all three."
I've been saying a lot of these things for a long
time. Let's see if anyone in Washington pays any
attention to this!!
Bakhtiar Dargali, a Kurdish contributing writer
in USA, You may reach the author via email at:
Bdargali (a) esei.net
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