|
Allowing Turkish bombings a dangerous
strategy
2.1.2008
|
|
|
|
January 2, 2008
Military stability in Iraq has been the Bush
administration's top priority for the past year, and
it's made undeniable progress.
That's why it struck us as needlessly provocative
when Washington let Turkey conduct two weeks of air
assaults against a small band of Turkish-Kurd PKK
guerrillas in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'.
The short-term expediency of calming Turkey after a
series of cross-border guerrilla raids instead puts
a longer-term priority – Iraqi Kurdish cooperation –
at risk. Iraqi Kurds unquestionably are America's
most dependable allies in Iraq and have been models
of security and prosperity for the rest of the
country.
Make no mistake, primary responsibility for halting
cross-border guerrilla attacks on Turkey falls on
Iraq's Kurdish leaders, who should have moved more
quickly to dismantle anti-Turkish guerrilla bases
and seal the border with U.S. help. When they failed
to do the job, Turkish forces moved in.
But in the months to come, Kurdish cooperation will
be crucial in U.S. efforts to ease the ethnic and
religious tensions that threaten the country's
stability. One of the biggest potential flash points
is the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, and Kurdish leaders,www.ekurd.net
with 250,000 Peshmurga
forces (Kurdistan forces) at their disposal, say
they are prepared to fight, if necessary, to win
control of it.
As retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey noted in a newly
released study, only gentle persuasion and careful
application of U.S. influence can keep the Kurds in
line. "The war-after-next will be the war of the
Iraqi Arabs against the Kurds – when Mosul as well
as Kirkuk and its giant oil basin" are absorbed "by
the nascent Kurdish state," he warned.
Instead of heeding such warnings, Washington shared
intelligence with Ankara and opened Iraq's air space
for Turkish warplanes. Kurds protested loudly, and
Massoud Barzani, the Kurdistan regional president,
pointedly snubbed Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice during her Dec. 18 visit to Iraq.
Iraq's Kurds are anxious to prove they are capable
of running their own affairs in hopes of achieving
eventual independence. By serving as hosts to
anti-Turkish guerrillas, they damage their own
reputation and diminish Western sympathy for their
cause.
At the same time,www.ekurd.net
Washington undermines
its own priorities – stabilizing Iraq and resolving
the big issues splitting the country's factions –
when it alienates the one truly dependable ally it
has in Iraq. Provoking Kurdish ire serves no one's
interests.
dallasnews com
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 