Thousands of Peshmerga drafted into army (32,000 Kurds drafted)

[ECH1969]

Iraqi Kurdistan is to bolster Iraqi army and interior ministry units by providing the beleaguered security forces 32,000 of its peshmerga fighters - a little more than half the elite militia, according to Kurd officials.

The remaining thirty thousand Kurdish troops will come under the control of a planned peshmerga ministry in the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan, said Mustafa Sayyed Qadir, deputy chief of units belonging to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK.

The move comes as the rival Kurdish administrations in Sulaimaniyah and Erbil prepare to unify. The election of Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, KDP, as president of Iraqi Kurdistan on June 12 paved the way for the two authorities to merge.

The continued presence of a peshmerga force has alarmed some Iraqis, especially Sunnis, who are concerned that it might be deployed by the Kurds in a future independence struggle. Plans to halve the militia have failed to allay these worries.

http://www.kurdishmedia.com/news.asp?id=7124

[meganmonkey]

1. I must be feeling optimistic today

because my first thought is that this seems to be a good sign that a civil war isn't inevitable. And that works against the RW claim that we can't leave or civil war will break out...

:shrug:

[mom cat]

2. Or it could mean more Kurds serving in non Kurdish areas of Iraq.

This could serve to increase ethnic tensions.
Sorry, but I just feel like stomping out optimism today!:evilgrin:

[meganmonkey]

4. You meanie!

:P

Naaah, I know there is more to this than I grasp, and there are several different factors between all the ethnic groups. But it was so unusual to have an optimistic thought I had to share it.
:+

[mom cat]

7. Sorry! I had to dump on somebody and you were there. It's all your

fault for standing under my manure truck.:evilgrin:
Actually, it may be some cause for hope, I'm just all hoped out.

[Niccolo_Macchiavelli]

3. naaa its to keep an eye on the sunni and shia divisions

on the iran venture

[bemildred]

5. The occupation is short of reliable, trained troops.

What other explanation do we need?

I don't know that it's a good idea, but there are not a lot of options left.

[meganmonkey]

6. Kick