Kurdish leader threatens Iraq secession

[ECH1969]

The leader of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq threatened secession Sunday as a dispute over flying the Iraqi flag intensified.

Massoud Barzani on Friday ordered the country's national flag to be replaced with the Kurdish one, sparking harsh words in Baghdad.

"If we want to separate, we will do it, without hesitation or fears," Barzani, president of the Kurdish region, said during an address to parliament.

On Saturday, Sunni Arab lawmaker Saleh al-Mutlaq slammed Barzani's decision. "What will be taken by force today, will be returned by force another day," he said, without elaborating. "We can defend our dignity, our people and our land ... and no one should be under the illusion that he could take a tiny bit of somebody else's land."

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/15434106.htm

[acmavm]

1. Wow, now they're all gonna go at each other. Move over Sunnis and

Shi'ites, make way for he Kurds.

[Disturbed]

3. The Kurds are becoming more strident in their bid for

Independence. Turkey and Iran won't be accomodating to an Indpendent Kurdish Nation. What will the Busholini Regime do about an actual Kurdish split from the forced unity of an Iraqi Nation?

It seems that the Shi'ites in Southern Iraq may also be moving toward their own autonomy. I feel a three way split of Iraq will soon be a reality, as I predicted years ago.

[tocqueville]

5. If Barzani is smart he'll make a deal with the Iranians

Against a no claim of the Kurdish part in Iran (which is quite little), he can have a separate peace with Iran.
That would be a great advantage for the Irani because Kurdistan has a geostrategic function being "the missing link" for the transport of material to Syria. That way the "local influence" Irani empire could stretch down to Lebanon with unhindered transport routes. BTW I think that the Hezbollah got their stuff from Iran through Kurdistan.

Being independent, Iran can then pump in weapons into Kurdistan, which makes a Turkish attack more improbable as long as the situation isn't too bad inside Turkey (that's the big question).

All that puts the US troops into a strategic nightmare if the Shiites cut the retreat towards the South.

[wellst0nev0ter]

13. Barzani's Father Was Stabbed In The Back Making Similar Deals

with the Iranians back in the 70's. Eventually, then Vice President Saddam Hussein made a pact with Iran demarcating a border around Basra (under Kissinger's auspices) and in return the Shah put down the Kurdish rebellion that was plaguing Iraq at the time, forcing Mustapha Barzani to die of cancer in exile. I think this time Mahmoud Barzani isn't going to trust anyone but his own people.

[w4rma]

2. This was predicted well before the neo-cons started this mess. (nt)

[bemildred]

4. Gee, who could have predicted this?

:thumbsup:

[krispos42]

6. Nobody in the Bush Administration, at least.

The powerful polarizing lenses that the GOPers wear precludes such elementry deductions. Franky, I am shocked that the people with the W'04 stickers can operate the motor vehicle it is attached to. I mean, God and laisee-fair economics don't generally substitute for proper application of power, breaking, and turning.

A catagory 5 hurricane sweeps past New Orleans, pushing a wave of water into Lake Poncatrain. The levies burst, NOLA is flooded. Nope, not a clue.

Tax cuts for the rich won't help the national debt or anybody else. Nope, not a clue.

Not allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices of drugs won't help the federal budget. Nope, not a clue.

Favoring religious teaching over scientific teaching will result in a loss of America's status as an advanced nation. Nope, not a clue.

Favoring religious dogma in place of scientific evidence regarding global warming will result in coastal flooding at the same time America's population is increasingly living within miles of the ocean. Nope, not a clue.

"Bin Laden Determined to Strike In U.S.". Nope, not a clue.

Invading a country for made-up reasons might make it's citizens angry at us. Nope, not a clue.

Invading a country for made-up reasons might my OUR citicen's angry at Bush. Nope, not a clue.

Invading an oil-producing country in a volitile oil-producing reagion for made up reasons might make oil prices skyrocket. Nope, not a clue.

Electing a 4th generation oil man and his father's oil buddies to the Presidency might lead to high gas prices and record oil company profits. Nope, not a clue.

<on edit, fixed some spelling mistakes. Not all, but I don't know how to spell that lake's name lol>

[sofa king]

15. Nobody could have predicted the ants raiding the picnic.

Sovereignty is their ultimate objective and everyone knows it. Therefore, it seems that their best chance to make a move is at a time when their enemies (meaning everyone in the region, including some factions of the Kurds themselves) are all at their weakest, and the best opportunity might well come if America invades Iran. At that point, only Turkey would be able to fully concentrate against them, and what do you know, the Turks were bombing the crap out of the Kurds just last week, weren't they?

Do they maybe know something we don't?

[AlCzervik]

7. oooooo, didn't see this coming

:sarcasm:

[ShockediSay]

8. divide Iraq into 3 equitable pieces (as Lawrence of Arabia suggested

a long time ago - - in so many words) and split.

[Teaser]

9. and tell the sunni's to eat sand

cause they ain't got no oil in their piece.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. Yup.

Of course, they'll all fight about it when the division is made; but I think it's the best we can do with this mess we've made.

[ktlyon]

18. the only solution I see is to split

[IndianaGreen]

10. Well let's see, who will strike first? Turkey? Shias? Sunis? Iran?

All four of them?

[Phredicles]

11. Add Turkey to the list of allies we've pissed off...

[eccles12]

14. Why can't the Kurds take a tiny bit of somebody else's land? Israel has

done it for years and with no consequences from so-called civilized democracies.

[alfredo]

16. If that Happens, Turkey will invade.

Turkey worries that an independent Kurdistan will use oil money to fund Kurdish rebels in Turkey.

[bemildred]

17. Turkish Min Says Flying Kurdish Flag In N Iraq Dangerous

ISTANBUL (AP)--Turkey's foreign minister warned the leader of the Kurdish region in the north of Iraq Monday that his decision to replace the Iraqi flag with the Kurdish one was dangerous.

Abdullah Gul also said the Iraqi government had to take action against the order given by Massoud Barzani, which was interpreted by many as a symbolic step toward the separation of the Kurdish region from the rest of the country.

"Those who are doing this must see how dangerous this course is," Gul said in an interview with private NTV television. "If Iraq is willing to accept a flag that is not its own to fly on its own territory, it's over."

---

"It cannot just be words," Gul said.

EasyBourse