100,000 Kurds Demonstrate for Kirkuk's Incorporation in Autonomous Region

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBCC12RTZD.html

SULEIMANIYAH, Iraq (AP) - About 100,000 Kurds demonstrated outside provincial government offices Saturday, demanding that the turbulent, oil hub of Kirkuk be made part of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

A tense confrontation has been building in Kirkuk, with hardline Kurdish politicians demanding the departure of some 200,000 Arabs who settled here during a campaign by Saddam Hussein's regime to increase the Arab population in oil-rich parts of northern Iraq.

"Kurdistan means nothing without Kirkuk," read banners carried by the demonstrators marching in Suleimaniyah. They called for a referendum to decide the future of all Kurds in Iraq. They also demanded that the two main Kurdish parties that now control the north unite under one banner.

A second, similar protest, drawing about 1,000 demonstrators, occurred in Kirkuk itself. Demonstrations were reported in other northern cities.

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[Owlet]

1. It'll be interesting to see how many Kurds

register to vote. As I understand it, registration is supposed to begin on October 15. With many Sunni population centers still 'no-go' it's conceivable that only Shiites will register. How do the Kurds feel about remaining, autonomous or not, in a Shiite-dominated government? I haven't seen much anywhere about this.

[livinbella]

2. The pot is boiling

How can this possibly have a positive outcome?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

13. The pot is boiling<< So let me get this straight......

with Saddam in jail.... shrub has brought about a situation in which hundreds of thousands if not millions of people are going to kill each other for what remains of Saddam's former kingdom.

I don't see the logic.... the forethought... the wisdom... the clear thinking... the knowledge of foreign policy... the presence of mind... or the decision making capability that we need in order to correct this mess in the wh.

Perhaps shrub's dad has a few words of advice to offer.... heh, heh, heh......

[barb162]

3. I was wondering when the Kurds were going to start demanding

their rights. They really are a separate people from the Sunnis and Shiites and the US government takes them for granted.

[underpants]

4. Thousands and thousands

Oh sorry they only use that for demonstrations in the world's leading Democracy.

[expatriot]

5. I don't need your civil war...

it feeds the rich while it buries the poor.

[tedzbear]

6. The Kurds will break away and start ethnic cleansing...

...like the Israelis, just you watch.

[MADem]

7. That has already happened

Kirkuk was historically a Kurdish city. After the fall of Saddam's government, even while Saddam was still on the run, the Kurds came down from the Zagros mountains in force, and started tossing people out of their homes. Well, not THEIR homes, the homes that the Kurds were driven from when Saddam put his Tikriti buddies up in Kirkuk to consolidate his power in that region.

Some of the Kurds allowed the people they were kicking out a week or two to get their shit together, but they charged them a heavy rent to stay. Others, whose parents and loved ones were killed when Saddam booted them out, used more violent means to shift the 'squatters' from their land.

If you recall, when this happened, the CENTCOM folks tried to tell the military personnel on the ground in the Kurdish regions to prevent the Kurds from entering the city. The Kurds, very politely, told the military to go fuck themselves. The Turks were on high alert at this time and ready to cross the border into Iraq. It was a bit tense and interesting, but our people working with the Kurds said to hell with getting killed over this--let them have at it. And they did!

Kirkuk is OIL RICH. It has some fine, productive fields. It's why Saddam ethnically cleansed the city of Kurds in the first place. What the Kurds did was go back and take what is theirs, and now they want it codified into law so they never get robbed of their oil again. If they can control those fields, they can eventually tell "IRAQ" to go screw themselves and establish their own nation of Kurdistan. Iran and Turkey would not want to see this happen, but the Kurds know what they want, and they have been working towards this since before the Sikes-Picot Agreement. They are patient, but they are persistent.

In the event that we abandon Iraq totally, they'll need that oil, and they'll need to have control over a contiguous area in order to consolidate power. There's plenty of cannon fodder available to them--the Kurds from Turkey, Iran, the former USSR, and even Syria will come to their aid if civil war breaks out. And let me tell you, a Kurd is worth ten shi'a fighters, and worth 20 sunni. They are tough muthafuckas--very intelligent, very hardy, and very, very determined.

[TexasBushwhacker]

12. But how much of Iraqi oil is in the Kirkuk area

Wouldn't it be worth it, in the name of PEACE, to give the Kurds a homeland again. We abolished Kurdistan after WWI. They are a people without a home, not unlike the Jews before Israel. It's not like there's just a handful of them either. I read the total Kurdish population is 40 Million or there abouts. If Kurdistan were recreated and had control of Kirkuk, wouldn't all the oil fields in Southeast Iraq be enough for the Sunnis and Shiites to share?

[Kolesar]

8. There is no way the US can create a unified Iraq

The Kurds have been able to govern themselves since the 1991 Gulf War. Us settling the difference between the Shi'ites and the Sunnis seems quite difficult, but there is no way the Kurds will want back into that country.

A tip of the mouse to MADem , for that analysis.

[Viking12]

9. I heard an analyst describe Kirkuk as the key log in Iraq

If that log is jarred free, the entire country will flow downstream into irreversible civil war. Looks like the log is getting lossened up.

[Green Lantern]

10. So the Kurds

want to get their way. Ok Ok bad pun. Is this an example of nation building from Bushwa? Destroy the country to build it up? He could point to democracy in the Kurdish areas. Hmmm

I know-I know--I have to remember that two thirds of a pun is PU.

[jpgray]

11. Kurdistan? Enter the Turks! Whee!

This is such a huge mess. :(