Iraqi Kurds take charge of own security

[Barrett808]

Source: AFP

Iraqi Kurds take charge of own security
by Mathieu Gorse

ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) - In a blaze of pomp showcasing Kurdish military muscle, US forces handed over responsibility for security in Iraq's three northern provinces to the Kurdish regional government on Wednesday.

Iraq's Kurds have long cherished separatist ambitions and, while officials said the region will work closely with the national government in Baghdad, the symbolism of the moment was not lost on the former guerrilla fighters.

"It's a sort of independence," Colonel Shadman Ali of the peshmerga, the Kurdish security force, told AFP. "We are very glad and proud and have been waiting for this day for so long. It gives us a great source of hope."

Sulaimaniyah, Arbil and Dohuk provinces are ruled by the Kurdish Regional Government, which has its own executive and ministries and has been spared much of the unrest wracking the rest of Iraq.

"Today is another success in the process of rebuilding Iraq," Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said at a ceremony in his capital, Arbil.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070530/wl_mideast_afp/iraquskurdsecurity

[eleny]

1. Does this mean that our forces there can now be deployed south?

[pinto]

4. I would think so, though I'm not sure how many forces we actually have in Kurdish provinces. (?)

As noted in the article, the Kurdish provinces are, in many ways, a de facto separate state - Kurdistan.

[pinto]

2. This has been trumpeted in the US news as "handing security over to Iraq". The obvious

reality is much different. Much of Kurdistan sees itself as an autonomous region, in the very least, and as an independent state in the broader sense, as this notes.

Thanks for the post.

[Jed Dilligan]

3. I wonder how this makes the Turks feel nt

[pinto]

5. I'd guess they're uneasy. Lots of foreign investment money in Irbil, and if

the Kurds manage to get a piece of the oil while managing their dual relationship with whatever comes of the the central state (Baghdad), it could spell trouble for Turkey. Nothing makes for an effective separatist movement as well as prosperity, though it may be bred in poverty and discontent.

[catmandu57]

6. I've been reading stories of Turkey massing

troops along the border and violating Iraqi airspace, it looks like one more piece of the we told ya so puzzle is falling into place.

[Javaman]

7. It's go time.

moron* and his room full of dopes told turkey to hold their horses until they hand over territorial power to the kurds and the US Army gets the hell out of Dodge.

give it a few weeks and an "incident" will happen to allow turkey to carpet bomb the kurds.

as long as the Kurds are peaceful it makes moron* look worse each day.

[pinto]

10. Yeah, I've seen those reports. Though this is a long standing conflict,

Bushco's failure to deal realistically with the regional concerns has done nothing to foster long term stability, or a 'national' government, as they tout.

Kurdistan is apparently fairly stable, increasingly prosperous and committed to self rule.

Our stubborn refusal to take this into account, along with other regional interests does no one well.

(aside) I believe that wiser heads in the State Department have lost the internecine battle in this Administration to the neocon true believers as far as the Middle East goes. At least for now.

[Jed Dilligan]

8. They all but said the attack in Ankara last week

was planned inside Iraq. There's going to be saber-rattling at least and possibly a breakdown in US-Turkish relations. This is all very relevant to me because one of my best job prospects right now is in Ankara.

[roamer65]

9. No wonder the Turks are massing on the northern border.

They'll be going in very soon.

[Erika]

11. The Kurds are the one who stoned the 17 year old girl to death

for having a boyfriend of a different belief. Good God.