Kurds’ Power Wanes as Arab Anger Rises

[cal04]

ALISSA J. RUBIN
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/world/middleeast/01kurds.html?hp

As a minority group in Iraq, the Kurds have enjoyed disproportionate influence in the country’s politics since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003. But now their leverage appears to be declining as tensions rise with Iraqi Arabs, raising the specter of another fissure alongside the sectarian divide between Sunnis and Shiites.

The Kurds, who are mostly Sunni but not Arab, have steadfastly backed the government, most recently helping to keep it afloat when Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki lacked support from much of Parliament.

With their political acumen, close ties to the Americans and technical competence at running government agencies, the Kurds cemented a position of enormous strength. This allowed them to all but dictate terms in Iraq’s Constitution that gave them considerable regional autonomy and some significant rights in oil development.

But now the Kurds are pursuing policies that are antagonizing the other factions. The Kurds’ efforts to seize control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and to gain a more advantageous division of national revenues are uniting most Sunnis and many Shiites with Mr. Maliki’s government in opposition to the Kurdish demands.

[comradebillyboy]

1. The Kurds have angered every group that borders

Iraqi Kurdistan. Things may get bad enough that they make friends with the Turks. Besides almost all their commerce now either is with Turkey or comes through Turkey. The Turks are not fond of Arabs and will probably be easier to deal with than their fellow Iraqis, especially since Turkey is making massive liberal reforms to be accepted into the EU