The Kurds have suffered a lot under Saddam Hussein ( Remember, when over five thousand of them were gassed by Saddam’s Chemical Weapons when Papa Bush was President? Ever wondered where those WMD went to? ).
Anyway, the Kurdish area is probably the most STABLE, PEACEFUL and RELATIVELY better off region in what is still known as Iraq. I can understand why Christian would flee to their area. They are the kind of Muslims who are really tolerant and secular ( i.e. they don’t cover their women up from head to toe, and are not strict on the prayer five times a day stuff. I know, I have some Kurdish friends in NYC ).
They are also the ones who are willing to FIGHT for their area ( note how they repelled the ISIL advance in Kirkuk ).
If I were in charge (OK, finish your laughter first and hear me out ), I would start talking to the Kurdish leaders about the plan for independence. I’ll tell them to prepare and organize for this and prepare to DEFEND themselves.
Then I would tell Maliki this — YOU WANT THE US TO DEFEND YOU AND YOUR SHIA? Here are our requirements:
1) Let the Kurds have their country.
2) Get rid of your Islamic constitution, and set up a secular state
3) Recognize Israel
4) Break off ties with Iran.
If Maliki says NO, then tell him: “Fine, have it your way. Goodbye”.
I would then head off to the Kurds and help THEM defend themselves.
Only one thing I disagree with in your post. That would be helping the Kurds defend themselves. The Kurds seem to be doing just fine defending themselves. The last thing they need is our “help”.
I think if these guys were put on the front page most of America would be cheering and praying for them...
I was going to give them a thread of their own but something happened to my browser. need to find a better one
Well, here would be the natural outworkings of your plan.
A) You’d have an independent and probably relatively stable Kurdistan, which would likely be a little like Jordan or Azerbaijan.
B) Iran would make southern Iraq a colony. I doubt they’d keep Malaki around, so they’d appoint a cleric. This would put Iran in a much better position to try to topple the king of Bahrain (where we have a base), where the majority are Shiites.
C) ISIS would retain this northern region spanning into Syria
From this region, they would have an even better haven than Afghanistan from which to launch international terror. The solution is not making ridiculous demands from Malaki to which he would NEVER agree (the Shiites would kill him if he adopted those reforms). The solution is to isolate the ISIS fighters to their region, then commence carpet bombing. If civilians haven’t left the region, it is fair to assume they are with the terrorists.
If we fail to do this, i can make solid predictions as to what happens next
Afghanistan falls
Syria falls
Jordan falls