Posted on 06/14/2014 9:42:32 AM PDT by xzins
After a decades-long dispute between Arabs and Kurds over the oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, it took just an hour and a half for its fate to be decided.
As al-Qaida-inspired militants advanced across northern Iraq and security forces melted away, Kurdish fighters who have long dominated Kirkuk ordered Iraqi troops out and seized full control of the regional oil hub and surrounding areas, according to a mid-ranking Army officer. He said he was told to surrender his weapons and leave his base.
"They said they would defend Kirkuk from the Islamic State," said the Arab officer, who oversaw a warehouse in the city's central military base. He asked that his rank not be made public.
The Kurdish takeover of the long-disputed city came days after the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and other Sunni militants seized much of the country's second largest city of Mosul and Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit before driving south toward Baghdad. Their lightning advance has plunged the country into its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops.
A spokesman for Kurdish forces, known as the peshmerga, said they had only moved in after Iraqi troops retreated, assuming control of the "majority of the Kurdistan region" outside the semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government.
"Peshmerga forces have helped Iraqi soldiers and military leaders when they abandoned their positions,"
A lawmaker from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-led bloc condemned the peshmerga's move, calling it a "plot" carried out in coordination with the regional government that would "lead to problems."
"The Kurds have taken advantage of the current situation. They seized Kirkuk and they have other plans to swallow other areas," Mohammed Sadoun told The Associated Press.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbn.com ...
See #35. You can check through the archives and verify it.
Gotcha... It makes sense. Three countries, three sects. Although I’m sure the fights will be over the lines drawn and important cities, shrines, temples, oil fields, etc. Not that simple.
Somewhere way back when we discussed the oil fields, the Kurds having natural access to some, and the Shi’ites to others. That leaves the sunnis having to get theirs via power, which is what old Saddam Hussein did.
It is also a focus of the ISIS leadership, getting theirs the same way as did Saddam.
“Turkey won’t like that”
GOOD!!
turkey and their muslims need to be destroyed!
Probably.
The Kurds, however, have been making major advances into territory all over the place during this “unrest.” I don’t know what their Islamic thing is - what side they’re on, or if they’re some sort of off-shoot hated by everybody.
But in any case, although the media is trying to make this sound like a “sectarian” conflict, it’s not. Sunnis and Shiites may hate each other, but the ISIL group is killing everybody in their path who want submit to them.
The policeman whose head they were kicking around as their “World Cup” tweet was a Sunni.
They are building their new caliphate, and at that point, the only thing that will matter is sharia, to which both Sunnis and Shias subscribe.
That would be like borrowing Al Capone's neighbor's house to take a shot at him. Once the attempt is over, Capone's gang burns the house down along with its inhabitants. The Kurds don't even have an air force. They can't ward off Iranian air strikes.
Was Azerbaijan any different?
Azerbaijan is a UN state, and under Russian protection. (It exists as an independent state only because a Russian Tsar wrested it away from the Persian Empire in the 19th century). Any Iranian move would have been viewed by Russia as a slap in the face. Kurdish has no godfather willing and able to make Iran pay for any incursions. In fact, Iraq would be real happy to have Iran help restore Iraqi Kurdistan to its control by invading.
I wish the Kurds well, but Turkey is not likely to tolerate an independent Kurdish state. It’s too big a threat to Turkey itself.
I hope they are smart enough to hang onto every piece of ordinance they have AND NOT TRUST THE US FOR THEIR SECURITY.
Just ask the Ukrainians how that worked out....
Uh actually Turkey in NATO. Was a GREAT idea for the entire Cold War. They gave us good bases and had a large and competent military and were a dependable ally. They were also a great friend of Israel. Meanwhile the Russians you are so fond of were and are our enemies.
What if the rebel-terrorists we arm and train in Syria attacked in Turkey?
There's already a situation in Iraq where we've armed both sides.
That's right!
And to all you others who think that Turkey and the Kurdish Regional Government are enemies.. think again. It don't look like it to me.
Turkey is helping the KRG get their oil to market despite Baghdad's attempts to stop it. Now it looks like the KRG may be the only thing left of Iraq.. with Turkey's help. And thar's oil in them there agreements.
". . . Ankara has entered into energy deals with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), something which has infuriated the central Iraqi government in Baghdad but which has helped the Kurds further build a foundation for their independence [yes true that] Ankara has been so alarmed by the growing Kurdish autonomy [in Syria and tolerated by Syria, I believe] that it reportedly has provided support for [ISIS] in their fight against the Kurdish militia that controls the region [of Syria],which is affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)." [my emphasis]
more..
". . . the takeover by ISIS in recent days of Mosul and other cities . . . Ankara will likely not only have to deepen its relationship with the KRG . . . but also alter its approach to the Kurds in Syria [I ask: but demand that the Kurds in Syria reject the PKK?]"
more..
"Explains Lehigh University professor and Turkey expert Henri Barkey in an analysis piece on Al-Monitor website: The crisis may force the Turks to rethink some of their policies in Syria. To date, Ankara’s friendship with the Kurds stopped in Iraq; Erdogan and his government have taken an uncompromising position against Syrian Kurds led by the Democratic Union Party of Kurdistan (PYD), an offshoot of the Turkish Kurdish insurgent group the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PYD has emerged as the strongest Kurdish group in Syria and has put together an impressive fighting force to defend its territory from both ISIS and the regime. The idea of another autonomous Kurdish region on its borders after the KRG has been anathema to Ankara. Paradoxically, the PYD’s armed elements are some of the only ones that have scored blows against the jihadists. In the face of the ISIS sweep, the PYD and the KRG, which have also had antagonistic relations, appear to be cooperating on defensive measures against ISIS. Turkey may have to reconsider its boycott of the Syrian Kurds to enlarge the anti-ISIS coalition." [my emphasis]
I don't think that the KRG wants anything to do with Turkey's enemy the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorists -- our State Dept calls the PKK a terrorist group.
Has Iran any kind of effective air power, though?
They have Tomcats and Phantoms. It's beside the point. Iran has 80m people and is one of the biggest oil suppliers in the world. Iraqi Kurdistan has 6m and the current peshmerga force is run on a shoestring because trade is severely constricted and subject to tariffs/payoffs on every side, due to its landlocked status.
For what it's worth, I don't think they've had any spare parts for those babies for over thirty years and most, if not all, are unflyable. At any rate, they aren't combat-worthy.
Altogether, it's a pretty motley group -- Iranian Air Force. Nothing new since 1991, unless built in-country and of dubious value.
On the ground, certainly, the Iranians could outman the Peshmerga -- but the Kurds would likely fight (unlike the Iraqis).
There is a chance, of course, that a successful Israeli attack might bring down the Mullahs -- so any Kurdish cooperation would be a calculated risk.
It would most likely be the reason and justification Obama sends ground troops into Iraq, to stomp out the kurds, of course ? for his Muslim buddies.
Remember that Kurd s are irani people which is why te Arabs and Turks hate them. Most likely descendents. Of the ancient. Medes
Sayds oppose Kurds as they are an irani people
Why two shia states?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.