Posted on 10/17/2017 11:04:32 AM PDT by TBP
If President Trump continues to remain silent on the Kurdistan referendum, he risks botching the most consequential moment for American national interests in the Middle East this century.
Should the Kurds of northern Iraq succeed in their independence ambitions, it would create the possibility for the rise of the first secular, liberal nation in the Middle East since Israel’s 1948 declaration of statehood. Now is the time for President Trump to act decisively and back this movement before it’s too late and a momentous opportunity falls by the wayside.
This weekend, the Kurdish people started voting on whether to secede the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of northern Iraq from Baghdad and become an independent state of Kurdistan. Currently, the results show that about 92 percent of Kurds support the creation of an independent Kurdistan.
Infuriated Arab states and Iran have issued ultimatums against the Kurdish government, demanding they stop the secession movement at once, or risk military conflict. A rapidly metastasizing vacuum of American leadership is causing U.S. allies and adversaries to seize the opportunity in an attempt to choke off the blossoming statehood movement.
(Excerpt) Read more at conservativereview.com ...
The Kurds are as close to the good guys as there are in the region.
They have been our best and strongest (and most effective) ally in the fight in the Middle East. The Iraqis have been feckless, and now they’re in open alliance with Iranian forces.
Meanwhile, Kurdistan has fought side by side with us the entire way. They were the ones who led us to Salamn Pak. They have given safe harbor to displaced Christians and Yazidis. The Kurds deserve our full support, and I am disappointed that President Trump is staying neutral.
Not taking a side effectively sides with the Iraqi forces, and therefore with Iranian forces. I’d rather side wit our allies, the protectors of Christians, teh best fighting force in the region.
Frankly, they deserve our help.
What better than to break the back of the mullahs first? Study up on the Persian’s idea of a leader in that of Cyrus.
Just an FYI - Assad also protected Christians and other minorities.
He was still openly attacked by obama. DJT has been somewhat better...
“Frankly, they deserve our help.”
I tend to agree. Still don’t understand why Turkey feels threatened by them, though.
Erdogan is an Islamist who wants to rebuild the Ottoman Empire.
This is a pivotal moment. Just like with the birth of Israel, all of the neighboring despots want to snuff out Kurdistan.
While I agree the Kurds have been our friends, we cannot help them militarily. They are on Iraq and Turkish land. And neither of them will let us support the Kurds. We can have no ability to support them at all. At least not in public.
The problem is that they are spread out between Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria. There is NO way any of those countries can except an independent Kurdistan because of what it would mean to their own Kurdish minorities.
It's a very, very complex problem and is the very very last thing we should be sticking our toes into.
And I hate saying that but there it is.
We can arm them to the teeth. Maybe now we’ll stop trying to arm them through the regime in Baghdad and arm them directly.
“Frankly, they deserve our help.”
I tend to agree. Still don’t understand why Turkey feels threatened by them, though.
They want to take a quarter of the country away from Turkey. And they have bombed turkey for 50 years. You may say Turkey deserved it. But still Turkey is not going to let them have anything in Iraq or Turkey.
The Kurds are the most effective and experienced fighters in the region. Make no mistake. Now that ISIS is defeated the Iraqi civil war enters a new phase. The Shi’ite militias and Iran have no choice but to attack Kurdish held oil rich Kuiruk. The Shi’ites will be badly bloodied. The Kurds have set so many tank traps and kill zones that scrap dealers have already bid on the salvage rights.
The only decisive action we should take right now is to tell the entire region to grow up and leave them alone.
This!
Totally agree. Further, the Kurds are NOT Arabs OR Turks.
TWO MORE good points.
Like the Armenians, the Kurds have been kicked around far too long by Turks and Arabs. GIVE THEM THEIR OWN COUNTRY!
There are a large number of Kurds in parts of Turk-Occupied Anatolia.
Personally, the damn Turks should be rounded up and marched back to Turkistan where they belong.
I agree completely.
This isn’t an issue of deserving, or something that is as easy as hitting “like” on a post.
The minute you endorse the breakaway part of an existing nation that we have to work with, and antagonizing another that chafes at this potential nation on its borders, you put us in a hell of a bind for a quick feel good moment.
The article is dated September 26th. The Iraqi army controls the area. The Kurds are not our friend. They are unreliable, sell any weapons we give them and run when confronted.
Times are changing faster than the western media can create propaganda.
The Kurds have been the best friends we’ve had in this conflict.
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