The Iraqi Kurds have just announced that they're freezing the results of their independence referendum, which is bureaucratese for saying that they don't intend to act on it. Which, in turn, is another way of offering a ceasefire to the government troops that have displaced them from Kirkuk and environs. The Kurds gambled and lost. It seems they'd hoped that their western allies would come to their aid, but none did. This, despite loud protestations by sympathetic commentators in the West that the Kurds' loss was a victory for Iranian hegemony over Iraq—in particular, a victory for Iran's IRGC commander in the region, Qasim Suleimani. And even though the State Department denied any Iranian participation, it's unlikely that without Tehran's …show more content…
Those in the West, and they are numerous, who frame the picture as yet another tragic betrayal of legitimate Kurdish aspirations should pause and consider the oft-overlooked context. I was in and around Erbil and Sulaimania before and during the US invasion in 2003. It was the Kurds who first marched into Kirkuk by force as Saddam's regime fell. They imposed martial law and proceeded to burn buildings that housed property records thereby expunging the history of land ownership in the city. Historically, from the Ottoman era into the Baathist decades, the Turkmen had regarded Kirkuk as their regional capital—which is why Mustafa Kemal refused to sign a treaty ceding it to the British after World War 1 (ever since, rather hopelessly, the Turks have considered it a kind of temporary lost limb). Kurds have convinced one and all that the city was always their Jerusalem. Along with Kirkuk, the Kurds entered Mosul and tried to rule it for some months but the Sunni-Arab resistance proved too stiff and they were expelled. Mosulites never recouped their faith in an integrated Iraq—eventually ISIS moved in. We should all remember, as we bemoan the expansion of Iranian power over Iraqi terrain, that it was the Kurds who first triggered the chaotic fragmentation of the country after Saddam's ouster with their widespread looting to the very suburbs of Baghdad. They also forcibly took possession of Saddam's northern Tenth Army's heavy weapons
Islamic States of Iraq and Sham ISIS, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, al Qaeda in Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Islamic State, Da’ish is an active group formed c. 2014. ISIS is a terrorist group that sole purpose is pushing their beliefs on others and if their religion isn’t accepted in the appropriate way (how they expected) they then result to violence. Da’ish is the official name of the terrorist group known as ISIS, dramatically arrived and shocked many people in the West. The horrifying and violent events that have occurred since the appearance if ISIS struck fear into the hearts of people all across the world. Even though fear is an extreme emotion, the hatred that came with it is even stronger and is more Ernest.
Nevertheless, the Kurds believe that the threat of intolerant Shiite Arabs coming into power requires a formidable response to ensure their security (Source C). Even though the foreign affairs pose a threat to the Kurds,
As an outcome of that decision Saddam was toppled. The west celebrates, and with them the Iraqi Shiites, which took power over overnight. The Sunni majority became an oppressed and persecuted group in their own country, and
More Than 1000 soldiers have died in The middle east. In a nation of more than 306 million people, only the tiniest percentage of Americans have sacrificed to fight the long war in Iraq. As of last week, that war's sixth anniversary, at least 4,260 service members had died in Iraq, and more than 31,000 wounded soldiers. “The Army has been stretched so thin, in fact, that more than 140,000 troops have been ordered to serve on combat duty after their enlistments ended. That practice is known officially as "stop loss" and unofficially as a "backdoor draft." Should the USA stop deploying troops overseas because the government is sending troops to Eastern Europe for just revenue from oil companies? (Book/Database)
Iraq has seen many hardships over the last few decades. Their hardships started with an eight-year war over territory with Iran which began in 1980. In 1990, Iraq invaded the country of Kuwait, which led to the Gulf War. Then, Iraq ignored sanctions would not comply with the UN Security Council over weapons of mass destruction. This led to the invasion of Iraq which was led by the United States in March of 2003.
The Kurdish question has long been covered up and denied by the state of Turkey,
On March 19, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq, beginning what is now known as the Second Gulf War. The invasion, also known as Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States, lasted one month, and is speculated to have been one of the starting points in the Global War against Terrorism. The goal of the invasion, and the war, was to topple the regime of the dictator Saddam Hussein.
In the early hours of the morning of 2 August 1990, Iraq commenced with an invasion of neighbouring Kuwait. The conflict between the two Gulf states was extremely short given both Iraq’s significant military superiority, as well as Kuwait’s inability to effectively anticipate the invasion. The invasion met immediate international condemnation with the United Nations Security Council passing Resolution 660 condemning the invasion on the same day. Iraq occupied Kuwait for just under 7 months, eventually being driven out of Kuwait in late February 1991 by an international coalition force led by the United States. This essay seeks to identify the principal motives behind the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. To ascertain the major causes for this conflict, this paper will elaborate upon the context of the
The Kurds are a Middle Eastern group that distinct from the Arabs, Turkish, and Iranians. About 30 million Kurds live in Kurdistan which are combined parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. The Kurds are the most popular ethnic group that doesn’t have their own independent country. The reason that the Kurds haven’t established their own independent country is because of all the issues that exist in the region. The area and neighboring states they are surrounded are filled with war and disagreements over natural resources, mainly oil. Many of the city officials and people who hold most of the powers are corrupt. It’s hard to develop a strong independent country with corruption and conflicts.
The other large sect in Iraq was the Kurds. The relationship between the Kurds and the Iraqi government went through series of reconciliations and tensions. The attempts to gain the Kurds by the Iraqi regime were not serious and did not meet the needs of Kurdish leaders such as Barzani. During the Ba’ath rule, the Kurds were tempted by the Ba’ath party which offered some official seats to them. But they were unwelcomed especially by Barzani, a veteran Kurdish leader. The second attempt of maintaining a good relationship with the Kurds came from Saddam Hussein in 1790. Saddam had a fear to lose the Kurds based on two factors. First, he wanted to lessen the Iranian impact on Kurdish lands. The second and the most important is to avoid friction
The basic levels of analysis start at the individual level. This is done by locating the sources of behaviors and outcomes of the characteristics and natural tendencies of people. Examples of the variables would be one’s perceptions, personality, and preferences. By using these variables, one can analyze the effects those individuals will have on the policies. In the war in Iraq, we can analyze the individual role George W. Bush had as the President of the United States. Because the President viewed Saddam Hussein as aggressive and dangerous, Bush chose to declare war against them in order to prevent further attacks. George W. Bush’s personality as a protector and a leader would cause him to feel the need to protect his country, and also the allies of the United States. He saw the signs of aggression as acts of hostility and proceeded to intervene on the Iraqi situation.
In 2014, the Iraqi insurgency escalated into a civil war with the conquest of Fallujah and Mosul and major areas in northern Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). This has resulted in the forced resignation of the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, airstrikes by the United States, Iran, Syria, and at least a dozen other countries, the participation of Iranian troops and military aid provided to Iraq by Russia.
Following the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the Kurds emerged as an instrumental partner for stability and moderation; the US leaned heavily on their support. Under the new Iraqi constitution, the Kurds gained autonomy, though the exact geography of Iraqi Kurdistan remained undefined, as both the Kurds and the central government claimed the right to control regions such as Kirkuk. Later, with the rise of the Islamic State, the Kurds became a primary force fighting the Islamic State, and a key US partner in the struggle to eradicate the terror group.
This issue has been with Turkey almost since the foundation of the Turkish State in 1923. The Kurds were promised the creation of an independent state as part of the treaty of Sevres in 1920 but this part of the treaty was never ratified and Turkey has refused to recognize the existence of a separate Kurdish ethnic community within its borders.
Kurdistan is a region that has existed in turmoil and is the “never was” country. The Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group of the Middle East, numbering between 20 and 25 million. Approximately 15 million live in the regions of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, an area they called Kurdistan, yet they do not have a country of their own. Formal attempts to establish such a state were crushed by the larger and more powerful countries in the region after both world wars. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed after World War I, the Kurds were promised their own independent nation under the Treaty of Sevres. In 1923 however, the treaty was broken allowing Turkey to maintain its status and not allowing the Kurdish people to have a nation to call