The Iraqi Kurds

Rather than fix the numerous problems, the KRG leaders utilize false rhetoric and fictitious scenarios to distract the Kurdish citizens from the struggles of their daily lives. Accordingly, the American public must employ its democratic power to compel the United States into using fiery propaganda and military strength to unite the Kurds and overthrow the KRG leaders. With the completion of the coup and the current officials replaced with active problem-solvers, the Kurds can fulfill their desire: a pillar of strength in a land of

The course of the Iraq War has been shaped immensely by the geography of the region for nearly 40 years. The movement of Iraq forces throughout the region, for better or worse, has had many effects on the way in which the way has gone. For instance, these forces often threatened certain resources needed by many countries and regions. The result of this was often war or conflict, concluding in a devastating amount of casualties. This also left Iraq with debt as well as very low resources such as food and water. The basis of the whole entire war has been on certain aspects of the geography, which has had a result of creating many small wars throughout this whole ordeal as well as many other

Before the American intervention, Iraq was safer and wealthier. It was a relatively wealthy nation in the 70’s to the 80’s, until Saddam Hussein went to war with Iran. After the war, Iraq needed a lot of money to help fix it’s main infrastructure. He was accused by locals of not spending to fix the infrastructure, instead spending money on a lavish lifestyle, including construction of palaces for himself. Saddam Hussein's autocracy gave base camps, working bases, and other backing to terrorists battling the administrations of neighboring Turkey and Iran, and in addition to hard-line Palestinian organizations. Amid the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam charged a few fizzled terrorist assaults on U.S. offices. Preceding the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the State Department recorded Iraq as a

“The expansion of Islam in the eighth century transferred the seat of the Islamic caliphate from Damascus to Baghdad . . . it became the most powerful state west of China”. The rule of Iraq transferred many times, from the Mongols in the 13th century to the Prussians who held power until the 16th century and then resting with the Ottoman Empire up into the 20th century. “The Ottomans divided Iraq into three vilayets centered on Mosul, in the Kurdish north; Baghdad, a largely Sunni city in the centre; and Basra, in the Shi’ite south”. The fall of the Ottoman Empire brought British occupation to Iraq during World War I; subsequently Iraq received authorization from the League of Nations to establish a responsible government. Incrementally Iraq gained its independence and throughout the next seventy-five years, military strongmen ruled the country, resting finally with Saddam Hussein during the U.S. invasion. While attending the university in Bagdad he joined the Ba’ath party and rising through the ranks, assumed the position of head of state of Iraq in 1979. The ethnic divide in the population of Iraq dates back as far as the 16th century and has devolved even further with the

The justification was the need to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein, accused of developing weapons of mass destruction and links with Al Qaeda. Preventive action was justified by the degree of danger and unpredictability of a one-man dictatorship, with a history of aggression against neighboring countries (Iran and Kuwait), and use of chemical weapons against internal (Kurdish) and external enemies (Iran). Tests on the links with terrorism and weapons of mass destruction were upheld on intelligence reports, especially the

In 1991, a series of uprisings in Iraq turned into multiple rebellions in Northern and Southern Iraq started the “Kurdish War”. Millions of men,women and children were killed by the war. This was a genocide because this behavior resulted in torture devices, chemical

Following the creation of Iraq in 1932, the Iraqi government has continued to this day to check any Kurdish advancement in the political spectrum. The Iraqi government uses many tactics to do this including cultural discernment, murder, and genocide (“Prejudice in Iraq” 9). In the 1960s the Iraqi Kurdish Democratic Party (IKDP) led by Mustafa al-Barzani led a failed insurgency against the newly established Ba’ath Party(“Kurd” 4; “Prejudice in Iraq” 10). The repercussions of which resulted in the deaths of sixty thousand people and forced hundreds of thousands to leave their decimated villages. In the mid-1970s another resistance formed that included Iranian support. But after an agreement between Iraq and Iran, the Kurdish opposition crumbled (“Kurd” 4) resulting in over 200,000 Kurds displaced. Iraq also sent captured Kurds to concentration camps and destroyed their villages (Goldman

President George W. Bush authorized the invasion of Iraq in 2003 citing that Saddam Hussein had been stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. In March of 2003 US led coalition forces entered the country and overthrew the Hussein regime. The conflict was very short causing some of the infantry units to not be used in combat. After the conflict ended many of these units were withdrawn from the country from lack of use. In the short term after the regime was toppled, there was still resistance from irregular units loyal to Saddam. A consequence of the early withdrawal of troops was the prolonged the need for American forces to remain in the country to end the resistance. The last of these combat troops were withdrawn in 2011 after eight

First, air attacks dropped chemical weapons on targets. Next, ground troops surrounded the locations, looting and setting fire to buildings. Then people were herded into army trucks and taken to holding facilities to be “disposed of”. In all, an estimated 180,000 Kurds lost their lives and/or “disappeared” as a result of the genocidal campaign. Hundreds of thousands of Kurdish civilians were displaced from their homes and approximately 4,000 villages were destroyed. The most widely publicized incident occurred in the Kurdish town of Halabja, where on the 16th of March 1988, an estimated 5,000 men, women and children were slaughtered. Over 10,000 were wounded and to this day suffer from the long lasting consequences of exposure to chemical weapons. 90 percent of Kurdish villages had essentially been wiped off the map, and the countryside was strewn with land mines to discourage resettlement. The Anfal military campaign ended in September 1988 when Saddam’s regime announced general amnesty for all Kurds (although they were not permitted to return to “prohibited zones”).

After the cease-fire agreement, Saddam Hussein pulled his troops and commanded them to put down the Shiite Muslims and Kurds. Shiite Muslims started an uprising in southern Iraq to overthrow Hussein. Iraq’s Republican Guard (army) strafed down civilians and poured gas on the wounded and set them on fire then publicly hung the captives. Saddam turned his attention to the Kurds after taking care of the Shiites. Thousands were massacred and they were killed with poison gas, tanks, artillery, and rockets from helicopters. Killing all these innocent people proved how insane and cruel Saddam Hussein

They endure near daily causalities and recently Ankara has undertaken a bifurcated anti-terror program against the PKK and the IS. Frequent attacks in Turkey by the IS and the PKK has driven Turkey to kill 260 Kurdish militants as of August 1, 2015. The reasoning for these death tolls within a week-long air raid in northern Iraq is due to nine civilian causalities in Turkey and Iraq. "For the peace and security of our people, the fight against terror organi[z]ations will continue without interruption,” as stated by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The PKK’s rebellion for rights and power for Turkey’s Kurdish minority has been ongoing for the past thirty years and has left tens of thousands dead. Though a ceasefire was issued in 2013, Turkey’s Kurdish militants have sought refuge in northern Iraq where the PKK has been tolerated and continue to dodge such attacks. The PKK has been instructed to terminate fire in populated areas. Turkey’s president Erdogan hopes to shut down this “fascist” organization by the end of the year. Turkey’s and Iraq’s goals are to see the Kurds and their parties purged from their

Similar tensions exist between the Iraqi Government and the Kurds. In the 1920s and 1930s the Turks put down the Kurds; the Turkish Government deprived them of the Kurdish identity by outlawing their language and forbidding them to wear traditional Kurdish clothing in cities. The Government also encouraged immigration of Kurds to the cities to divide the populations in the mountains. Turkey continues its policy of recognizing the Kurds as a minority.

The United States of America was also threatened through hostility demonstrated by the 1993 assassination attempt on George H.W Bush and firing of the coalition aircraft after the 1991 Gulf war. The State of Iraq continued to aid other international terrorist organizations, which were especially the anti-United States. The resolution was therefore adopted to prevent such acts by Iraq. The Authorization for Use of Military Force against Iraq Resolution was also supported by other states in its adoption as they wanted Saddam Hussein (the president of Iraq at the time) to be removed from power. The other states which adopted the resolution included Turkey, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Many adults and children were killed as a result of this systematic attempt of Genocide. It was much like the holocaust. This was the Al-Anfal campaign. Some may question how a government could kill its own people? It was basically like a war against the kurds which left the kurds helpless. The war was between Iraq and Iran. It was fought by nearby countries over territorial disputes. Northern kurds tried siding with iran and thereby urging their dictator Saddam Hussein to fight the kurds just as brudely as Iran. This campaign was also towards small minority groups such as christians. Hussein was apart of the Ba’ath political party.

To what extent should the international community support the creation of an independent Kurdish state and why?