The Washington Post, July 11: Kurdistan, Autonomous or Independent?

The Washington Post on July 11 features an article about Iraqi Kurds. Karzan Kanabi, an 18-year-old who runs a small clothing store selling cheap baggy jeans that attract youth, states that he has never been to Baghdad, has never learned Arabic, and does not wish to be in a place where he has to interact with Arab Iraqis. Kanabi expresses that all he wants is an independent Kurdistan. He emphasizes the need for Kurdistan, noting that 13 years have passed since the current independence of Kurdistan, and the only form of government he and youths like him know is the Kurdistan where 4 million people live in the green and historical region, which will never allow the loss of the autonomy and control gained after the Gulf War in 1991. This independence has also been supported by the United States. Masoud Barzani, one of the two recognized leaders of Kurdistan, stated in an interview last Thursday that Iraq is composed of two nationalities, Arabs and Kurds. Kurds have an equal place alongside Arab Iraqis in building Iraq. However, Iraqi Kurds are seeking to fight against their marginalization in the new government, which is supported by the United States and aims to maintain Iraq's unity in the absence of the iron fist of the Ba'ath Party. The new Iraqi government, which is supposed to be administered based on democratic principles, has promised to return power to the 25 million people of Iraq, of which 60 percent are Shia Muslims, 20 percent Sunni Muslims, and 20 percent Kurds. So far, due to the actions of insurgents in Iraq, primarily against American military forces, the new leaders in Baghdad and their supporters, including President Bush's administration, have postponed addressing the Kurdish issue in hopes of avoiding a crisis later. After decades, American planes have prevented Saddam Hussein's forces from entering Kurdistan, resulting in the establishment of a 17,000 square mile region with a population of 4 million that enjoys a free electoral system and is governed by democratic principles in northern Iraq. For the first time in generations, the Kurds of the region have managed to lay the foundation for a democratic society with the democratic cooperation of Barzani's group and its party, the 'Kurdistan Democratic Party', as well as Jalal Talabani and the 'Patriotic Union of Kurdistan'. Kurdish leaders have repeatedly stated that they will never forget the U.S. assistance that has led to the establishment of a democratic and autonomous Kurdistan since 1991. However, they will also never forget that in 1975, the U.S., Iran, and Israel withdrew their support from the separatist rebels fighting against Saddam, thus paving the way for the massacre of Kurdish peshmerga fighters, who were then under the command of Mustafa Barzani, Masoud Barzani's father, in their struggle for Kurdistan's independence. Barzani states that based on the historical experience of the Kurdish people, they have every right to be concerned about the future of Kurdistan.