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Troubles and demons
by Thanos Kalamidas
2007-06-09 10:31:31 |
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There is an old saying: when you sow troubles, you grow demons. Somehow this is what’s going on in Iraq - how it started and how it still goes on is going to bring a lot of demons before the end. And it is not that I like to blame everything upon George W. Bush’s administration, but the truth is that we are going to pay for their mistakes in the long term and this ‘we’ is definitely global.
By invading Iraq, Bush’s administration ignored the only international institution that can guarantee some kind of peace balance in this world. The excuse was quickly fabricated; coincidences and bad poker playing on Saddam’s side helped, and Iraq became a WOD threat extremely quickly, with a regime that supports terrorism and especially Bin Laden.
Nothing was proven true. On the contrary, the result of the invasion and the American occupation has become the reason for Al Qaeda to establish a …branch office in Baghdad, to have hundreds of innocent dead every day and a country in the beginning of a civil war. For the Americans things were very simple: you are with us or against us and if you are not with us it means that you are a terrorist!
Despite the result other countries found the reasoning for the invasion to Iraq as a very good excuse to clear their closet and their militaristic or whatever else targets. For a long time all the world has been pointing at Russia and the Chechen problem, often secretly supporting the Chechen rebels. Weeks after the invasion to Iraq, the Kremlin baptized the Chechen separatists, terrorists and we never heard anything more from them. The fact that there are people getting killed daily in Chechnya is a fact, so is the fact that nothing can stop the glorious Russian army from killing hundreds of innocent Chechens, after all they are …terrorists and they are so far away from Washington!
Of course, Capitol Hill remembers the Chechens sometimes but usually as part of a difficult negotiation with Russia, for example when it comes to spheres of influence. The rest of the time …screw them, they are terrorists after all!
And then came the Kurds! This is where things become a bit more complicated and the troubles bring demons and the demons bring the Turks! The Kurds were the only allies inside Iraq that the US could count on. And they were proven the best allies, serving the US Pentagon in the best way. Apparently many ‘war games’ specialists have doubts if the operation would have had the same success if the Kurds hadn’t fully supported the American army from north Iraq.
The Kurds on their side, except their hate to Saddam’s regime that had led them to near genocide in Iraq, had another agenda. They hoped for the creation of an independent or in a semi-independent condition Kurdish state that would gradually be able to host all the Kurds who live in other countries, like Turkey, Syria and Iran. The most amazing thing is the Kurds can even financially support this; Kirkuk is an oil rich era and in total control of the Kurds. If you add to that the newly elected president of Iraq is Kurd then troubles have been sowed!
During the preparation and the invasion to Iraq the Kurds gave to the Americans everything including tens of hundreds of human lives from their fighters. What did they want in return? Simply what was promised to them after WWI and by the end of the Ottoman Empire under the terms of the Treaty of Serves, autonomy.
Turkey from her side proved the un reliable ally for the Americans, refusing at the last minute any help to the invading army forcing the Pentagon to depend more on the Kurds and creating tighter relations between the Kurds and the US administration, furthermore the Kurds took a series of promises if not obligations that have to be fulfilled in the near future.
The Kurds in Iraq count to nearly four million while the Kurds in Turkey count to 25 million and for the past two decades they have shown in many ways that they expect the international community to fulfill the 1920 Treaty of Serves, something that will let Turkey break into pieces. The Turkish nationalists, just like the Russians regarding Chechnya, hate and fear the idea, so what is left? To call the Kurds terrorists and following Putin’s example lead them to evanescence.
And the military plans are ready and the army is already waiting at the borders with Iraq and the tiniest flame is enough to start the fire. The big question now is what the Americans will do? Will they support a proven ally that they still need if they want to bring order in Iraq, to a situation they are responsible against a questionable ally who sold them out at the most crucial moment while flirting with Iran and Syria, wanting to become a member of a democratic Europe union, while a nationalistic and dictator-style army controls everything from the backstage?
Or… are they going to support a traditional NATO ally against the poor Kurds sacrificing the last pieces of credibility they have in the Middle East and creating another Palestinian problem? Unfortunately the very near future will show and every move now will mirror in the whole Middle East crisis.
Thanos_Kalamidas |
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