Give Iraq to Turkey

[ReportRanger]

Why is our government against Turkey invading Iraq to handle the Kurds? I think they should be welcomed with open arms. Although Islamic, Turkey is a modern, western styled culture with European aspirations. Why not invite them in? Wherever they established their "temporary" border into Iraq, the insurgents / Iranians, Shias and Sunnis would be sure to resist it. This would give Turkey the moral authority to occupy the whole region. They can factually say that Iraqis have threatened the security of their nation for decades. Why not invite them in?

[ReportRanger]

You might do better moving this to the political forum:)!
thanks, didn't know there was one.

[Bing_Oh]

You seem to have a very simplistic and limited understand of the relationship between Turkey, Iraq, and the Kurds.

The Kurds are the only part of the current Iraqi society that is actually working. The Kurds are a semi-autonimous society, based mostly in the northern part of Iraq. They have been the oppressed minority of Iraq for a very long time, and have very little in common with their Sunni and Shiite contrymen in the southern 2/3 of Iraq (while most Kurds are Muslim, they tend to be much less strict and progressive in their religious beliefs...for example, Kurdish women have considerably more freedom than is the norm in the Muslim world). They also happen to currently control some of the most productive oil fields in the entire country and are strongly pro-US. The Kurds could seriously split from Iraq and create their own democratic nation (which is a real possibility, with the new Iraqi constitution giving the Kurdish government that option with a majority vote).

Turkey is also alot like the old Iraqi regime when it comes to the Kurds...they have oppressed their Kurdish minority for a long time. Iraqi Kurds have done alot of cross-border raids into Turkey in defense of Kurds within Turkey itself. Turkey would be more than happy to take the very oil-rich Kurdish northern regions of Iraq and oppress the Kurds already there...it would give them vast oil resources while also giving them the ability to militarily strike against an opposition group that's causing them trouble in their own Kurdish population.

The US, since the First Gulf War in 1991, has been morally obligated to the protection of the Kurdish population in Iraq. Our government has felt very guilty over the gassing of Kurdish civilians by a leader whom we once supported (Saddam Hussein). Also, the Kurds have pledged their support to the US since before the First Gulf War, providing us with intelligence information, assisting Coalition troops in the northern parts of Iraq, and even fighting Baathists themselves.

[Bearcat357]

You seem to have a very simplistic and limited understand of the relationship between Turkey, Iraq, and the Kurds.

He does...... He needs to go back and read up on the situation there before he makes posts like this.....

Wonder what he will say if the Turks attack and end up killing US Troops that are there....??

Bing_Oh...spot on analyst on what is going on there......

[Bing_Oh]

He does...... He needs to go back and read up on the situation there before he makes posts like this.....

Wonder what he will say if the Turks attack and end up killing US Troops that are there....??

Bing_Oh...spot on analyst on what is going on there......

Thanks, Bearcat.

I suppose I have more of an interest in the underlying politics of Iraq than alot of "average" people, but I'm really amazed by the misunderstandings surrounding the Kurdish peoples of Iraq, Iran, and Turkey...and the success stories about the Kurds that are never reported in the mainstream media. People don't seem to want to know that the Kurds fought (both politically and militarily) the Baathists in Iraq, the "revolutionary" government in Iran after the fall of the Shah, and a Turkish government that has tried to eliminate their entire culture. They quickly and almost seamlessly created a semi-autonimous democratic government after the fall of Saddam Hussein and currently handle the security of the northern 1/3 of Iraq with very little assistance from Coalition forces (and with very little of the violence that has been so well reported in the lower 2/3 of Iraq). They have made amazing strides in reconstructing the infrastructure of the Kurdish regions, restoring utilities to the citizenry and rebuilding the oil production facilities that could very well be Iraq's door to becoming a productive member of the international community.

People see the primitive villages of the Kurdish regions and assume that the Kurds are a primitive peoples. It's just not so. Those Kurdish communities are the way they are because pretty much every government in the region has done their best to destroy the Kurds. In reality, the Kurds WANT to be a modern and progressive people and enter the international community...moreso than most of the groups we hear about in Iraq.