zymurgy said:
Are the Kurds Sunni? I was always of the impression they were not even muslim?
edit - I answered my own question and found I was stereotyping a bit. I also respect them, which is why I didn't link them with muslims. oops.
And rightfully we should all respect them. As the Arab sections of central and southern Iraq, insurgents, religious extremists and international terrorists indulge in an orgy of kidnapping and killing of their civillians, over 5 million Iraqi Kurds have brought off a near miracle: They've built a financially efficient, rule-of-law democracy in the Middle East. Elsewhere, the billions are spent to keep a failed state on life support. While the rest of Iraq's population wallows in the region's addiction to blame, the Kurds have rolled up their sleeves and gone to work. There is a lesson here for Iraq and a clear message to the rest of the Middle East and the world.
In the capital of one of the two Kurdish regional governments, officials are writing zoning laws, demanding environmental impact statements from builders and making education funding a priority. In the streets, women walk freely and safely, dressed any way they wish. Only a minority choose Islamic garb — head scarves, not veils. The regional Prime Minister (I forget his name), wants to increase the number of female government officials, describing them as "harder working" than men and "utterly incorruptible." And there are no forced marriages.
They have a University for education where just under half of the university students are women. Males and females study side by side. Internet use is free to all students. There is no censorship or political influence on campus. Not one of the oil-rich Gulf states rivals this still-poor section of country’s educational freedom — or standards. There's a department of religious studies, but it's only one of 16 departments (and far from the most popular).
Still, the Kurdish government isn't content. It hopes to build a world-class "American" university to develop its human capital. As the rest of Iraq threatens to implode, the Kurds are racing against time to develop their infrastructure and provide opportunities for their population. International business is welcome, contractors aren't murdered, and even the Turks, longtime opponents of the Kurds, are investing.
If anyone believes that no good came of deposing the old regime, he or she should talk to the Kurds. For them, generations of oppression, ethnic cleansing, torture and massacre ended when Saddam's statue fell. But with hostile powers on their borders, their future security depends on America's goodwill. As terrorists campaign to drive the U.S. from the Middle East, the Kurds are begging for U.S. military bases on their territory.
When American politicians of either party describe the Middle East they'd like to see, they're describing the Kurdistan that already exists. An ironclad military rule is "Don't reinforce failure. Reinforce success." Instead of supporting our only real friends in Iraq, we try to please implacable enemies by pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into cities whose people assassinate U.S. troops and fellow Muslim civilians, while ignoring what the Kurds have already achieved.
The United States needs to be clear: America isn't failing the rest of Iraq. The Iraqis are failing themselves. The war to depose Saddam handed them an opportunity no other power would have or could have given them. If, despite the U.S. investment of blood and treasure, Iraq's Arabs decide to squander their chance for a peaceful and prosperous future, there may be painfully little the United States can do about it.
Whenever I think about where the Palestinians are in today's world, I reflect on how bad the Kurds have had it and where they are. I don't allow the pity hungry failures in the Middle East to seize my sympathies. This is some of why, I choose Israel over "Palestine."