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The Kurdish actions are based on addressing any and all eventualities as best they can. They are building a state, an army and making trade agreements based on a premise that they cannot afford to depend on others, whether the US or the government in Baghdad. Unlike the sectarian warfare in the area around Baghdad this is NOT part of a religious war or a struggle against US occupation.

This is a people who are united in their goal for national sovereignty. Southern Kurdistan, which comprises the area of northern iraq, has autonomous powers and it is going forward and exercising them. They won the right to hold a referendum in Kirkuk in order to incorporate this city into the Kurdish Autonomous Region. They have established a Kurdistan Regional Government to govern their people. They have established the peshmerga(the armed forces of the Kurds)to defend their territory.

During the US occupation there are many things that the US can do in regards to the Kurds. They can provide logistical support, support the efforts to self-government increase trade and provide aid. But they cannot convince the Kurdish people to return to a situation that the Kurds have faced for centuries. They have a storehouse of experiences in regards to the consequences of rule by the Ottomans, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria and choose not to accept a future with the shadow of mass murder and genocide looming over them.

The Kurds are Sunni but are NOT aligned with the Sunni leadership of Baghdad or the Baathists. They are Islamic but are not aligned with the leadership of the Shi'a that seeks to politically dominate the government of Iraq. Their focus is their identity as Kurds that has endured historically in the face of centuries of oppression. In Turkey, they have been forcibly relocated from the regions where they have lived historically in order to try and assimilate them into good "mountain Turks". In Iran they were subjected to a jihad by the Ayatollah Khomeini. In Iraq they were gassed and forcibly removed from Kirkuk. In Syria they have been denied their cultural rights as a nation.

Americans have done much to facilitate the Kurdish peoples ability to move forward as a nation. But America cannot change the past or determine the future for the Kurds. As they move into the future it might be with the government in Baghdad, but this clearly is not their preference for the long run. That depends on the actions of that government and others in respecting their right to self-determination.

People choose to project the military power of Turkey and Iran as the most powerful influences in the region. But, that can change as well. Turkey current has hundreds of thousands of troops massed on the border. They may act in the coming year without US support. This will do nothing but set off a regional conflict that will make the current conflict in Iraq look like a walk in the park in comparison.

Because they are not simply a sect they have established political leadership and defined national priorities. Because they are not a sect they have implemented the organization of Kurdish society in a sectarian manner. Because they are not a sect they have no stake in the internecine warfare between the Sunni and Shi'a.

As a nation they seek to unify the character of their institutions. As a nation they seek to establish within the territory they govern the political entities capable of promoting the economy and defending their territory and their people. As a nation they work in the present situation but work towards a future that increases their ability for self-government.

Learn more about this author, Martin Zehr.
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