[Shadow_Group] The Kurds - Iraq 101 - Pt. 1 of 2 or 3

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

This is from their own PR people, but I'm looking for
another one or two diff versions from another bias for
comparison...
============
The Kurds: The Expendable people!  

28 November 2004 
KurdishMedia.com - By Eamad Mazouri 


Notwithstanding the unparallel tragedies and untold
calamities that have befallen Kurds throughout their
modern history, they are deplorably optimistic about
the events that concern them and their foreseeable
future. As soon as they see a spark of light, they
forget all their desolation and start believing and
taking things at their face value. 

This of course regardless of the fact that their
entire history could be summed up as a chain of
denial, deprivation, oppression, total devastation of
their land, genocide and betrayal after another by the
merciless regional and international players. The
allegory amidst regional circles as well as
international players now that Kurds are the
expendable pawns in the harsh political game of Middle
East, that they could be used and abused repeatedly
without learning their most valuable lesson of
refraining from relying on their adversaries and start
depending on the everlasting resources of their own
people. Unfortunately, the myth has become more real
as the Kurdish leadership is continuing on the same
track while the Kurdish intellectuals and true
patriots are standing by helplessly not doing anything
about it. 

For that matter Southern Kurdistan, is the best case
scenario here. The whole world recognizes that the
Kurds have played a major role in bringing down the
dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein, and in combating
terrorists and keeping the law and order not only in
Southern Kurdistan but also in Iraq, yet there is no
single unequivocal official signal from the concerned
parties of reward for their sacrifices and heroic role
that would recognize them as an oppressed nation
aspiring to have a genuine voice in deciding his own
destiny in a peaceful and democratic manner. 

It is excruciating to admit that the coalition in Iraq
is only carrying on the same policy as before when the
safe haven was established in 1991, and the Kurdish
issue was dealt with as a humanitarian one rather than
a political issue as in fact it is. Not much has
changed since. The true federalism the Kurds are
seeking has not been recognized. Instead the so called
Administrative Federalism is prevailing. The Iraqis,
Coalition forces, and the international Community have
utterly ignored the Kurdish Referendum that expressed
the wishes of over 1.7 millions Kurds from around the
world. Furthermore, the Security Council Resolution
1546 completely overlooked Iraqi Transitional
Administrative Law (TAL) that is indeed the only
actual guarantee the Kurds have gained so far next to
their status quo. 

The Iraqi elections that are due in January 30s, are
basically meaningless for the Kurds, no wonder they
are advocating their postponement. In reality, holding
elections in Southern Kurdistan before the
implementation of the article 58 of TAL that concern
the reversal of Arabization policies of the Kurdish
lands, specifically Kirkuk, would undermine all the
Kurdish efforts, and it would be considered a huge
setback for the Kurdish project of federalism. So far,
all the indications are pointing towards the
ascendancy of governorates decentralization over other
options, especially the law regarding the election of
the governorate councils where 41 people need to be
elected as if setting up a whole regional parliament. 

Nevertheless, for the Kurds what remains in the
shadows is way more daunting than all of this. The
Kurds are not keeping informed of the latest escalated
episode of violence in Iraq, that targeted them
specifically for being Kurds and for no other sin they
have committed. The whole debacle of beheading Kurds
should not have escaped our attention. Not only the
Kurds were savagely victimized, but they were possibly
set up. For years there were attempts to turn the
Arab-Israeli conflict into an Islamic- Israeli/
Western one, the September 11th terrorist attack on
New York and Washington heralded the success of those
attempts. Now, anybody can tell you terrorism can not
be defeated militarily, simply because this kind of
war can only be dealt with by intelligence gathering,
information sharing, cooperation and coordinating
efforts. That means a political settlement should not
come as an eye popper shock to anyone including the
Kurds, for the Israeli- Arab conflict before long,
especially after Sharon has expressed his readiness to
dismantle the Israeli settlement and totally withdraw
from Gaza strip. Regrettably, this in itself would not
be gratifying Arabs who are seeking much more than
that. 

A few days ago, the Egyptian Foreign Minister abu-
Algait in Sharm al-Shekh summit made an interesting
remark in which he called for " the necessity of
combining the resolution of the Palestinian issue with
that of the Iraqi. The implications of such a
statement are dangerous and enormous to the Kurds who
ought to entirely reject such a proposal. The Kurds
must not accept in any way, shape or form for the
settlement of the Iraqi question to be hooked up with
that of the Palestinians. There is no connection
whatsoever between the two issues. Under such a
horrible scenario the satisfaction of Arabs would
inevitably lead to the sell out of the destitute
Kurds. Therefore, every patriot Kurd and their friends
are required to use all their resources to prevent
such a shameful scheme from materializing. 

The international community should realize that the
Kurdish people have already suffered too much. They
have been victimized for too long, perhaps it is time
to deal with their plight as a political question and
stop exploiting their wretchedness and misery. They
have suffered enough and cannot afford another
national disaster.



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