The Kurds, the Americans, and the Jews
Michael Totten writes about a group of Iraqis who not only welcomed the US invasion (they refuse to use the “i”-word, though; they consider the event to have been strictly a liberation), but love America and Americans to this day: the Kurds.
The Kurdish region of Iraq has long been different. It is a stumbling block to those who consider the Iraqi war to have been an unmitigated disaster. Totten’s piece makes it clear that the Kurds are very happy that their long suffering has ended—for now:
“I ask Americans not to leave us,” Colonel Ameen said to me at the Ministry of Peshmerga. “From 1920 until now, we have been frustrated and disappointed by their pledges and promises. Eight times we have been disappointed. I ask the American people, do not make it nine.”
There is no terrorism in the Kurdish portion of Iraq, and the area functions rather well. There is no religious fanaticism, either, although the Kurds are Muslims. Listen to Abdullan Mohtadi, secretary general of Iranian Kurdistan’s Komala Party, describe the situation:
Kurds were one of those rare nations which resisted to the end the Arab and Islamic invasion…In official national anthems we say we are Kurds before we are Muslims. It’s a general belief….Kurds are not fanatic in their religion.
And, perhaps even more surprisingly, among the Iraqi Kurds there seems to be no anti-Semitism:
“The Arabs call us a second Israel all the time,” Peshmerga colonel Salahdin Ahmad Ameen told me in 2007. “They instigate their people and say we want to make a second Israel here in the middle of their area.”…”We would like to have a relationship with Israel,” Colonel Ameen said. “We have the same destiny. We are secretly their friends. We have many Jewish Kurds there now. They write articles for our magazines.”
There are many reasons for the lack of bigotry: the Kurds identify with the Jews’ persecutions, sense of enduring ethnic identity, and search for a country of their own; and the Kurds dislike Palestinians, who were favored under Saddam.
And there are many reasons for the other Kurdish differences, no doubt, steeped in the tradition and automony of the region and the culture.
But perhaps there’s another reason, as well, that might have at least a small role in all of this. Some time ago I dug up an arcane tidbit of information that indicates that the Kurds are, genetically speaking, the most closely related people on earth to the Jews.
Unfortunately, the PKK claim to represent the Kurds. They are a serious problem in our relationship with Turkey, and they could yet tip the house of cards over.
I commented on this blog at Dr. Sanity. It suggests that the Iranians might be getiing in on this.
http://www.achgut.com/dadgdx/index.php
Scroll down to a post by Benny Peiser.
That we should continue to support the Kurds is a ceertainty of morality, wise politics and making good on a debut. We owe them. Was it not the Senior Bush who abandoned them to the killing rage of Iraq’s thug family. Now we are in a real quandry. We have allowed the Iranians to kill our soldiers in Iraq. We have allowed the Putin to link with the Iranians and fly Bear bombers within our airspace with no push back. And now we seem so weak that the Turks, our supposed friends who would not allow the 4th Division to enter Iraq from Turkey, to launch attacks on our Kurdish friends within Iraq. Yes, we are caught between Iraq and a lot of hard places, but without leadership that has certain force behind the rhetoric, I suspect the Kurds will suffer again from the non-action of another Bush, and our ability to do anything about Iran will be further compromised.
Kurds are a nation of 40 million people. We have been horribly opressed by the Turks(whom are alot like the nazis). The turkish government banned the Kurdish language for 80 years until the late 1980’s due to EU pressure. Kurdish people love the United States. We will be allies of the US. THere is a saying Kurds have no friends but the mountains, but hopefully the US does not leave the Kurds. We are peaceful people who are begging the US to become Kurdistan’s friend.
If more folks in the Middle East were like the Kurds, we wouldn’t be fighting over there…
“THere is a saying Kurds have no friends but the mountains, but hopefully the US does not leave the Kurds.”
It is the nature of a democracy to change its mind on a regular basis. Don’t expect the US to remain an ally, or even friendly, forever. I advise you to pursue peaceful transitions, rather than stability. When you no longer need the US to be friends with you, then you will be ready to leave behind your “third-world country” status.
“There is no terrorism in the Kurdish portion of Iraq”. And right there your post hits a problem. There is, just not against people _in_Iraq_.
The Kurds also dislike the Syrians who, as you will no doubt know, are no friends of the Israelis.
And, of course, the Kurds were the group most hated of Saddam, and so the group with most to gain from his downfall. Of course they like the US at the moment, saying they like the US is the same as saying children like the strange man giving them sweets.
Quick question: who thinks Turkey is justified in invading part of Iraq to hunt terrorists, and where do you come from?
My my these are desperate times and desperate arguments for the neo cons. The “Kurds” are genetically close to the “Jews” therefore they are better! A genetic theory of international relations. hmmm If you dig around a bit you may find that in terms of mitochondrial DNA the “Jews” and “Palestinians” are arguably very close. But the real truth about people is that we are remarkable genetically homogenous. These differences are more political, economic, military and cultural. Truth is if the state of Israel had found Kurdish people in the place where the Palestinians were in 1948 they woul dtreat them as shabbily as they have treated the Palestinians.
And as for no Kurdish terrorists, well ask the Turks what they think. It is a truism but one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.
Neo,
The Corner at National Review Online has some interesting discussions on Turks, Kurd, and Armenians today. There is a link to a Middle East Forum review of recents Turkish books covering the evolving debate within Turkey.
http://www.meforum.org/article/1674
Turkey’s got more problems with the Kurds and the US than the PKK. As with France, Turkey’s bunch of representatives view their interests as being aligned in ridiculous paths. Not to them of course.
In terms of useful long term alliances, Kurds outweigh the Turks by at least 2 orders of magnitude.
The fact that US air logistics needs to go over or through Turkey, is actually sort of akin to the fact that oil has to flow from Iran to the world and back to Iran. It is not optimal for the US, just because such a relationship exists.
The Kurds need the PKK like Haganah needed Irgun.
Turkish Kurds should be allowed to vote in a referendum on independent secession — and allowed to secede if a majority of voters vote in favor.
Turkey is not quite a “nation state”, it is still more Turk dominated secular empire state, with imperial occupation of the Kurds. There should be no room in the EU for such an empire.
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We as Kurd being we love peace, and we love jews simply because we have same suffer. we do not accept terrorism,chauvinism,fascinism, and period.
Kawa: I’ve heard many good things about the Kurdish people. You have my respect.
These pathetic kurds…
well, your numbers may go up to 40 million, but yet you have done nothing to earn the land that you live on.
You have lived under the shadows of more developed and sophisticated nations in the places that you live, to name a few, Byzantines, Turks, Arabs, Armenians, Persians and Arabs.
And now you claim to be lapdogs of the Frenks, notably the Americans.
My quarrel is not with the Americans. They do what is best for their interest. But you seem to support anyone who shows even a little sympathy to your pathetic existence.
The horrible truth about the kurds is that they always ask for some asswhoppin’, but whine after they get it.
They are the ones to practice Honour killings in the middle east in the first place, and they practice it more often than your demonized arabs.