Al Jazeera: Best bet: Dividing Iraq

[Vladimir]

In what the American President George W. Bush claims to be another milestone on Iraq’s road to democracy, Iraqi headed to polling stations today to give a “yes” or “no” to the proposed draft constitution, expected to further divide the country into three min states.

It’s far from what the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has stated: “You’ll have the opportunity to exercise your democratic right to accept or reject the draft that is submitted to you” -“For the second time in less than a year; the future is in your hands.”

As long as the country is still occupied, the future will never be in the hands of the Iraqi people.

There's no clarity about what the referendum means to the Iraqis, but it is for sure not a step forward in establishing democracy in the country as President Bush maintains- The constitution is so vague, changes came so late and distributing the draft copies has been so poor. But Bush does know what the vote means- it will give him a necessary cover for a cut-and-run exit strategy.

It seems that Bush’s admin has finally found the solution: "Divide Iraq" and then pit the three mini states created against one another. It's not the first time something like this happened.

Nearly two years ago, The New York Times published an editorial carrying Leslie Gelb's by-line. He's an influential man who presided over the Council of Foreign Affairs, a think tank that brings together the CIA and the secretary of state.

Gelb's plan simply suggests replacing Iraq with three mini-states: "Kurds in the north, Sunnis in the center and Shiites in the south," so as to “put most of its money and troops where they would do the most good quickly -- with the Kurds and Shiites. The United States could extricate most of its forces from the so-called Sunni Triangle, north and west of Baghdad.... American officials could then wait for the troublesome and domineering Sunnis, without oil or oil revenues, to moderate their ambitions or suffer the consequences." In other words, strip the Sunnis of the country’s wealth and thus break their determination to prevent the U.S. from pursuing its imperialistic agenda.

Dividing Iraq has been an old Israeli dream. In 1982, Oded Yinon, an official from the Israeli Foreign Affairs office, wrote: "To dissolve Iraq is even more important for us than dissolving Syria. In the short term, it's Iraqi power that constitutes the greatest threat to Israel. The Iran-Iraq war tore Iraq apart and provoked its downfall. All manner of inter-Arab conflict help us and accelerate our goal of breaking up Iraq into small, diverse pieces." Gelb’s plan is dissolving Iraq while transforming the north (Kurdish majority) and the south (Shiite majority) into "self-governing regions, with boundaries drawn as closely as possible along ethnic lines."

The very same method resulted in a civil war and a bloodbath in Yugoslavia. The country’s diverse regions contained significant minorities, and dividing it was impossible without the forced transfer of populations.

Berlin and Washington financed and armed extremists, which eventually brought a civil war to the country.

Same thing in Iraq, the country’s three ethnic groups, the Shiites, the Kurds and the Sunnis do not reside "each in their own region," but are, for the most part, intermingled.

Applying this method in Iraq, according to Gelb, would provoke serious "ethnic" conflicts, and eventually a civil war.

Standing behind his barber's chair in this northern Iraqi town, discussing Iraq’s new constitution, Mariwan Kamal Salam says "I want Kurdistan to be separated from the Iraqi government, because the Shiites and the Sunnis are going to repeat what Saddam did to us".

Shiite Najaf tea shops in the traffic-clogged streets of Sunni neighborhoods in the Iraqi capital, and Internet cafes in Kurdish northern Iraq shows that Iraqis are split largely along the same ethnic and religious lines as their leaders are.

Shiites, who form 60 percent of Iraq's population, view the constitution as the beginning of their influence and political domination.

While the Sunni Arabs, who make up 20 percent of Iraq’s 27 million population, say constitution will permit the Kurds and the Shiites swallow the nation's oil, split the nation autonomous regions and punish the Sunnis for Saddam’s actions.

Jonathan Morrow, an adviser to the committee that drafted the new constitution says:

"In broad terms, it is a Kurdish-Shiite constitution that was presented as a fait accompli to the Sunni Arabs, who were not in the room when it was written".

"It was written around Kurdish and Shiite dinner tables of the (U.S.-secured) Green Zone," Morrow, who works with the United States Institute of Peace, said.

[Vladimir]

Al Jazeera is getting more worse everyday.. if America wanted the Kurds to have an independent state.. there was one now..

[Rumtaya]

Ok intersting article


but still i am for an dividing of iraq but not two sectors for the arabs they can have their own iraq so should be split into two parts the north should be a place for Kurds and Assyrians with an autonom area for Assyrians till it we could later get independent just you need at the begin some help to stand on your legs and i think kurds would help if they seek for apologize

for the Arabs they can have their iraq just the middle and south part why should that be divide into shia and sunni states they can live together arab is arab.

who cares about them if they want to kill eachother or to marry eachother or to behead eachother what ever they do they should leave us(Kurds and Assyrians) alone.

how about that one




DIVIDE IRAQ DIVIDE IRAQ

BY THE WAY IRAQ IS AN ASSYRIANS WORD AND MEANS LAND HAHA

DIVIDE THE LAND DIVIDE THE LAND

[Vladimir]

I agree! Kick out the Turkmens who are terrorists/behaving badly into Turkey and Turkmenistan. And there is peace in Assyria and Kurdistan.

[Diri]

Nice map - I agree with what you say... Because it is realistic - this CAN happen - and people in Kurdistan and Assyria are not enemies - just here in the diaspora SOME Kurds and SOME Assyrians are acting bad towards eachother...

I think it is smart to first fight for establishing Kurdistan - because EVERYBODY else supports it - and THEN give Assyrians independence in a few years - when Assyrians from Diaspora have returned to Assyria!


But I must point out one thing: "K-stan" is insulting... Because you started using it after AA used it - and he wanted to de-legitimize Kurdistan by not saying it's name... So please don't do like AA - use the real name...

[Rumtaya]

Nice map - I agree with what you say... Because it is realistic - this CAN happen - and people in Kurdistan and Assyria are not enemies - just here in the diaspora SOME Kurds and SOME Assyrians are acting bad towards eachother...

I think it is smart to first fight for establishing Kurdistan - because EVERYBODY else supports it - and THEN give Assyrians independence in a few years - when Assyrians from Diaspora have returned to Assyria!


But I must point out one thing: "K-stan" is insulting... Because you started using it after AA used it - and he wanted to de-legitimize Kurdistan by not saying it's name... So please don't do like AA - use the real name..

No brother i was writing that becuase i wanted that to be in the map cause kurdistan would be to long then i had to make the writiing smaller and then you couldnt read it.

by the next time ill use Kurdia haha

[Diri]

Nice map - I agree with what you say... Because it is realistic - this CAN happen - and people in Kurdistan and Assyria are not enemies - just here in the diaspora SOME Kurds and SOME Assyrians are acting bad towards eachother...

I think it is smart to first fight for establishing Kurdistan - because EVERYBODY else supports it - and THEN give Assyrians independence in a few years - when Assyrians from Diaspora have returned to Assyria!


But I must point out one thing: "K-stan" is insulting... Because you started using it after AA used it - and he wanted to de-legitimize Kurdistan by not saying it's name... So please don't do like AA - use the real name..

No brother i was writing that becuase i wanted that to be in the map cause kurdistan would be to long then i had to make the writiing smaller and then you couldnt read it.

by the next time ill use Kurdia haha

LOL

Okey - Kurdia is nice... And that is what I hope it will be called when it grow larger - when Western and Eastern Kurdistan join South Kurdistan...

But what I meant was when you talk at the forum - please don't call it K-stan...

But you do know that it is relative - this matter about "stan"? Because from Kurdish and Turkish stance - "Stan" isn't in the East... It is in the West too... Like in Kurdish we call England "Inglîstan" - and there are more examples... Like "Yunanîstan" (Greece) - and "Ermenîstan"(Armenia)... Etc...

[Rumtaya]

Yes i see what you mean but why you use that Stan so its in your language.


one thing more to the map i said you know i said kurdia should be out of mesopotamia. i am still for an assyria which should be go more to the east till the great zab river, but i think their wont be any problems the kurds and other nonassyrians who live in this area can live under assyrian rule right?

but call it Kurdia so its near to Assyria and Armenia

[Rumtaya]

ENJOY MY MAP
Kurdia is based on mountains now look at it

[Vladimir]

What you want to do with all Kurds not living in the "mountains". Qamishlo is 100% Kurdish now.. Hakkari too..

[Rumtaya]

What you want to do with all Kurds not living in the "mountains". Qamishlo is 100% Kurdish now.. Hakkari too.

Qmishlo isnt 100% kurdish my friend i have alot of assyrians living there.
the mostly wester dialect speaking assyrians are in qamishlo there are assyrian squares there is one called haret ashuriyeh.

to hakkari hmm might be i took to much lol cause on the map arent names so hakkari is kurdish that i dont deny.
mountains are kurdish homeplace.

and the rest in kirkuk and east of the tirgirs rive is assyrian home land but kurds can live as free citizen in that area. just like the turks live here in germany as free citizen but under german rule.

but that Assyria on the map shows all where assyrians live .

if you want you can have the whole turkey its all mountains and like we nkow mountains are kurdish homeplace give a shit on turkey.

by the map my friend valdimir its just a map but its near to the truth.

[Vladimir]

Ok.. off course it's only a map. I wonder if those Assyrians aren't Arabised then.. because Syria is not Assyrian.. it's Arabic. There is also a lot of Arabisation efforts there.

[Rumtaya]

Ok.. off course it's only a map. I wonder if those Assyrians aren't Arabised then.. because Syria is not Assyrian.. it's Arabic. There is also a lot of Arabisation efforts there

thats a good point with the arabsation ok let me tell you

like we know the most peple living in syria are arabizied arameans but mostly living around damaskus and west of euphrate.

there are like 2 millions christian which make up to 10% of assyrian poppulation and of these are 800 000 assyrians who consider themself as assyrians but many of them speak arabic.

but there are like 35 pure assyrian villages at the northeast of syria and i am one of them should we leave them? like we have used to flee hakkari or before that the northen iraq as the mongolians came????

what i have to say more

and Syria my dear friend was before the ottaman empire only westwards of euphrated after the fall of ottaman empire then the british and french did creat new countries like we know an syria got more lands.

so yes east of the euphreat rive it is Assyrian land that for real brother.

you can make your own minds about it.

[Rumtaya]

[Diri]

ENJOY MY MAP
Kurdia is based on mountains now look at it

SEE?? You have done a MISTAKE - you said Mountains are Kurdistan
- but you have taken our mountains too
- the BROWN are the mountains - the GREEEEEEEEN are the plains...