Peter--


Thanks for that article. I've been asking Teribus if he had any inkling of the Turkmen-- (see my postings yesterday in the Displaced Iraqis thread)--and suggesting that if he didn't know about them, he should do a bit of research. He was waxing lyrical on the paradise that is "Kurdistan"--and I was trying to point out that, as usual, it's not that simple. Not that he's likely to ever bestir himself to learn anything that might question his comfortable state of denial.

Situation normal.



Dianavan--

Point is: the Kurds in general are not very religious-- many actually quite Western-oriented. So neither Shiite nor Sunni. They fight and fought for the Western-supported Iraqi regimes--and for the Bremer etc. regime--mainly for the reasons I've cited. And as I believe you've noted, the West protected the Kurdish north from Saddam after the first Gulf war.

They have no intention of staying with any Iraqi government--Sunni or Shiite. Ultimate goal is real independence--but as I said, they're smart enough to be satisfied with de facto independence--especially if they can get control of the oil-rich Kirkuk area--perhaps through a plebescite.