AIII've gotten to read in so many spaces- Superficial. Dependent on main stream media spoon fed memes and willing to abuse others.Dedicated to all the 'cheerleaders' for NATO's Kurdish Sunni Muslim jihadis! Witting and duped.When I said, the PKK functions as a stay behind army- keeping Turkey always on guard?And got responses like 'ha ha ha'? NATO designated PKK as a terrorist group to pay lip service to Turkey while always keeping Turkey on edge. You all should pay particular attention to the fact, as I've pointed out, Barzani is in NATO's crosshairs- He is not favoured. Because the PKK are the terrorist/ leaders of choice at this time.It was the PKK/NATO that bred the Goran movement.As mentioned here: PKK Challenges Barazani in Iraq- One ring to rule them all?It was the PKK/NATO that bred the YPG. As mentioned here: What if Russia attacked Syria's Kurds on behalf of Assad?: RudawBehind the PKK/YPG/Goran is NATO. This is a familiar scenario. Or should be? As I mentioned more then a year ago - Think KLAAs mentioned here: November 2014/ Kurd/ ISIS Symbiosis- The impending destruction of Turkey.Abundant ad hominems aside- CATO mentions the need for a sober look at the Kurdish allies. I laugh! Why do I laugh? I've had my sober look already. And see more trouble. More war. More misery. More destabilization. More refugees. As intended. CATO's sober look reads like a preparatory narrative for "Oh we didn't know this was going to happen" I can see it now.... Unintended consequences. CATO
One of the few apparent successes in the wreckage that has characterized the US-led policies in Iraq and Syria has been the role of the Kurds. The emergence of what seemed to be a prosperous, democratic Kurdish region in northern Iraq was its principal bright spot. Moreover, the Kurds have proven to be extremely capable fighters. The ability of Kurdish forces, the Peshmerga, to defend territory from ferocious ISIS military assaults, and even inflict significant defeats on the Islamist insurgents, has increased the ranks of Western, especially American, admirers. The Peshmerga’s tenacious resistance, despite having to rely on antiquated military hardware, has stood in stark contrast to the pitiful performance of the well-equipped, US-trained Iraqi army that ignobly fled encounters with ISIS and relinquished control of major urban centers, such as Mosul and Ramadi, with scarcely a fight.
Although the successes of Iraqi Kurdish forces have received the most attention, their Syrian colleagues have been nearly as successful. Their victory over ISIS in the city of Kobani near the Turkish border was only the most prominent of those triumphs. Kurdish units have gained control over significant swaths of territory elsewhere in northern Syria.The Obama administration has begun to step up direct military assistance to the Peshmerga. This became quite apparent when the United States provided massive air cover to the Kurdish units that recently expelled ISIS from the city of Sinjar in northern Iraq. That victory threatens important ISIS supply lines between territories it controls in Syria and areas it occupies in Iraq.
Kurdistan has acquired a growing roster of advocates in the United States. Indeed, some opinion leaders have urged Washington to downgrade its support of the Baghdad government and place greater reliance on relations with Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. A few outspoken supporters even regard Kurdistan as second only to Israel as a reliable, democratic US ally in the Middle East - a view encouraged by influential Israelis.
Kurdistan's advocates (lobby) have been busy for a good while. As mentioned here on at least two previous occasions. And Israel loves the Kurds! Cause "Kurdistan" is greater Israel! Covered that fact so many times here I've lost count!!!Washington tossed Maliki to the curb, long ago downgrading it's support of Baghdad.So we are witnessing a process in action, not one that is yet to come.
A more sober view is needed. The Kurds are indeed capable fighters, and they are vehement opponents of ISIS and other manifestations of Islamic extremism. However, both the Iraqi Kurds and their Syrian counterparts have their own political agendas. And those agendas inevitably cause problems for the Baghdad government and for Turkey, a key member of NATO.
The notion that Iraqi Kurdistan is merely a semi-autonomous region within a united Iraq is little more than a convenient, and increasingly implausible, diplomatic fiction. The reality is that Kurdistan is an independent state in everything but name, with its own military force (the Peshmerga), its own flag, and its own currency. The Kurdistan regional government (KRG) in Erbil increasingly bypasses the central government to strike lucrative deals with foreign corporations, especially to sell oil on the international market - often over Baghdad’s explicit objections.
It was a revealing development when the forces that liberated Sinjar all flew the Kurdish flag. The Iraqi national flag was nowhere to be seen. The same display of Kurdish separatism was evident during the earlier victory of Syrian Kurdish forces in Kobani. The reality is that Kurdish leaders have no enthusiasm for or loyalty to the Iraqi and Syrian states. Despite sometimes intense internal bickering (especially among Syrian Kurds), their overarching goal is the creation of a Greater Kurdistan. That entity would encompass not only the majority Kurdish regions in Iraq and Syria, but a major portion of southeastern Turkey as well.
Ha, ha ha liberated Sinjar! - Yes, Sinjar was liberated. From Iraq! And a connection was made, between Iraq and Syria for an expanded Kurdistan.Flashback: Sinjar: Creating a Crucial Supply Route for KurdIShIS & Annexing Iraqi Territory
Turkey is especially nervous about Kurdish military successes. Ankara regards Iraqi Kurdistan as the probable embryo of a Greater Kurdistan that would eventually seek to incorporate Turkey’s own restless Kurdish minority. The KRG’s apparent willingness to provide safe havens to armed insurgents of Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has launched numerous attacks into Turkey, further angers the Turkish government and has led Ankara’s troops to conduct repeated punitive expeditions inside Iraqi Kurdistan. (Against the PKK. Because Barzani and Turkey have good relations)
Turkish leaders appear to be drawing a firm line against further manifestations of Kurdish separatism, especially in Syria President Erdoğan has stated explicitly that his government will not allow the emergence of a de facto independent Kurdish region in northern Syria akin to Iraqi Kurdistan. That is not surprising. Erdoğan and his colleagues fear that Iraqi Kurdistan and Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria would eventually link up to create an extensive, hostile presence along Turkey’s southern border.
Already happening!
Moreover, the principal Syrian Kurdish faction, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and its armed contingent, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), appear to have even closer ties to the Marxist PKK inside Turkey than the KRG. Expanded Kurdish power, therefore, is seen as a dire menace to Turkey’s sovereignty and unity.
YPG/PKK= Same/Same. Turkey's sovereignty. NATO could care less. Reread or read the more then year old post, linked above, Kurd/ISIS symbiosis the impending destruction of Turkey
If that factor is not enough to induce caution on the part of Western policymakers, recent developments have also cast doubt on the narrative of Iraq Kurdistan as a stable, prosperous, democratic entity. The Erbil government has faced increasing financial woes over the past year, especially with the plunge in global oil prices, which has greatly eroded the KRG’s principal source of revenue. That problem is exacerbated by blatant cronyism and corruption.
As Kurdistan’s economic success story has faded, so too has the region’s reputation as a bastion of democracy. Human Rights Watch slammed the government’s recent behavior, especially that of the dominant political party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) headed by Masoud Barzani, who has been the President of the KRG since 2005. Joe Stark, Deputy Middle East Director for Human Rights Watch, is especially caustic. “The KDP claims to be rights–respecting,” he notes, but it “has a history of shutting down critical voices.”
The political trend is not encouraging. Barzani has remained in office despite the expiration of his legal mandate. Worse, his government has engineered a crackdown on the two opposition parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Goran (“Change”). The culmination occurred in late October when the KDP unilaterally removed four opposition ministers from their government posts and replaced them with KDP loyalists. At the height of the controversy, KDP-controlled security forces even prevented the speaker of the regional parliament from returning to Erbil. Those forces also closed down two television channels, including one controlled by Goran, which had been critical of Barzani. Much to the dismay of Kurdistan’s Western supporters, the KRG increasingly looks like a Putin-style, illiberal democracy riddled with cronyism and corruption.
Bad, bad Barzani....
Although Kurdish forces may be useful military allies against ISIS, Western leaders need to go into any alliance with their eyes wide open. Cooperating with the Kurds entails a number of troubling outcomes that directly contradict other official US and NATO goals. Those objectives include preserving the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Iraq and Syria and not supporting measures that cause problems for a fellow NATO member, Turkey. Western leaders face some difficult and potentially risky choices.
Unintended consequences, of course. Rolls eyes and ends this post with disgust. It's been obvious to me that the US and NATO never intended to preserve the territorial integrity of Iraq or Syria. And the YPG has been nothing but a means to destroy Syria. As the PKK is the means to destroy Turkey.I have more to say about Turkey's conundrum as another commenter calls it. Because Turkey's problem, which has been Iraq and Syria's problem will be Iran's soon enough
P5+1 is a distraction. Early Seeds of Iranian destabilization cross the Turkish border
But hey, I'm just a "kurd hater" LOL! (dedicated to the ad hominem flingers everywhere)