A civil war menage-a-trois
Seems that part of President Bush's new strategy for Iraq is sending in 3,600 Kurdish troops -- the first time such a large number of Kurdish forces have been sent to Baghdad.
Hmmm .. wonder what will happen next ..
"Adding Kurds to troops considered risky prospect
01-14) 04:00 PST Baghdad -- Already a dangerous battleground for an array of forces, Baghdad could soon be flooded with another volatile element: thousands of Kurds from northern Iraq.
As part of President Bush's new strategy for Iraq, between 8,000 and 10,000 Iraqi troops will deploy to Baghdad from elsewhere in the country in the coming weeks, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. As many as 3,600 of them could be Kurdish troops.
It would be the first time such a large number of Kurdish forces have been sent to the capital.
It would be the first time such a large number of Kurdish forces have been sent to the capital.
In the northern city of Irbil, Brig. Gen. Nazir Assem Korran, commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade, 2nd Division of the Iraqi army, said a Kurdish army brigade is undergoing intensive urban combat training.
....The impending deployment has raised fears among Kurds, most of whom live in a well-protected autonomous enclave, that they are being dragged more directly into Iraq's bloody and complex civil war.
...."I advise the Kurdish people to apply pressure on their leaders to prevent this step," said Mohammed al-Dayni, a lawmaker from a main Sunni bloc.
Kurdish forces, he said, "will face firm resistance from both the Sunnis and the Shiites."
Sheikh Abdul-Razzaq al-Nidawi, an aide to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, agreed that Kurdish troops would not be welcome.
"The Kurds, frankly speaking, consider themselves superior to other Iraqis," he said. [..]
Wonder what's the quid pro quo? A Kurdistan?
Let me get this straight--the Kurds, the Shia, and the Sunnis all think this is a bad idea and it will only make things worse. But hey, it'll be more boots-on-the-ground numbers to bring up at press conferences.
So much for disarming the militias .. the Kurds are already dreaming of revenge against those who used the posion gas to wipe out entire Kurdish villages. They probably can't wait to get their hands on the ones who helped Saddam gas them -- Sunnis and former Baathists.
Ah well, the Sunni and Shiite might do less killing of each other and turn their attention to killing the Kurdish soldiers instead.
Not understanding the Middle East, Bush may think he's going to make "all" Iraqis responsible for their own security, that it's a good idea to ask all tribes to share his vision of a unified Iraq; sorry, but I'll bet Iraqis have learned to trust their local militias more than either the Iraqi or US governments.
All George Bush is doing is putting red ants in with the black ants ....
