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And the Winners are? The Kurds

By on 14th June 2014 in John Cookson, Politics, Security

He is right they have.  I was in Baghdad when it was being bombed by the Iranians in the 1980s, in the southern deserts when Saddam's forces were routed by a US-led coalition, I witnessed revolutions against Saddam by Shias south and Kurds in the north in 1991, I was in the so-called Sunni triangle with US Marines in 2003, in the graveyard at Najaf with Moqtada al-Sadr when his forces were blitzed by American F16s, with the Sunnis as they crushed Al Qaeda 2007,  and so the story goes on and on.  The sands of Iraq are indeed soaked with the blood of its people.

But my spirited Kurdish minister friend was perhaps right to be upbeat.

The jihadist attack is a disaster for Iraq's Shias but the Kurds have got what they wanted - a de facto nation of their own with Kirkuk their long dreamt of cultural capital.

An independent Kurdistan is simply in their DNA. You cannot over estimate what this means for the Kurds who have themselves suffered unspeakable persecution especially during Saddam's reign.

Kurdistan has enough oil and gas to supply the world for the next several centuries, and if that is not wealth enough they have not begun to exploit mineral wealth like gold and platinum which lies in their mountains.

Small wonder there will be jubilation in the cafes and streets of Erbil and Suleimaniyah tonight.

And will the Kurds help beleaguered Al Maliki? I doubt it.

Indeed one reliable source in Baghdad tells me Kurdish elements in the Iraqi security forces tipped off the Shia military hierarchy that ISIS was heading to Mosul and that they should flee east into the KRG region leaving equipment behind.

Sure Peshmerga forces will secure the southern border with federal Iraq and slaughter any ISIS fighters who attack Kurds.

But that is it.

John Cookson has been reporting from Iraq for 25 years for international news channels including Al Jazeera English and Sky News.  Twitter: @Newsman1000

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24 Responses to And the Winners are? The Kurds

  1. Hussain 14th June 2014 at 16:17 #

    I'm confident that the security forces will regain control over lost territory in due time. Even if they're unorganized and lack training the numbers would just overwhelm the relatively small Sunni insurgents. Also, not all of them are untrained and lack battle experience, thousands of Iraqi's fighting in Syria are pouring back to fight the insurgents.

    They also have an advantage in the air with F16's coming in along with Russian helicopters. Once the Iraqi military gets back on its feet and regains its momentum it will regain control of Kirkuk and an independent Kurdistan would be postponed.

  2. Cristiano Ronaldo 15th June 2014 at 09:11 #

    I believe the kurds want to support Iraq, the iraqi army which they have giving shelter and protection and once they have secure the kurdish communitiies in the disputed territoriesjeir they will be more available for Iraq IF Maliki is replaced by somebody else like Mr Hakkim.

    The root of all this sunni revolution or call it what you want, the failed purge of the Iraqi army officials, the never ending clashes with ethnical sunnis/kurdishand and non Dawa shia is Nouri al-Maliki.

    The hindrance to US active support and reluctance to deliver sophisticated weapons to Iraq is Nouri al-Maliki. The leaving of the US forces from Iraq despite of the knowledge that the Iraqi army was not ready is Nouri al-Maliki.

    The collapse of the Iraqi Army managed by Dawa political officers without militar training and lack of leadership happened when the Cif in Command is Nouri al-Maliki.

    Iraq needs a political solution very urgently before we put militar arrangements in place under an incompetent militar and political leadership or Nouri al-Maliki.

    So the resources, the will to fix Iraq is here in Iraq. What we miss is the removal of the rotten head or Nouri al-Maliki. I hope that Hakkim takes action now.