November 25th, 2008 by Tariq

Anna Fifield at The Financial Times has an interesting piece on Kurdistan, highlighting a problem that looms on the horizon, “The Kurdistan regional government is pushing for a vote to allow Kirkuk residents to decide whether they become part of the northern region. But the disputed territory has become so sensitive that Kirkuk will be excluded from nationwide provincial polls due to be held before January 31 as an Iraqi parliamentary commission examines the demographic changes that have taken place there. It is due to report back by March.”

Complicating matters further, Ernesto Londono of the Washington Post writes that “Kurdish officials this fall took delivery of three planeloads of small arms and ammunition imported from Bulgaria, three U.S. military officials said, an acquisition that occurred outside the weapons procurement procedures of Iraq’s central government.” Judah Grunstein of World Politics Review also weighs in on this, saying, “It’s still possible that the country might degress into a Sunni-Shiite-Kurd free for all once we’re gone…Given the argument about how strategically significant Iraqi stability is to U.S. interests, do we go back in in the event of a civil war breaking out following our departure?”

Posted in Iraq, Kurds |