Apr 27, 2004

Kurdistan: Kurds' success provides lesson for rest of Iraq


Ralph Peters visited Kurdistan and sees positive developments which could set an example for the rest of Iraq
Untitled Document By Ralph Peters
The garbage truck was inspiring. Making the early morning rounds, its energetic crew collected the trash from a tidy residential street in a hopeful city booming with construction sites. That wouldn't be a big deal in America. But this was in Iraq.
While the media concentrate on the combat and confusion to the south, I recently visited the north of the country, where Iraq's 5 million Kurds have brought off a near miracle: They've built a financially efficient, rule-of-law democracy in the Middle East. Elsewhere, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) spends billions to keep a failed state on life support. While the rest of Iraq's population wallows in the region's addiction to blame, the Kurds have rolled up their sleeves and gone to work. There is a lesson here for Iraq — and U.S. policymakers, who insist on keeping Kurdistan a part of that blood-soaked country.

This month, in the Arab sections of central and southern Iraq, insurgents, religious extremists and international terrorists indulged in an orgy of kidnapping and killing of U.S. troops. Yet, in the north lies Suleimaniye. Here, in the capital of one of the two Kurdish regional governments, officials are writing zoning laws, demanding environmental impact statements from builders and making education funding a priority.

In the streets, women walk freely and safely, dressed any way they wish. Only a minority choose Islamic garb — head scarves, not veils. The regional prime minister, Barham Salih, wants to increase the number of female government officials, describing them as "harder working" than men and "utterly incorruptible." And there are no forced marriages.

Just over 45% of the university students are women. Males and females study side by side. Internet use is free to all students. There is no censorship or political influence on campus. Not one of the oil-rich Gulf states rivals this still-poor country's educational freedom — or standards. There's a department of religious studies, but it's only one of 16 departments (and far from the most popular).

Still, the Kurdish government isn't content. It hopes to build a world-class "American" university to develop its human capital. As the rest of Iraq threatens to implode, the Kurds are racing against time to develop their infrastructure and provide opportunities for their population. International business is welcome, contractors aren't murdered, and even the Turks, longtime opponents of the Kurds, are investing.

If only the Kurds had a disaster or two, then someone might tell their story.

Of course, the Kurds do face significant problems. After decades of underinvestment, a growing economy has overtaxed the power system. Refined petroleum products have to be imported — in an oil-rich country. And hundreds of thousands of internal refugees, displaced by Saddam Hussein, face uncertain futures.

The biggest problem, though, is Washington's insistence that Kurdistan remain part of Iraq. The Kurds are doing their best to support our policies, despite skepticism about the country's future. They're determined that, if Iraq disintegrates, they won't be to blame. They want to make us happy, almost desperately.

If anyone believes that no good came of deposing the old regime, he or she should talk to the Kurds. For them, generations of oppression, ethnic cleansing, torture and massacre ended when Saddam's statue fell. But with hostile powers on their borders, their future security depends on America's goodwill. As terrorists campaign to drive the U.S. from the Middle East, the Kurds are begging for U.S. military bases on their territory.

When American politicians of either party describe the Middle East they'd like to see, they're describing the Kurdistan that already exists — in fact, if not in law. Yet, coalition authorities in Baghdad devote their efforts to holding a Frankenstein's monster of a country together — just as we and our allies earlier tried to force Yugoslavia to remain whole — while ignoring what the Kurds have already achieved. Instead of supporting our only friends in Iraq, we try to please implacable enemies by pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into cities whose people assassinate U.S. soldiers.

An ironclad military rule is "Don't reinforce failure. Reinforce success." In the attempted reconstruction of Iraq, our policy is just the opposite.

Diplomats always have plenty of "good" reasons for doing the wrong things. Borders can't change; stability must be achieved; regional sensibilities must be taken into account — the list of reasons why we cannot live up to our own professed ideals and support Kurdish self-determination is nearly endless. But a moment of truth is approaching: Either we support democracy, or we don't.

Why not hold a referendum? Why not let the Kurds decide their own future?

The United States needs to be clear: America isn't failing the rest of Iraq. The Iraqis are failing themselves. The war to depose Saddam handed them an opportunity no other power would have or could have given them. If, despite the U.S. investment of blood and treasure, Iraq's Arabs decide to squander their chance for a peaceful and prosperous future, there may be painfully little the United States can do about it.

But where freedom, the rule of law and democracy already exist, the United States should offer its support. There are three things the United States can and should do for the Kurds: guarantee their long-term security against neighboring countries; ensure that they receive their fair share of reconstruction aid and Iraq's oil revenue; and, if the rest of Iraq pursues bloodshed and destruction, support an independent Kurdish state.

Kurdistan isn't Iraq.

Go there and see.

Ralph Peters is the author of Beyond Baghdad: Postmodern War and Peace.

Source: USA Today