Twenty-two years after their Iraqi Kurdish brethren proclaimed their autonomy against the backdrop of an uprising against Saddam Hussein, Syrian Kurds yesterday formally declared the creation of an autonomous government. The United States should embrace the move. Syrian Kurds have largely restored order to the territory they control in and around the town of Qamishli. Children go to school, hospitals are open, and the local government provides basic services. This was no mean feat: Syrian Kurdish militias had to defend their region from encroachments and attacks from the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
So far, the United States has avoided contact with the Syrian Kurds, and has repeatedly denied Democratic Union Party (PYD) leader Salih Muslim a visa. The problem is two-fold: First, the PYD maintains close relations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey. Ninety percent of Syrian Kurds sympathize with the PKK, which is no surprise since its leader Abullah Öcalan had for years resided in Syria and because they see the revived Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) as both corrupt and tribal: Syrian Kurds have no desire for leaders who prioritize a distant family over their own. American officials also say that the PYD is too close to Bashar al-Assad. This is an exaggeration: the PYD sees extremism on both sides of the conflict, and has worked to maintain their neutrality.
To ignore the autonomous Kurdish government in Syria would be a major mistake, however. The Syrian opposition has radicalized over the years. The moderates have long since been pushed aside. The alternative to the secular Kurdish administration is the Nusra Front and other opposition groups which hold the West in disdain.
In 1991, the Iraqi Kurds were pariahs, and treated poorly by the United States. Let us be glad that the Iraqi Kurds were forgiving, because they ultimately proved to be a great strategic asset to the United States. So long as the Syrian Kurds do not prematurely try to change Syria’s borders, there is no reason why we should not embrace the opportunity to bolster U.S. strategic interests and local liberty at the same time.
yamit82 Said:
Yes, of course, I was going to add that and I’m glad you did. The Jews are an indigenous ME people.
I would like to see an example to support your statement that Islam had a moderating effect on ME culture and peoples. Neither Islam nor the Roman expression of Christianity ever concerned itself with displacing barbarism anywhere. These were simply poisons to confuse people about the worship of the God of Israel.
Ted, and everyone else should view this lecture by Mordecai Kedar.
Terror Unmasked: Why Is the Middle East Such a Violent Area?
Dr. Mordechai Kedar on the important topic of the true nature of the Middle East. What is it that Westerners do not understand about this volatile region? Why does it seem like there is perpetual conflict with no end in sight? Kedar, a Professor of Arabic Literature at Israelapos;s Bar-Ilan University, focuses on three areas of explanation: Tribalism, Ethnicities, and Religions.
ppksky Said:
“as are the Persians, the Turks, the Syrians, the Egyptians and” The Jews!! The Jews are an indigenous ME People.
The cultures of the pre-Islamic ME and Asia Minor were even more Barbaric than Islam is today. If anything Islam has had a moderating influence on these cultures and peoples. Where Islam could not remove some very barbaric customs and beliefs they incorporated them into Islam much the same way christianity did with pagan cultures and peoples converting to christianity.
Jewish Genealogy
Israeli explains the difference between Muslims and Jews
Palestinians: Do you think Israeli Jews are indigenous to the land?
CuriousAmerican Said:
Yes, they are Muslim, my point exactly. I’m not at all worried about their pre-Islamic beliefs. Islam is the problem.
Read about the Armenian Genocide. The Muslim Kurds were allies to the Muslim Turks in the Armenian Genocide and the territory they now occupy in Turkey was once Armenian territory. The Armenian Genocide was driven by Islam.
Most Kurds are Muslim though.
There are a few Yezedi Satan worshippers. Check it out. There chief god is a snake called HaShaitan.
They are not a stable people.
We should avoid them.
CuriousAmerican Said:
I hate to nitpick, but yours is a typical mistake. You are confusing Arabs with Islam, which is only natural since Islam originated with the Arabs and spread through violent invasion by the Arabs and later their Muslim subjects. The Kurds are not Arabs, they are a distinct ethnic and racial group in the Middle East, as are the Persians, the Turks, the Syrians, the Egyptians and probably a few others. But these are all Muslim peoples and Islam is the problem, not the Arabs or any of the other ethnic groups in the Middle East, including the Jews.
The USA should embrace no Arabs in the Mideast, except maybe the Christians to get them out of the Mideast.
The rest of the Arabs are unreliable and insane.
The US won’t wish to displease Iran and Turkey and will therefore not support this kind of decision by the Kurds who should create their own country.
Before we support Kurdish nationalism, we should explore first the role the Kurds played in the Armenian Genocide. They were complicit. Not only that, but much of what they claim in Turkey as Kurdish homeland was once Armenian territory. Syria too saw Armenian bloodshed. This history matters.
@ NormanF:
The Kurds in Syria will have autonomy until one or the other side win. The only help they can count on is from their brothers in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The West will sell them out as its trying to sell Israel out.
After all, Bashar Assad wears suits, speaks good English and is a reformer.
So is every Arab dictator.