Michael Totten says it’s time to let Iraq die:
The Kurds will be happy to go and will likely declare independence if the United States finally ceases championing “the territorial integrity of Iraq.” Washington should drop the phrase and at least quietly back the only true allies it has over there, and guarantee their safety from the Turks or anyone else who finds Kurdish independence inconvenient.
A free Kurdish state would be as reliable an American ally as Israel. It might also embolden the Kurds of Syria to declare their own state. Both could function as permanent buffers—and perhaps even beachheads—against the likes of ISIS, Assad, or any other bad actors whom we haven’t yet heard of in this region filled with aspirants.
Free Kurdistan should have been the price of Turkish intransigence during the lead-up to the Iraq War in early 2003 — just one of many times George W Bush’s “little bit pregnant” actions failed to match his cowboy rhetoric. We owe this to the Kurds who, bless them, still seem to believe in America.
Do please read Totten’s whole piece, which is about a lot more than just Kurdistan.
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