[Vision2020] Just info

[Ron Force]

Kirkuk is a disputed area. The dominant population was Kurds and Turkomen
until the 1980's, when Saddam started expelling them, and bringing in Arabs
to control the oilfields. The Kurds are attempting to return and declare
Kirkuk as their capital. There's also a significant minority of Christians.
Kirkuk is an oil-producing region, and control over it means control of
significant wealth.   So, the soldier would have to have known to which
group he was referring when he said they want us there. Obviously, the Kurds
are enthusiastic US supporters, the Turkomen less so, and the Arab
population, not at all, although the US presence has so far protected them
from massive ethnic cleansing by the Kurds.

>From the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2935362.stm

"The Americans seem to be completely lost," says Hasan Muhamad, a colonel in
the new Kirkuk police force.

"They are all military, they don't understand the politics of the place."

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Ron Force          Dean of Library Services
U of Idaho         PO Box 442350
Moscow ID 83844    rforce at uidaho.edu
(208) 885-6534
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I had a fascinating talk with a soldier who is home from Iraq on Saturday
about how things really are in Iraq. I had heard a talk show host quote the
Brookings institute stats and found them to see how they correlate with the
soldier experience.
One of the things the soldier told me was that there are mud homes in Iraq
that look like they've been there 400 years and recently they have satillite
dishes on them. I found this good news. Not that they may just be watching
reruns of Dallas but that they may be watching the BBC, CNN, Fox or anything
other than Al Jezera(spelling?). I was informed that they are and that in
Kirkuk where he is working the people are very aware of why we are there and
have no desire for us to leave soon.