infoisrael.net/ Jan 24, 2004

It is quite troubling to observe President George W. Bush’s blithe treatment of his ever-loyal Kurdish ally’s concerns. The Kurds deserve to democratically reside in an independent nation of Kurdistan. Why must all authority within the current borders of Iraq be centralized in Baghdad when the primary inhabitants of that unstable Middle East enclave are born of three substantially divergent cultural perspectives? A three state solution would solve so many problems, avoid an inevitable civil war and indeed further America’s presumed democratic aims. The present Iraq could be equitably divided into separate sovereign Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish states, each allocated living space and wealth in proportion to their respective populations. The nascent nation of Kurdistan could have as its capital the fossil fuel rich city of Kirkuk, allowing it to become a vibrant secular democratic socio-economic force in the region. America’s ally Turkey alas would need to accept that fact. Choices must be made. Maybe an acceptable Bush administration official could grease the skids a bit for the tolerant mostly secular Turkish state’s eventual acceptance into the European Union? Skilled diplomacy can do wonders.

A prescient Israel should enhance its relationship with the likewise secular tolerant democratic Kurdish people without degrading its own less than ideal friendship with a Turkish nation perhaps licking its wounds. Naturally, this might require a Houdini-like effort unless goodwill prevailed in the aforementioned diplomatic arena. Nevertheless, all civil societies need to forthwith find ways to resolve their differences. The ever-metastasizing scourge of Islamic Wahhabi-infected fundamentalism has declared war on the perceived infidel i.e. everyone else. Such insidious ilk must be eradicated and it will require the cooperation as well as fortitude of all civil societies to prevail against those desiring to ravage the planet and thwart the evolving sanity of our species. Far too much is at stake not to succeed in this endeavor.