  |
|
| |
|
|
|
 Kurds Riot and Turn Against Their LeadersPosted on Mar 16, 2006
Truthdig says: Remember Kurdistan, that semiautonomous northern part of Iraq that we always point to as a model of stable, quasi-democratic governance? Well, corruption up there is so systemic that thousands of people vented their anger by burning down a government museum. The horrible irony: The museum commemorates the thousands of Kurds who died in Saddam Hussein’s 1988 gas attack. It had become an emblem of government greed. Another front just opened up in the Iraqi civil war that the Pentagon claims doesn’t exist.
N.Y. Times: HALABJA, Iraq, March 16—For nearly two decades, Kurds have gathered peacefully in this mountainous corner of northern Iraq to commemorate one of the blackest days in their history. It was here that Saddam Hussein’s government launched a poison gas attack that killed more than 5,000 people on March 16, 1988. So it came as a shock when hundreds of stone-throwing protesters took to the streets here on the anniversary today, beating back government guards to storm and destroy a museum dedicated to the memory of the Halabja attack. The violence, pitting furious locals against a much smaller force of armed security men, was the most serious popular challenge yet to the political parties that have ruled Kurdistan for the past 15 years. Coming on the day the new Iraqi Parliament met for the first time, the episode was a reminder that the issues facing Iraq go well beyond fighting Sunni Arab insurgents and agreeing on cabinet ministers in Baghdad. Previous item: Frist Throws Immigration Debate Into Disarray Next item: Going Deeper and Deeper Into Hock Elsewhere: . CommentsAre you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig. Add Your Comment |
|
McCain’s Warped Worldview
Email
Print
Share
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Ma.gnolia
Newsvine
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo
Jump to Comments
Bazaar|Podcast|About Us|Contact Us|User Agreement|Privacy Policy|FAQ: Comments and Moderation
Copyright © 2008 Truthdig, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
By felicity smith, March 17, 2006 at 11:51 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
According to the regional prime minister of the Kurds the 2000 Kurds who stormed and burned the monument in Halabja were fired up by outsiders, Islamic radicals. So, the Kurds are not really protesting anything, it’s those outsiders. And in Iraq? It’s not Iraqis who are the insurgents or the violent sectarians, no, it’s Iranians, Al Queda, Syrians...Therefore, the people with the dirty hands are absolved. It’s the people’s fault for following outsiders. Neat trick if you can get away with it.
Report thisBy anonymous, March 17, 2006 at 6:25 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
So rioters in northern Kurdistan have burned down the museum that honors the martyrs of Saddam Husein’s poison gas attack on the town of Halabja eighteen years ago today. What’s made these Kurds angry, according to the article, is the corruption and greed of the P.U.K , whose leaders use money donated to the museum for their own purposes. It seems that The museum is the Kurdish equivalent of ground zero in NYC, since it’s where visiting dignataries are taken to show them what a demon Saddam was. What’s puzzling, though,is that the rioters destroyed a sign that warned Baathists not to enter the museum. Why would they do that? Could it be that they distinguish between Saddam ("evil") and the Baath party (not so “evil”, maybe)?
Report thisI’ve has some doubts as to the allegiance of the Kurds ever since visiting Kirkuk (one year after the Gulf War I.), where at an assembly of about 400 workers, the prevailing sentiment expressed was decidely and vociferouly pro-Baath
Sure, It was difficult to know how much this pro-Baathism applied to the whole of Kurdistan, since Kirkuk is a disputed territority (much like Kansas was before our own Civil War), with Kurdistan and Iraq each claiming it as their own. Now, with this new “Front” opening up in northern Kurdistan, perhaps those workers were reflecting popular sentiment, after all? If so, that’s one more reason to bring our troops home now!