>"US is abandoning plans to introduce democracy in Iraq"
>
>From: Reed Tryte (reed_tryte at yahoo.com)
>Date: Tue Feb 18 2003 - 00:43:45 EST
>
>What an incredible surprise. Who could possibly have
>seen this coming?
>
>http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=379060
>
>Kurdish leaders enraged by 'undemocratic' American
>plan to occupy Iraq
>
>By Patrick Cockburn in Arbil, northern Iraq
>
>17 February 2003
As one of the elements of the price of support for a US attack, of course Turkey will want to occupy free Iraqi Kurdistan, otherwise its own Kurdish areas will expect similar autonomy or even independence.
This is a cardinal test of the humanitarian justice of this war. If the US really wanted to undermine Saddam with the minimum use of armed force, it would help the Kurds overthrow the radical fundamentalist enclave with its possible links with Al Qaeda. But the US is playing politics with this enclave as much as Saddam is.
Chris Burford
London