<html><body> <DIV>Surely, I don't see how any sane person can deny that there is an Iraqi Arab idendity - it is the oldest country on Earth. It is equally fair to say,  that the Iraqi Kurds don't share that idendity. Their presence in the Iraqi nation state can surely be blamed on the British, or more precisely the Imperial powers who divided the Earth in Versailles after World War I. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Original message -------------- <BR>From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood@panix.com> <BR><BR>> Leigh Meyers wrote: <BR>> <BR>> >The west believes that Iraq is falling apart. <BR>> >It's not. <BR>> >"Iraq" is a creation of the... British, I believe. <BR>> >There has NEVER been an "Iraq", except on maps. <BR>> <BR>> Christian Parenti, who spent a lot more time in Iraq than you have, <BR>> says this isn't true. A lot of Iraqis identified as Iraqis when they <BR>> talked to him. <BR>> <BR>> Doug <BR>> ___________________________________ <BR>> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk </BLOCKQUOTE></body></html>