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[Mandark]

The Washington Post reports.

KIRKUK, Iraq -- Police and security units, forces led by Kurdish political parties and backed by the U.S. military, have abducted hundreds of minority Arabs and Turkmens in this intensely volatile city and spirited them to prisons in Kurdish-held northern Iraq, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials, government documents and families of the victims.

Seized off the streets of Kirkuk or in joint U.S.-Iraqi raids, the men have been transferred secretly and in violation of Iraqi law to prisons in the Kurdish cities of Irbil and Sulaymaniyah, sometimes with the knowledge of U.S. forces. The detainees, including merchants, members of tribal families and soldiers, have often remained missing for months; some have been tortured, according to released prisoners and the Kirkuk police chief.

A confidential State Department cable, obtained by The Washington Post and addressed to the White House, Pentagon and U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, said the "extra-judicial detentions" were part of a "concerted and widespread initiative" by Kurdish political parties "to exercise authority in Kirkuk in an increasingly provocative manner."

The city of Kirkuk is a bit of a sticking point in Iraq. It has a history of being a multi-ethnic city, with Kurds, Turkmen, and Arabs. In the 80's Saddam displaced a bunch of the residents and replaced them with Arabs to strengthen his hold on the city.

One of the root problems is (surprise) Kirkuk has a very rich oil-field.

Many Kurds have returned or moved to Kirkuk since the war, and the Kurdish parties want it included in their semi-autonomous territory. The Arab leaders in Iraq disagree. This has been the biggest sticking point between the Kurdish and Shiite parties.

Three main lessons to be drawn from this:

1) Iraq has no real central authority or rule of law. Whoever has the most local muscle decides what happens.

2) Kirkuk is a sticky situation.

3) Just because a country or group is allied with the US does not mean they're inherently good. People like Christopher Hitchens either need to start understanding this, or stop pretending they don't understand.

 

[RiZ III]

O those silly arabs hehe..

 

[pollo]

This will eventually happen when you give a repressed minority like the kurds any form of power =X.

Next up: Turkey and Iran

 

[Koshiro]

Bad news out of Iraq.

Well I never.

 

[bob_arctor]

Well I never.

:lol :lol