Kurdistan is a nation that many do not know exists, unless they have been paying close attention to the Syrian Civil War.
Kurdistan is a major player in the fight against ISIS, along with ISIS opposition by the U.S. and Iraq. However, as the threat of ISIS has disappeared, the Iraqi guns supplied by the U.S. to fight ISIS have been turned against the Kurds, resulting in the Kirkuk region being seized from Kurdistan, a territory the new nation has held since 2014.
The reason for the Iraqi invasion is Kirkuk’s part in Iraq before 2014. Many Kurds and Westerners are astonished that the U.S. has not at least tried to mediate the two powers’ conflict. However, those same individuals are not surprised that the U.S. has not tried to stop Iraq from using U.S. weapons against the Kurds.
Masoud Barzani, the soon-to-be resigned Kurdish President, has expressed his outrage and astonishment at the U.S., stating, “Our people should now question whether the U.S. was aware of Iraq’s attack and why they did not prevent it … Why would Washington want to punish Kurdistan?”
For centuries, Kurdistan has been fighting for its independence from Turkey, Iraq, and Syria, where the majority of Kurdish ethnic groups reside. With the destabilization of Iraq and Syria, the Kurdish forces have been able to fill the power vacuum and prevent ISIS from enslaving millions of men and women at the start of 2014 when ISIS seized control.
So why should you care?
Foreign fighters from the U.S. to Turkey have joined in helping the Kurdish people free themselves from the tyranny of ISIS. Everyone from college students, to U.S. military veterans have fought for Kurdistan, and the U.S. repaid these brave people with an Iraqi onslaught supplied by weapons made by the overworked proletariat in U.S. factories. The death of Kurdistan will also be a major blow to international politics, as it is the only power that was able to defeat ISIS, capture Raqqa and Mosul, and simultaneously liberate millions of people from extremist religious fatwas imposed by ISIS.
Of additional concern, British Petroleum (BP) began operating the Kirkuk oilfields within a day of Iraqi takeover.
According to Rudaw, “As soon as the city of Kirkuk fell to the Iraqi government after Peshmerga withdrew and pulled out its forces in mid-October, the UK government asked [BP] to begin work at Kirkuk oilfields, which are currently under Baghdad’s control.”
This occurrence indicates that capitalists may have been arming the reactionary forces of Iraq and allowing them to crush the Kurdish nation, as the Kurdish people have been fighting for a socialist revolution for years. If Kurdistan were to succeed as a political entity, socialism would spread to the rest of the Middle East, prompting the end of a friendly relationship with the U.S.
This is at least one take as to why the U.S. and other western powers involved in the anti-ISIS coalition have allowed the Iraqis to turn U.S. weapons on Kurdish forces and retake land from the Kurds.
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