No doubt purely temporarily, until the situation resolves itself:
Iraqi Kurdish forces say they have taken full control of the northern oil city of Kirkuk as the army flees before an Islamist offensive nearby.
“The whole of Kirkuk has fallen into the hands of peshmerga,” Kurdish spokesman Jabbar Yawar told Reuters. “No Iraq army remains in Kirkuk now.”
Kurdish fighters are seen as a bulwark against Sunni Muslim insurgents.
:Murmuring: Tsk, tsk. Bad future reliable American client state! Bad! No biscuit!
Moe Lane (crosspost)
PS: You may want to take a look at that BBC map. Because I’m pretty sure the people running don’t-call-it-Kurdistan are looking at one too, and thinking that Mosul’s portion of the Tigris would make a much better don’t-call-it-a-border.
PPS: Annnnd there’s the Kurds walking into the K1 base and leaving with all the things. Including the tanks. Which will no doubt all be lost over the next week, in a series of tragic canoe accidents.
Just puttin’ this out there ..
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http://loiter.co/v/watch-as-1000years-of-european-boarders-change/
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Most of the current “borders” in the middle east were drawn by the Brits (and the other european powers) .. I’m wondering if we’re about to see some new lines being drawn.
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As for don’t-call-it-Kurdistan as a potential client state, while they may *want* to be our client, I’m sure they’ll be willing to client for any of the other powers ..
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Mew
Yes and no: they’ve got lots of history with their neighbors, and we’re on the other side of the planet and don’t even remotely want any of their real estate. We’ll buy their oil though, yah, you betcha.
And .. that’s the thing .. we’re not buying as much oil as we used to, so we can afford to be a little more picky about where we’re buying it *from*.
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China, on the other paw, are buying a lot more oil, and that trend appears likely to continue…
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Mew
Aside: that video only covers ~100 years, from 1772 to 1877.
On topic: there are lots of good reasons why the Kurds should have their own nation, which is why the neighboring states have worked so very hard to stop them getting one.
Go go gadget Kurds.
+1
Bad? Pfft. All the biscuits they want. If our current president wants to throw away everything our troops achieved in Iraq, I can at least look forward to the silver lining of a free and independent Kurdistan, and some really angry Sunnis and Turks in the bargain.
Looks like a good week for the fracking lobby.
What? Too cynical?
Sorry, but I have no sympathy for a people who will not defend themselves and/or their way of life.
Heh. You really wanna gauge for that, look at whether European fracking picks up.
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Mew
And Iran, part of Kurdish population lives in Iran. Moreover the Kurds have a growing population unlike many of their neighbors.
And Syria. And Turkey (despite the best efforts of the Turks).
Of course, there’s the likelihood that Turkey loses their mind over this.
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That, I’m less than enthusiastic about.
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But I wish the Kurds the best. (And the Druze, and the Sikhs, and the Jews, and all the other poor bastards who live in the region. Who do not deserve this sh*t.)
I saw some pictures of female Kurdish militia. They reminded me of the ladies of the IDF. I do not think they will take kindly to Sharia.
Our talented President will do something to screw this up. It might not even be intentional, but I wouldn’t bet on that.