Even The Iraqi Kurds Want To Run A Course That Diverts From The Bush Plan

Kurds Cultivating Their Own Bonds With U.S.

The 30-second television commercial features stirring scenes of a young Iraqi boy high-fiving a U.S. soldier, a Westerner dining alfresco, and men and women dancing together. "Have you seen the other Iraq?" the narrator asks. "It's spectacular. It's joyful."

"Welcome to Iraqi Kurdistan!" the narrator continues. "It's not a dream. It's the other Iraq."

Even the notion of "the other Iraq" speaks volumes about how the sectarian, ethnic and religious differences--and conflicts--are playing out in Iraq. The Kurds, which have the best record in terms of controlling violence, restoring order, and restarting community services anywhere in Iraq, have expressed the concept of an Iraq that allows them to have significant autonomy, if not complete independence... as long as it has a fair share of the oil and economic resources. Of course, this revelation, even in its implied form, counters the Bush notion of a new, more modern and democratic Iraq.

With Sunni and Shiite Arabs locked in a bloody sectarian war, Iraq's Kurds are promoting their interests through an influence-buying campaign in the United States that includes airing nationwide television advertisements, hiring powerful Washington lobbyists and playing parts of the U.S. government against each other. A former car mechanic who happens to be the son of Iraq's president is at the center of Kurdish efforts to cultivate support for their semi-independent enclave, but the cast of Kurdish proponents also includes evangelical Christians, Israeli operatives and Republican political consultants.

The Kurds have learned something about our nation relatively fast: we are for sale. At least our politics and policies are for sale through influence peddling and power brokering. It is interesting that they have not only included the Christian Right and ultra-conservatives, but have specifically targeted them. However, given the recent rifts between these ultra-conservatives, these ultra-religious folks and President Bush (and most of his administration, one has to wonder if the Kurds haven't gone down the wrong political pathway. Given that many members of the GOP side of Congress are also building walls between the Bush gang and themselves, there may be some interesting developments in our relationship with the Kurds.

In the past year, the Kurds have spent more than $3 million to retain lobbyists and set up a diplomatic office in Washington. They are cultivating grass-roots advocates among supporters of President Bush's war policy and evangelicals who believe that many key figures in the Bible lived in Kurdistan. And they are seeking to build an emotional bond with ordinary Americans, like those forged by Israel and Taiwan, by running commercials on national cable news channels to assert that even as Iraq teeters toward a full-blown civil war, one corner of the country, at least, has fulfilled the Bush administration's ambition of a peaceful, democratic, pro-Western beachhead in the Middle East.

Very interesting tidbits of information are disclosed here. The Kurds are astute enough to hedge there political shopping with efforts to garner support from the Christian Right, most of whom have money to spare (and fundraising resources) when Biblical archeology and Biblical tourism are involved. If the ultra-conservatives and conservatives continue to lose their political clout, the option of private fundraising, grant-making, donation solicitation and investment from Christian sources remains open.

But elements of the Kurds' campaign run counter to the policy of a unified Iraq espoused by the U.S. and Iraqi governments. Some senior U.S. officials contend that yielding to Kurdish demands for increased autonomy could break up Iraq and destabilize Turkey, a NATO ally that is fighting a guerrilla war with Kurdish separatists -- some of whom have taken sanctuary in Iraqi Kurdistan.

It is clear that the Kurds have an agenda of their own that does not necessarily adhere to the Bush agenda. Indeed, the Kurds may be in a position to force a complete break from Iraq, forming an independent Kurdish state, leaving the Arab Sunni and Shi'ite factions to fight a civil war for the parts of Iraq currently controlled by each of these factions. Such a scenario is way outside of the thinking and will of President Bush and his puppets here and in Iraq.

Kurdish leaders cast their self-promotion initiative as a bulwark against attempts to restrict their federal rights. With only 40,000 or so Kurds living in the United States, Kurdish officials insist they have no choice but to pursue the dual strategy of wooing non-Kurdish constituencies and lobbying in Washington.

"We have to use all the tools at our disposal to help ourselves," said Qubad Talabani, the son of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, sent here as the Kurdistan Regional Government's representative in Washington.

Kurds want the sort of "strategic and institutional relationship" that Israel and Taiwan have with the United States, Talabani, 29, said. "It doesn't matter which party is in power in Washington -- the U.S. government isn't going to abandon either of those countries," he added. "We are seeking the same protection."

This approach from the Kurds is actually quite intuitive and brilliant on the part of the Kurdish leadership. While specifically targeting the right wing of our political and cultural spectrums, the Kurdish leadership is also avoiding being locked out from all sides of our politics and culture. By seeking to create a "protectorate" type of relationship with the US and the West, the Kurds could end up with the support of most of the international community, especially if it translates into some relative security in at least one Middle East location. Since the Kurds are not Arabs, and have not engaged in the conflicts between Sunni and Shi'ite doctrines/ideology, and are willing to be open to Israel along with the west, there are likely going to be a lot of western powers and nations willing to support the concept. It also doesn't hurt that the Kurds control a portion of the oil pipelines and wells in their region of Iraq.

Talabani, a former Maserati repairman, was raised by his grandparents in Britain and moved to Washington in 2000 knowing nothing about power politics. He soon began dating -- and later married -- a State Department staffer working on Iraq policy. He wears French-cuff shirts and Windsor-knotted ties with pinstripe suits. He lunches at the Bombay Club and works two blocks from the White House.

He has more clout than any other Iraqi in Washington because of his ability to call his father directly and because he represents the collective view of an influential minority -- one that holds enough seats in Iraq's parliament to wield effective veto power over a proposed law to distribute national oil revenue to Iraqis, as well as other legislation sought by the United States. By contrast, Baghdad's ambassador to Washington is a secular Sunni Arab who has limited sway with his Shiite-dominated government.

Talabani is in regular contact with senior officials in the White House. He drops in on members of Congress, and he has met with four of the presidential candidates: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.).

"We've been on the fringes for too long," Talabani said.

The Kurdish leadership is playing the game quite well.

But they are not allying themselves with George W. Bush. In fact, they are opposing many of the plans put forth by the Bush administration. It is clear that the Kurds are currently in control of their destiny, have a plan for their own future no matter what happens with the Shi'ite and Sunni Arab populations. The push from the Bush administration to maintain a single Iraqi nation, and eventually develop positive relationships in terms of oil and economic development with this single sovereign nation, is in jeopardy.