The independence referendum follows the American ideal, “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” Thomas Jefferson wrote those words in our declaration of independence which went on to spell out the reasons that the British colonies were no longer a part of Briton, that a new nation had grown on the North American continent and could no longer consider itself British. The War of Independence, which began a year before the declaration, lasted until 1783, over seven years of fighting.
The Kurds in Iraq find themselves in a similar situation – part of a country they have no connection to, treated as less than full citizens and abused by the central power that was supposed to watch over them and protect them. While this is not a perfect parallel, the American colonist shared a culture and language with Briton, the Kurds are, and always shall be, separated from Iraq by culture, language, and those things that normally bind peoples together. The desire for freedom and self-determination is universal and a part of the American DNA.
A more recent historical example is the establishment of the State of Israel. The Jews, like the Kurds, were an ethnic group without a State. When the United Nations adopted its Partition plan that set the borders of the new State of Israel, it was met with resistance. Even the British rejected the plan until the end of the British mandate over Palestine, concerned that any action would harm Anglo-Arab relations and affect the flow of oil which the British had come to depend on. In the end, it was recognition by the US, when President Truman overruled his advisors, the Soviet Union that gave international status to the new nation. This of course did not lead to peace and the Jewish state is still at war with some of its Arab neighbors and an insurgent terrorist movement.
The question then is why the US and the rest of the democratic-loving world have objected to a non-binding referendum that is designed to show the world just how strongly the Kurdish people feel about self-determination. The only answer is the old problem of upsetting the status quo. Like the British with Israel, the world fears a backlash from the region. What they are failing to see is the problems in the region exist and will only be exasperated by the failure of the world to stand up and do what is right, regardless of consequences.
The United States became a nation once it came to realize they were not British. The world must now realize that the Kurds are not Iraqi. By the time this is published, the vote will be over and the majority will have spoken. The US and the rest of the world must now accept for the Kurds what they have accepted for themselves.
Americans understand it is time to let freedom ring. The government will follow.
Paul Davis is a retired US Army military intelligence and former Soviet analyst. He is a consultant to the American intelligence community specializing in the Middle East with a concentration on Kurdish affairs. Currently he is the president of the consulting firm JANUS Think in Washington D.C.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
