http://defensetech.org/2005/12/16/election-day-in-erbil/ The Future of the Military, Law Enforcement and National Security Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:08:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://defensetech.org/2005/12/16/election-day-in-erbil/comment-page-1/#comment-42750 cheap Tibia coins Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:25:58 +0000 http://deftech.usmilblog.com/?p=2976#comment-42750 A balanced set of rules ensures that cheap Tibia coins does not sink into anarchy while giving great freedom to players. A balanced set of rules ensures that cheap Tibia coins does not sink into anarchy while giving great freedom to players.

]]> http://defensetech.org/2005/12/16/election-day-in-erbil/comment-page-1/#comment-119228 Tequila Sat, 17 Dec 2005 13:59:30 +0000 http://deftech.usmilblog.com/?p=2976#comment-119228 There's fraud and corruption everywhere --- the question is to what degree. I'm sure in Kurdistan it's not as bad as other places in Iraq, but it pays to remember that Kurdistan is not really a unified region by itself. It is split into two party-controlled areas, the KDP run by the Barzani clan and the PUK run by the Talabani clan, who warred with each other over smuggling revenues as late as 1997 when Barzani invited Saddam in to help out. These areas should not be confused with democracies. They are one-party statelets little different than places like Azerbaijan or Kazakhstan, both secular U.S.-aligned dictatorships run by and for a clique of clans unafraid to maintain their rule through force, as Kamal Said Qadr and the Kurdish Islamic Party have found: http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2005/12/kurdlocal58.htm http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO664994.htm A RFE story on widespread corruption in Kurdistan: http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/4/DA9D366C-C2C2-486F-A4D7-2EEBC0BB507E.html All this remains in the background for the Kurds, since independence and the struggle against the insurgency is at the forefront. But if and when stability does come to Iraq, it will be interesting to see just how much democratic rhetoric the PUK and the KDP will be willing to live up to. There’s fraud and corruption everywhere — the question is to what degree. I’m sure in Kurdistan it’s not as bad as other places in Iraq, but it pays to remember that Kurdistan is not really a unified region by itself. It is split into two party-controlled areas, the KDP run by the Barzani clan and the PUK run by the Talabani clan, who warred with each other over smuggling revenues as late as 1997 when Barzani invited Saddam in to help out.
These areas should not be confused with democracies. They are one-party statelets little different than places like Azerbaijan or Kazakhstan, both secular U.S.-aligned dictatorships run by and for a clique of clans unafraid to maintain their rule through force, as Kamal Said Qadr and the Kurdish Islamic Party have found:
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2005/12/kurdlocal58.htm
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO664994.htm
A RFE story on widespread corruption in Kurdistan:
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/4/DA9D366C-C2C2-486F-A4D7-2EEBC0BB507E.html
All this remains in the background for the Kurds, since independence and the struggle against the insurgency is at the forefront. But if and when stability does come to Iraq, it will be interesting to see just how much democratic rhetoric the PUK and the KDP will be willing to live up to.

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