The Kurds in Post-Saddam Iraq

[DRoshani]

By Kenneth Katzman
Congressional Research Service

The Kurdish-inhabited region of northern Iraq has been relatively
peaceful and prosperous since the fall of Saddam Hussein. However, the
Iraqi Kurds' political autonomy, and territorial and economic demands,
have caused friction with Christian and other minorities in the north,
with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other Arab leaders of Iraq, and
with neighboring Turkey and Iran. Despite limited agreements allowing
for new oil exports from the Kurdish region, the major outstanding
issues between the Kurds and the central government do not appear
close to resolution. Tensions have increased now that Kurdish
representation in two key mixed provinces has been reduced by the
January 31, 2009 provincial elections. Some predict the disputes could
erupt into all out violence between Kurdish militias and central
government forces, potentially undermining the stability achieved
throughout Iraq in 2008.

The Obama Administration has not, to date, indicated that the Kurdish-
central government disputes would derail or delay a major drawdown of
U.S. forces in Iraq between now and August 2010. However, many Kurds
believe that the drawdown will reduce the U.S. political influence
over the Kurds and the central government that is needed to contain
these disputes. At the same time that it is at odds with the central
government, the Kurdish region itself is in political ferment. One of
the major factions, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, has seen many
senior members resign and there is popular grumbling about the
purported stranglehold that the major Kurdish parties have over
politics and the economy of the Kurdish region. For more on Iraq, see
CRS Report RL31339, Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, by
Kenneth Katzman.

Click here for the full report http://www.aina.org/reports/tkipsi.pdf

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