Bulletin de liaison etd'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro
I
Wall
Street Journal
de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
February 12, 2002 '.
The Transformation of IraqI
Kurdistan
'It Has Never. Been Better In 4,000 Years'
By,}IUGH' ?ÙPE
S':fAFf' REPOR.'I.'I~ut,
~BIL, ,IraQ, '"":A 15-story. mosque is nearing C9mpIetion,
the' most 'la.vish ever bullt, bere. A ,spra.Wling.
recreational "park opens nextrrionth where the army
base stood. Books' and magazines ..are more plentiful
than ever. Eve~ refugees, have satellite'TV.
'l'his, is northern Iraq, home to the country's 3.6 mil"
Iton ethnIc Kurds. Just 1Qyears ago' it WlIS One of the
grimmest war zones on the planet. But geopollti~,
mterna.ti,onallargesse and the KUl'ds' resourcefulness
have worked a remarkable transformation.
"It's a golden age. It has never been.bettet torthe
Kurds In 4.000 years," says. Nasreel) Mustafa Sadeek,
age 33, the! region's minister ot reconstruction. 'Ms..
Mustafa's mobne phone, connects
her to an international network,
andher déSkfop' computer plllgs
into a treer Internet than is avall-.
able in some Mideast states. But Il$ ,
the' Kln'ds,' 'fortunes imllrove. they'
increasingly realize how much
they .have' to lose - raising t1~e,..
diplomatic price tbe U.S:wUJ'have,
to pay to versu.ade them t~ .join ,in,
any attempt to ,.tQPple.Sadtl!lID ..
Hussein. ."",' '
Atter the Gulf War. Saddam .,
Hussel,n capp~d a d~cades.long:. Namen '/,fUstIJ/a
campaign of oppr-e'ssJon a.galnsfl:ùs Stulee1C'
COtmtty'S Kw'dg .With àno~rati:on
that sent many fleeing from their homes. Spurred by.
televIsed footage of 1.5 mIllion Kurds huddled. in wintry
mountaintop camps. the U.S. and its allie$'in 1991 began
protecting the Kurds with air powerAn 1995, the U:S.
was mstrullJentaJ in ensw:ing that the K:ürds receive a.
HU$$E!in, pla.ying a rolenot unlikethat of the
Northern A.lliance jn unseating the Talib8.n
with U, S. support.. ltlsn 'ta quid pro quo \\o1tn
which ma.ny Kurds are comfortable.
"We will DOtbe {larty ta') any project tbat
wlllendan~,rwhat we ha.ve a.cbieved," says
Massoud Barzan!,. who rules the stronger of
the two Kurdish "6tatelet6" in northern
Iraq.
Kurds remember tnu ,tl1.eU.S. turnecUts
~clt. on them both in 1991after promising
prolectiun, and, in 1915 afler gjving them
covert support lu anomer rebelllon. The
nototiousiy lmtlous Kurdls.h leadership Is
united on one lbing: They won't consider an
a.ttack on Mr. Hu$Sein without publiC ptonouncements
thal the U,5~and Its allies are
bent on deposiu8' the Iraqi leader. They also
want a promise that the V.S: will help formali$e
tneir curr£pf autonomy. 'l'he U;S.
reCuses to grant th1s coneesston. partly
beeause Its key regional ally, TUrkey, Is
dead-I;et against it.
A lOur of northern Iraq b)' U.li. officials
In December inClude