Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

By all indications, the Kurds will play their political power to the hilt. They originally wanted a federal form of government in Iraq that would institutionalize autonomy for them. Then they translated that autonomy by focusing on the control of oil revenues from the fields of Mosul and Kirkuk. As if that wasn't enough, they topped it off recently by demanding independence.

This is intriguing because the Kurds have stated they will not push for independence now. The question is why later?

"Kurdish leaders possibly at odds with mainstream Kurdish opinion have said that, for now, they will not push for independence," the Congressional Research Service said in a March 2005 report."
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One possible explanation is that the Kurds are being trained to subdue Iran if and when this occurs Bush might reward them with independence. But first the Kurds have more work to do.

US training 20,000 kurds to oppose Iran
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More importantly, US authorities have allowed the Iraqi Kurds to steadily entrench their control over the oil-rich northern Iraq city of Kirkuk.

Should Kurdish claims to Kirkuk be formally recognised, the oil revenue would be sufficient to make an independent Kurdistan economically viable.
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An economically viable Kirkuk would be apt to grant contracts to American and British companies.

This works on more than one level but it is speculation.

-Am