Today the New York times ran a remarkable editorial about how Kurdistan independence is at best a long way off. You can find it here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/opinion/kurds-independence-iraq.html
Given that their newspaper has been pushing for Palestinian independence for some time, this latest opinion seems surprising to say the least. Every single reason they state to be against a Kurdish state could be applied to be against a Palestinian state as well.
A nonbinding referendum on Kurdish independence is set for September 25th, and even though both the US and the European Union are urging the Kurdish leadership to postpone the vote (at least until next year’s election in Iraq) in order not to renew tensions in the region, it is widely expected that the Kurds will go ahead and their voters will endorse a separate state.
Let’s not forget that the Kurdish Peshmerga, whose name translates as ‘those who face death’, are the main reason the Iraqi forces reconquered large parts of their country back from the terrorist organization known as Islamic State and that thanks to them the situation in Syria has more or less stabilized in the past few months. The Kurds have been fighting with some 150,000 soldiers in the region and are widely recognized to have been the fiercest combatants in this despicable war.
Though the US state department is juggling lots of balls at the same time in trying to keep the Kurds and our Nato ally Turkey happy, some sort of debt is clearly owed to the former.
Furthermore, there is a clear historic cooperation between the US and the Kurds. The Kurdish Peshmerga was vital in the 2003 US led invasion of Iraq and the subsequent toppling of Sadam Hussein.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Erdogan has repeatedly asked US President Trump to stop arming the Kurds.
Back in the heyday of 2006, before the Syrian war started, the New York Times, on the issue of allowing a Palestinian state, was quoted as saying: “We'd like to see that, too. We only hope that Mr. Olmert and Mr. Bush realize that there will not be peace in the Middle East unless the Palestinians have a say in creating a state that can function.”
We guess that as far as the Times is concerned, the Kurdish and the Palestinian independence question is something like comparing apples and oranges.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/opinion/kurds-independence-iraq.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/25/opinion/25thu1.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/13/opinion/israelis-and-palestinians-water-deal.html?_r=0
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28738975
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/10/erdogan-to-trump-dont-arm-the-kurds/
