(Los Angeles Times) David D. Perlmutter - Washington should assist in the breakup of Iraq by recognizing the millenniums-old national aspirations of the Kurdish people. The Kurds have existed as an independent people since ancient times. Unlike more prominent local aspirants for nationhood - the Palestinians - the Kurds have a separate language, culture, ethnic heritage, and a continuous political precedent of seeking statehood. Indeed, legally, there should be an independent Kurdistan. The Treaty of Sevres, which delineated the breakup of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, recognized that the Kurds deserved their own state.
2002-09-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive