Marc ,I appreciate your comment, you seem very knowledgeable on the subject and I have visited your blog several times. Please keep us updated with the Kurdish struggle.
Tommy, unfortunately I imagine if the Kurds could just declare independence and get away with it then they would have already done that, but they are constantly being suppressed by Turkey and were getting suppressed by Saddam back in his reign. The PKK are labeled as a terrorist group by many countries, but you must remember that one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. In my opinion they are freedom fighters.
DuckBlogger, I appreciate your comment as you have good background on the subject. Yes, I do believe that a Kurdish state would see much resistance especially from Turkey. I would not compare the Kurdish struggle to the Israeli struggle, but more to the Georgian struggle against the Russians. I can only hope that the international community has learned from the recent Russian and Georgian conflict and would not allow Turkey to interfere with Kurdish independence if an independent Kurdistan was created.
What I find to be most disappointing about United States foreign policy in the Middle East is its double standards. This double standard is apparent in US designation of terrorist groups and support for human rights. The United States claims to fight for peace, self-determination, and the rights of all human beings, but to me it seems that the US only supports this in some condition. For example, Turkey is a strong ally to the US, but the Turkish government is known for its human rights violations and violent acts against Kurds in the Eastern sections. Instead of protesting Turkish activities and punishing them for their actions the US remains quiet because Turkey is an ally. On the other hand the People's Mujahedin of Iran, which is responsible for many terrorist attacks in Iran that killed citizens and governmental officials, had not been designated as a terrorist group by the US until very recently. This is due to the fact that Iran is considered an enemy to the United States.
Another example can be seen in Pakistan. The US supports democratic governments around the world is extremely against dictatorships. Pakistan has a relatively democratic government in which governmental officials such as the prime minister are elected, but in 1999, an army general by the name of Pervez Musharraf ousted the democratically elected prime minister and took over Pakistan. His path to leader was clearly undemocratic, but the US did not take action to restore the former prime minister because Musharraf claimed to want to fight extremism. So I ask the question, Is it ok for the US government to treat a country’s human rights and democratic pursuit differently depending on whether they are an ally or enemy?
1 comment:
Kia,
You have an excellent point that the US faces a dilemma when it comes to enforcing human rights in the middle east. It can either correct Turkeys crimes and lose potential support of a strong ally or it can ignore them and allow cruelty and inhumane actions to continue. In my opinion the United States should stand up for human rights regardless of if the country is an ally or an enemy. According to the Declaration of Independence all men are created equal, and just because they are from another country that could support or go against the United States doesn't make them any less important or less inclined to basic rights than anyone living in the US or around the world.
Caitlin
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