Word: iraq
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Kurdish question is particularly tricky. In addition to the nearly 5 million Kurds in Iraq, there are 12 million to 15 million in Turkey. A close American ally, Turkey is one of the few secular democracies in the Islamic world, making it an important positive influence in the Middle East as well as in Central and Southwest Asia. The mere prospect of independence for the Iraqi Kurds would inspire their Turkish brethren to step up the guerrilla war they have been waging against Ankara since the early 1980s...
...pray for Saddam's survival as fervently as Bush prays for his demise. If Saddam falls, he will probably do so at the hands of his generals. By and large, they are no better than he is. Yet if they topple him, they will ask for the restoration of Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity. They will also insist on every dictatorship's favorite principle of international law: noninterference in internal affairs. That would mean a license to send Baghdad's bombers and troops north to crush the Kurds...
...there is no place for subtlety, politesse and diplomatic code words in dealing with thugs such as those who are likely to replace Saddam. As in its vendettas against Castro, Gaddafi and Noriega, the U.S. has once again overpersonalized the problem in Iraq and oversimplified the solution. The issue is not just a dreadful man but a dreadful system...
...keeping the squeeze on Iraq, the U.S. should stop playing coy with potential coup leaders. It should say explicitly that sanctions and no-fly rules will stay in force until the powers that be in Baghdad, whoever they are, behave in a civilized fashion toward their subjects. Otherwise Saddam could end up having his revenge from beyond the grave on Kurds and coalition alike...
...Drogoul, 43, former manager of the Atlanta branch of the Italian Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, pleaded guilty to 60 counts of a 347-count federal indictment that accused him of devising an elaborate "off-books" scheme to hide $4 billion in unbacked loans and unauthorized U.S.-backed credits to Iraq. But on the eve of a sentencing hearing that could condemn him to 390 years in prison, Drogoul replaced his public defender with the wily Cook, who moved to vacate the guilty plea...