Word: iraq
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...years since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Kurdistan has been relatively peaceful compared with the rest of the country, in large part owing to its ruling parties, which began as guerrilla groups fighting Saddam's genocidal campaign against the ethnic Kurdish minority. After Saddam's downfall, the two parties put aside their differences - the KDP is a tribal-style organization dominated by the Barzani family, and the PUK is a socialist-like group run by a party cadre led by Jalal Talabani - to present a united Kurdish front in negotiations with Arab Iraqis and the U.S. over...
...parties' cooperation helped them win major concessions for the Kurds while the rest of Iraq was mired in civil war. Besides winning the presidency for Talabani, the Kurds had their claims to disputed areas of northern Iraq, particularly the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, recognized in Iraq's new constitution. But the region's leaders have been cautious about pushing the Kurds' nationalist claims too far. Although the Kurdish population overwhelmingly supports the creation of an independent Kurdish state carved out of northern Iraq, Kurdish leaders realize it would have a slim chance of survival surrounded by hostile neighbors - Turkey...
...silent partner from one of the two groups. Critics also say the parties use the allocation of jobs in schools, hospitals and government ministries as a way to enforce loyalty. And the region's few independent media outlets frequently complain of harassment. (See pictures of life returning to Iraq's streets...
...Iraqi government. Besides campaigning against corruption, the Change List accuses Kurdish leaders of doing a poor job of standing up for Kurdish interests in Baghdad, such as seeing that the government delivers on its constitutional obligations to return Kirkuk and other disputed areas to Kurdish governance. With Iraq's Sunni-Shi'ite sectarian violence largely in check, the growing Kurdish-Arab discord has become the most worrisome fault line in the country. Massoud Barzani, head of the KRG, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki haven't spoken in over a year, and KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said recently...
...effort the Americans have put into bringing democracy to Iraq, there could now be a showdown brewing between al-Maliki, who is setting himself up as the country's new strongman, and the Barzani clan in Kurdistan...