Sulaimani, April 9-- The symbolic
toppling of Saddam’s statue in one of Baghdad major squares
triggered jubilant celebrations in the two major cities of Iraqi
Kurdistan, Hawler (Erbil) and Sulaimani. Men, women and children
came out in an outpouring of carnival atmosphere. They were
celebrating the dawn of a free Iraq and marking the fall of
the murderous Ba’athist tyranny. This moment of liberation,
which some have called Victory in Iraq day, came only days after
the news that the worst henchman of the Iraqi regime, Ali Hassan
al-Majid, had been killed in a US air raid in Basra. Al-Majid
was Saddam's cousin and the Tikriti clique's chief executioner.
He oversaw the Anfal genocide in 1987-1988, during which
chemical weapons were repeatedly used against the Kurdish people
and the murder of 5,000 Kurds at Halabja on March 16, 1988. He
did not confine his appalling skills to the Kurds alone. He was
the governor of occupied Kuwait, responsible for the
disappearance of hundreds of Kuwaitis. Al-Majid was then used to
put down the uprising of Shi'a Arabs in southern Iraq in March
and April 1991, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of
civilians.
In Iraqi Kurdistan there were scenes
of celebration and pure gratitude for the bold liberation
campaign undertaken by the coalition forces under the leadership
of President Bush. U.S. flags were hoisted, horns were hooted.
One person pulled out an American flag which had image of Rocky,
the indomitable boxer played by Sylvester Stallone. Shopkeepers
in the bazaar handed out free soft drinks and candy to the
crowds. Kurdish Halparki (Dancing) circles of went on all day.
Many held up pictures of President Bush, a hero to Iraqis, and
of Kurdish leaders, Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani and who
have dedicated their lives to the cause of Kurdish liberation.
American soldiers could barely walk down the street for Kurds
stopping them to shake their hands, embrace them and thank them
for their efforts. There was an outpouring of pride in the
peshmerga who have taken scores of casualties fighting side by
side with the coalition forces in the campaign to liberate Iraq.
The Americans have remarked on the skill and pure courage of the
peshmerga, an all volunteer force.
For many people it was hard to
believe that finally the totalitarian grip of Saddam and his
fascist edifice of fear and terror was over. There is enormous
hope for the future. The people of Iraqi Kurdistan region hope
that liberation will offer Iraq an opportunity to rebuild its
society along the lines of justice, democratic representation
and exercise of civil and human rights within the rule of law.
Liberation also offers an opportunity to address the just the
aspirations of the people of Kurdistan in their own homeland
and redressing the gross injustice and racial persecution that
they have suffered within the failed state of Iraq. The Kurds
are not Iraq's only victims, but they have been its primary
victims, suffering from the decision of British colonial
bureaucrats to thwart Winston Churchill’s wish to recognize the
right of the Kurdish people for self-determination after Word
War I.
The people of Kurdistan, especially
the resistance forces of peshmerga, have paid a heavy price for
their dedicated opposition to the racist totalitarian of Ba'ath
Party. The political leadership of Kurdistan region has
responded positively to the needs of their citizens and the
cherished aspirations of freedom and accountable governance for
the whole Iraqi society. The only reward the people Iraqi
Kurdistan expect for all those decades of sacrifice and genocide
is recognition of their legitimate and inalienable rights.
The coalition, especially the United
States and United Kingdom, have the ultimate responsibility to
make sure that these legitimate aspiration are established and
ensure that the new state of Iraq will never again be a
centralized corrupt state, a killing machine turned against its
citizens, a sponsor of terrorism and a threat to the region and
the international community. The Kurdish people will
work with the coalition to build the new democratic, federal
Iraq. Democracy is not an option, but an obligation.
PESHMERGA AND US
COALITION FORCES LIBERATE
KIRKUK & OTHER
CITIES
Kirkuk, April 10-- Operation Iraqi
Freedom got a big boost today when the oil-rich city of Kirkuk
was declared liberated .Peshmerga forces arrived with U.S.
Special Forces and were joined by elements of the Army's 173
Airborne Brigade to liberate the strategic city of Kirkuk, Maj.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, vice director of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, confirmed in Washington. Citizens of Kirkuk came out in
their thousands welcoming the liberating forces and celebrating
the demise of the totalitarian rule.
The peshmerga and the U.S. forces
also liberated the towns of Khanaqin, Tuzkhurmatu and Jalawla.
He's NOT Waiving But Drowning
Patrick
Barth/Getty Images
In Kirkuk today, a man waving a hammer stood
on a giant statue of Saddam as another tied a rope to use to
pull the statue down.
