Lauren DiCiaccio
April 24, 2009
4:45pm
Officials in the European Union warn that the US and UK must be prepared for further conflict in Iraq. They are worried about continued ethnic violence in the area of Iraq known as Kurdistan. The US-led invasion of Iraq has caused an increase of the influx of refugees from the region, which could cause more ethnic divides and violence in the region. The Kurdish area of the country has experienced ethnic violence for the past several decades. The refugee situation could create crises involving access to clean water and food sources, as well as safe places for habitation. With a shortage in resources, conflict between groups has the potential to increase. There has historically been conflict between the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds, with an escalation against the Kurds in the 1990's chemical attacks carried out on the region by the Saddam Hussein regime.
This article is an important point of consideration in the United States' Iraq War policy. If the US does not consider the Kurdish population, it could be setting the region up for further conflict. Historically, there have been regional conflicts between the groups, but under Saddam Hussein, there was relative peace among the groups, with the exception of Kurdish outbreaks of violence. I think that colonialism, around the world, has caused much of the ethnic conflict that exists in the modern world. Because of the lines drawn for the political borders in Iraq, three unlikely groups are together, and democracy will be hard to achieve.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2842941.stm
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