As many have heard the Kurdish referendum led to an overwhelming “yes” vote from the Kurdish population. Iraq’s government didn’t exactly agree with this decision. They, along with the US, decided to not recognize this vote. As tensions began to rise, so did the fear of an all out civil war. With the state of the middle east being as it is no more conflict can be a good thing.
Iraq’s troops took back the major city Kirkuk. This was a big deal since it was in Kurdish territory and it was a major oil capital that would have helped the Kurdish economy. With out that city the Kurds were much weaker in their stance. This also helped Iraq to flex their muscles a bit and show the Kurds that their chance of winning a war was small.
Now that Iraq’s government has thing slightly more under control, I believe the rest of the conflict can be achieved diplomatically. The Kurdish people are quite unhappy and they have been very clear with that but there has been very little to no positive encouragement on Iraq’s side. Their treatment of the Kurdish people has been there to scare and suppress the Kurdish people into their place. Diplomacy between the two nationalities could be very beneficial. Our own secretary of state has agreed with this statement. Peace is a far fetched word when referring to the middle east but violence is too common to create more. Iraq must compromise and keep its people from anger to avoid the middle east from getting worse than it already is.