Good news -- the insurgency is over! Now we need a new strategy for the Iraq War.

[tequila]

RTK - I was wondering if you could give any real-world examples of your experience with pesh vs IA. Every single media item I have read emphasizes that Kurdish IA have no hesitation proclaiming their ultimate loyalty to Kurdistan and the pesh. This item shows pesh officers getting salutes from IA soldiers and an IA major proclaiming his loyalty to the pesh, all in Kirkuk.

Now I am not going to privilege that over your own real-world experiences, so I definitely would like to hear your own take on the whole pesh vs IA and the ultimate loyalties of Kurdish soldiers in the IA, since to me this appears to be one of the ultimately crucial questions as to whether Iraq remains a single nation or not.

[RTK]

RTK - I was wondering if you could give any real-world examples of your experience with pesh vs IA. Every single media item I have read emphasizes that Kurdish IA have no hesitation proclaiming their ultimate loyalty to Kurdistan and the pesh. This item shows pesh officers getting salutes from IA soldiers and an IA major proclaiming his loyalty to the pesh, all in Kirkuk.

Now I am not going to privilege that over your own real-world experiences, so I definitely would like to hear your own take on the whole pesh vs IA and the ultimate loyalties of Kurdish soldiers in the IA, since to me this appears to be one of the ultimately crucial questions as to whether Iraq remains a single nation or not.

In the 3d IA division, most of the leadership (BN and above) was from the northern provinces. Most had backgrounds that placed them with the Peshmerga in the 1990s. The a good majority of the jundis were Sunnis from Diyala and Babil provinces. I never saw issues.

Am I going to say that unabashedly there are zero issues - nope. I don't deal in absolutes quite like that. For all intents and purposes, it's not nearly the issue it could have been. You must remember that the real Kurdish radicals are actively fighting the Turks daily in the mountains.

In casual conversation, many of the Kurds expressed their desire for their own country, however, on multiple occassions they could have "thrown the game," so to speak, and never did. They're dedicated to ridding Iraq of the violence that plagues it. At least that was my understanding after spending my second year in Iraq with them