Kirkuk Emerges As Faultline For Civil Conflict In Iraq

As Iraqi officials prepare to draft the country's new constitution, fierce debate is expected over the status of Kirkuk, the center of northern Iraq's oil industry. Formerly known for its ethnic harmony, Saddam Hussein's policy of forced population shifts, called Arabization, has torn the fabric of the province. Now the Kurds want it back.

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Rights groups report that there have been attacks on leaders from all three predominant ethnic groups. They also report tit-for-tat killings across ethnic lines in communities across the province. Kirkuk has also suffered from insurgent attacks on oil and gas pipelines, plus car-bombings and other terrorist activity.

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At work on his house in the village of Turkolan, Ismael Yassin admits he has little concern for Arabs and their demands to stay in Kirkuk.

"I do not feel any sympathy for them," he says, "because they took all our property and farmland, without any sympathy for us," Mr. Yassin says.

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http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=45370

EVERYONE Knew that Kirkuk would be a lightning rod for civil war, revenge killings, ethnic cleansings, Turkish political instability and all kinds of other mayhem. As bad as things are, they will probably just go downhill from here.

It's not like Bushco didn't know that this was going to happen. He just pressed ahead anyway, despite the insanity of such a move.