Pat Lang — Kurdistan - yet another long term British and US policy triumph

Backgrounder on the British creation of Iraq.

Sic Semper Tyrannis
Kurdistan - yet another long term British and US policy triumph
Col. W. Patrick Lang, US Army (ret.)

At the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lang was the Defense Intelligence Officer (DIO) for the Middle East, South Asia and counter-terrorism, and later, the first Director of the Defense Humint Service. At the DIA, he was a member of the Defense Senior Executive Service. He participated in the drafting of National Intelligence Estimates. From 1992 to 1994, all the U.S. military attachés worldwide reported to him. During that period, he also briefed President George H. W. Bush at the White House, as he had during Operation Desert Storm.

He was also the head of intelligence analysis for the Middle East for seven or eight years at that institution. He was the head of all the Middle East and South Asia analysis in DIA for counter-terrorism for seven years. For his service in the DIA, Lang received the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive. — Wikipedia

Pepe Escobar — Unravelling the riddle of the Kurds’ Iraqi pipedream

Masoud Barzani has overplayed his hand – no regional powers are going to assent to partition of Iraq.

Backgrounder.

Asia Times

Unravelling the riddle of the Kurds’ Iraqi pipedream

Pepe Escobar

See also

Econospeak
The Kurdish Independence Vote
J. Barkley Rosser | Professor of Economics and Business Administration James Madison University

Brad Blankenship — How private corporations will benefit from Kurdish independence

You probably want to take the time to read this.

Rex Tillerson and Exxon up to the neck in it.

Al-Masdar News
How private corporations will benefit from Kurdish independence
Brad Blankenship

Graham E. Fuller — The Future of the Kurds

Backgrounder.

Graham E. Fuller
The Future of the Kurds
Graham E. Fuller | adjunct professor of history at Simon Fraser University, formerly vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, and a former senior political scientist at RAND

Zainab Calcuttawala — Could Kurdish Independence Spark An Oil War?

Israel and the US are determined to create an independent Kurdistan. Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran are all determined to block it since they would all lose territory or be threatened by Kurdish separatists within their borders. Russia and China are allied with the latter group.

This has all the makings of a gripping reality show. Right now, the race is on for control of the oil fields that lie in Kurdistan that are part of Syria, Iraq and to some extent in Iran. This was part of the original plan involving Syria and Iraq as two of the four countries in "the axis of evil," along with Iran and North Korea. Iran is also rich in oil and natural gas.

Unifying Korea under South Korea would put the US and the US military on the eastern border of China and Russia.

Adding the conflict in Ukraine that putting NATO on or near Russia's Western border, the conflict in the South China Sea that has the US 7th fleet on China's southeastern border, and the US military presence in Afghanistan near the Central Asian underbelly of Russia and China's southwestern border completes the picture of a US pincer movement putting Russia and China in a kettle aka cauldron.

This could result in not just an "oil war." The US is not placing its forward military in this strategically significant array by accident. Russia and China can see the handwriting on the wall. They are the target.

OilPrice.com

Could Kurdish Independence Spark An Oil War?

Zainab Calcuttawala, American journalist based in Morocco

See also

The Kurdish Project
Kurdistan Oil: The Past, Present and Future

Pat Lang — Is this what is driving US Kurdish policy?

Sic Semper Tyrannis
Is this what is driving US Kurdish policy?
Col. W. Patrick Lang, US Army (ret.), former military intelligence officer at the US Defense Intelligence Agency

Arras — Turkey is screwed. And it’s all US fault.

Backgrounder. What's really up with Turkey. It's the Kurds, stupid.

The Vineyard of the Saker
Turkey is screwed. And it’s all US fault.
Arras