U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jeremy Carney (right) speaks with an Iraqi soldier at a checkpoint during a patrol in the Gazaliyah district of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 19, 2008. Carney is assigned to Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. DoD photo by Spc. Charles W. Gill, U.S. Army. (Released)When The U.S. Leaves, Will Iraq Strut Or Stumble?
-- Time Magazine
-- Time Magazine
From the crumbling Assyrian ramparts of Kirkuk's 3,000-year-old citadel, the giant open-air market snaking around its base seems the very picture of communal harmony: Kurdish, Turkoman and Arab shoppers navigate through narrow lanes, past stalls selling everything from fresh fruit to plastic flowers. My police escort, a Kurd, beams down with pride. "This is the perfect Iraq," he says. "Nobody angry, everybody happy."
At ground level, the market smells of bird droppings and open drains, and the mood is murkier. An Arab vendor of pomegranates loudly endorses my escort's claim that Kirkuk is a microcosm of an ideal Iraq. But when the policeman wanders out of earshot, he hisses, "Don't believe that Kurd. His people want Kirkuk for themselves. When the Americans leave, they will drive us out." (See pictures of U.S. troops' 5 years in Iraq.)
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My Comment: If they cannot survive alone, they will have no one to blame but themselves.