Kurdish war machine

[Bozo Erectus]

What sort of shape are the Kurds in right now militarily, anyone know, or know where to find out? Id imagine that of the three main players in the soon to be former Iraq, its in the best shape economically, militarily, and also has the most intact overall infrastructure. Anyone have facts and figures on their current military capability?

 

[Bigfoot]

Do you mean the Peshmerga militia? I think they have 80,000 to 100,000 men under arms. They have engaged the Turks on a number of occasions over the years and didn't come off too badly, so they likely have a pretty effective fighting force. I doubt if they have access to heavy arms, although I could be mistaken about that. Recently they 'joined' the Iraqi army so maybe that issue has been remedied for them.

What type of scenario do you foresee Bozo?

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Do you mean the Peshmerga militia? I think they have 80,000 to 100,000 men under arms. They have engaged the Turks on a number of occasions over the years and didn't come off too badly, so they likely have a pretty effective fighting force. I doubt if they have access to heavy arms, although I could be mistaken about that. Recently they 'joined' the Iraqi army so maybe that issue has been remedied for them.

What type of scenario do you foresee Bozo?

I think one the first major things that'll happen after the Coalition withdrawal will be the abandonment of the revenue sharing from the oil sector. Its only pressure from the US thats compelled the Shiites and Kurds to agree to it, once that pressure is gone, it'll be finished. The civil war is going to be about the three factions trying to secure as much of the former Iraqs oil assets for themselves as possible. True, the Sunnis and Shiites each have their own wealthy backers, who will funnel huge amounts of arms and money to them, but I think the Kurds are in the best shape of all three factions, in just about every way. The biggest problem the Kurds face wont be the other two factions, it'll be Turkey. Contrary to popular opinion, Turkey would never invade. Assuming they managed to conquer the Kurdish region, what would they do with it aftewards? Keep it? Not very likely. Set up another independent Kurdish state? Then why bother invading in the first place? No, what they'll do is infiltrate (assuming they havent already) the Kurdish area with thier version of special ops forces and commit as much sabotage as possible against Kurdish infrastructure as possible, in order to weaken the government. The best outcome for the Turks would be the annexing of the Kurdish territory by either the Sunnis or the Shiites, so they'll do whatever they can covertly to bring that about.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

YOu know, Iraq just might get split up between Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, if one of these all-to-possible civil wars ensues. You know, with all the crap in Iraq right now, we really are keeping the peace. AS you say, once American pressure lets off, they'll go back to the same old tricks again

 

[Oerdin]

The Peshmerga are all light unmounted infantry which is why they've always gotten their asses handed to them when they've tried to hold ground no matter if they were facing Iraqis, Turks, or Iranians. Economically they are better off but they're divided into two distinct camps which only seem to be able to play nice when outsiders force them to.

 

[Winner]

I think one the first major things that'll happen after the Coalition withdrawal will be the abandonment of the revenue sharing from the oil sector. Its only pressure from the US thats compelled the Shiites and Kurds to agree to it, once that pressure is gone, it'll be finished. The civil war is going to be about the three factions trying to secure as much of the former Iraqs oil assets for themselves as possible. True, the Sunnis and Shiites each have their own wealthy backers, who will funnel huge amounts of arms and money to them, but I think the Kurds are in the best shape of all three factions, in just about every way. The biggest problem the Kurds face wont be the other two factions, it'll be Turkey. Contrary to popular opinion, Turkey would never invade. Assuming they managed to conquer the Kurdish region, what would they do with it aftewards? Keep it? Not very likely. Set up another independent Kurdish state? Then why bother invading in the first place? No, what they'll do is infiltrate (assuming they havent already) the Kurdish area with thier version of special ops forces and commit as much sabotage as possible against Kurdish infrastructure as possible, in order to weaken the government. The best outcome for the Turks would be the annexing of the Kurdish territory by either the Sunnis or the Shiites, so they'll do whatever they can covertly to bring that about.

Hm, I tried to think out a reason why this scenario wouldn't work, but I must say it is possible.

 

[boarder]

While I have no idea of the Kurdish military capabilities I know that both Iran and Turkey see them as a possibility to cause unrest in there own populations if they gain autonomy and as such fully oppose them having this.