His Master's Voice

Image by Salam Adil

A Free Iraqi makes an interesting point:

someone very stupid (or very smart?) seem to have advised Ja'fari that it's a good plan to visit Turkey these days, and then not inform the Kurds and take along with him some Turkmen figures who have no real official position in the government. That was enough for the Kurds to practically change sides and stand with the Sunni bloc and Allawi to demand that the UIA replace his nominee for the prime minister position.

And this brought to me the question - why would Jaafari be so stupid? Both the Shia and Kurds have something to gain from their own sectarian partnership. Each get a state, each get a rather fat share of the Iraqi oil and, with Kurdish support, the constitutional process would be a walkover. So why jeopardize all that for nothing? Then the FT came up with the answer..

Two illegal Iranian Kurdish parties are launching satellite television stations - joining the five Kurdish-language channels already beamed into Iran - and stepping up their long-running conflict with the government in Tehran. ... There has been unrest recently in Kurdish areas, the mainly Arab south-west and among Baluchis in Iran's far east - sparking fears among politicians in Tehran that the US may see ethnic conflict as an opportunity to bring about political change in Iran.

So, Iran is worried that a Kurdish state will undermine its national unity and has sent its Iraqi ambassador, Jaafari, to Turkey to make sure that never happens. And Jaafari is ready to stab himself in the back to do Iran's bidding. It is times like these when you value a good poodle.