A Fine Thanksgiving Dinner

The Erbil Skyline

I went out for dinner this evening with my Kurdish colleagues to a Turkish restaurant. I thought it wiser not to suggest that for dinner we have a big slice of Turkey, since that might be misunderstood, from a geo-political perspective, at least.

But we did have an interesting conversation about independence, autonomy, the importance of military self-reliance, the role of the coalition forces in Iraq’s future (and why Iraqis, whether Arabs or Kurds, shouldn’t count on the continued presence of U.S. troops), and more. (One of the dinner participants had been a witness to the Halabja killings and wanted to know how reliable the U.S. was as an ally, especially since the senior Bush abandoned the Kurds and the Shia and the Marsh Arabs after he had urged them to rise up against Saddam. Not very, I replied. Better to rely on oneself and to prepare for a U.S. withdrawal.)

The Erbil Market