How the Kurds Fight Terrorism

Michael J. Totten explains how the Kurds have created the safest and freest place in Iraq. For you consideration:

There are no insurgents in Kurdistan. Nor are there any kidnappings. … Out of desperate necessity, they have forged one of the most vigilant anti-terrorist communities in the world. Anyone who doesn’t speak Kurdish as their native language—and Iraq’s troublemakers overwhelmingly fall into this category—stands out among the general population. … Al Qaeda members who do manage to infiltrate the area are hunted down like rats. … the Kurds have adopted discriminatory policies that would make any liberal-minded Westerner squirm.

Iqbal Ali Muhammad of the Kurdistan Islamic Union, a moderate Islamist organization that is the third largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan, bluntly said, “The Arab, he is wild. He is not a civilized person.” … Kurds love freedom, but they love checkpoints too; in general, they see them as the barrier that holds back the horrors from the south. … The Kurds may be the most liberal of Iraq’s three dominant ethnicities, but they’re the quickest to impose illiberal laws on everyone else. …

Omar and Mohammad Fadhil, the bloggers behind Iraq the Model, drove up to Kurdistan from Baghdad to meet me at my hotel. They never made it. The Peshmerga told them Arabs were not allowed to enter the region without a Kurdish escort. It was racial profiling at its worst. … Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Regional Government actually provides money and housing for Arab Christians who want to pick up and resettle in the north.