"Iraqi Kurds See Chance to Press for Statehood
Despite gains in Sunday's vote, those who want independence are less willing to settle.
By Jeffrey Fleishman, Times Staff Writer
CHAMCHAMAL, Iraq � A cane leans on the door and the old tribal leader sits in the sun below the citadel. With a whisper, he could summon 1,000 armed men. He chooses not to.
But make no mistake, he says, the time has come for the Kurds to grab the oil fields, seal the northern mountain passes and seize their independence.
Karim Agha is a proven ally of America, but he is also part of a growing number of Kurds whose push for an independent state could splinter Iraq and undermine U.S. policy in the region. Despite a strong showing in Sunday's election that would give them unprecedented influence in a new national government, Kurds are debating whether it's time for them to declare their own state."
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