AFP: US President George W. Bush on Monday said in a television interview that he opposed dividing Iraq into a Kurdish, a Shiite and a Sunni region, which he said would create even more chaos. WASHINGTON, Oct 17, 2006 (AFP) – US President George W. Bush on Monday said in a television interview that he opposed dividing Iraq into a Kurdish, a Shiite and a Sunni region, which he said would create even more chaos.
“Three autonomous regions will create not only a situation where Sunnis and Sunni nations and Sunni radicals will be competing against Shia radicals. The Kurds will then create problems for Turkey and Syria,” he said in an interview with Fox News.
“And you have got a bigger mess than we have at this point in time, which I believe is going to be solved.”
The Iraqi parliament on October 11 approved a law which would allow the country’s 18 provinces to hold referendums to merge into larger federal regions with a measure of self-government.
This is expected to confirm the de facto self-rule already enjoyed by the Kurdish north and lead to a new Shiite homeland in the oil-rich south.
The measure is opposed by some in the minority Sunni community, who fear that their group will be left with territory in the barren west and center of the country.
Iraqi lawmakers however agreed to freeze the merger process for 18 months to give time to revise the country’s constitution.
Bush also said that violence in Iraq could not be summarized as an insurgency fueled by Iran.
“I think the enemy is more complex than that,” he said. “We are concerned about some Iranian involvement, particularly in the delivery of certain kind of weapons.
“But the violence that the American people see on their screens is some sectarianism, some criminal activity, and al-Qaeda. And we are dealing with all three,” he said.
“If we see more Iranian involvement, we’ll adjust our tactics to meet that threat,” he said.
