If Kurdistan is truly going to become a new Dubai or Bahrain and bolster its wealth and living standards to first world levels, it must rein in corruption or change the leadership which refuses to do so.

If Iraqi Kurdish leaders had the power to prevent the Turks from acquiring the tools of massacre but did not, they should be willing to explain why, or be forced to acknowledge they use the rhetoric of Kurdish empowerment insincerely.

On December 2, rioters allegedly stirred up by preachers at Friday prayers rampaged through Zakho, destroying a controversial massage parlor before moving on to torch several liquor shops and hotels. In retaliation, a mob of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) activists attacked the local office of the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) and KIU media offices in nearby Duhok and Semel.

The Balkanization of Kurdistan impacted university development. As a result many universities in Kurdistan have suffered and are not providing a quality education to their students.

Iraq should begin considering what it will do if Iraqi President Jalal Talabani dies. If they start considerations now, the transition of power will be much smoother.

Once again, as in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the Obama administration's silence has consequences.

Meant as a humanitarian program to support the war-weary people of Iraq, The UN Oil-for-Food program came to symbolize not only Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's antipathy to his own people, but also UN administrators' venality and corruption.

On July 14, 2011, Frédéric Tissot, France's consul-general in Iraqi Kurdistan, stood up at Bastille Day celebrations in Erbil and, in the presence of regional president Masud Barzani, spoke about the need for freedom and democracy in the region.