COWARDLY KURDS KICKED OUT OF KIRKUK

The Iraqi army on a roll. 

Kirkuk is probably the most important city for the Kurds. Not only is it in the midst of major oilfields that supply over half the revenue of the Kurdish autonomous region in Northern Iraq, but it is the starting point for the Kirkuk-Banias Pipeline that connects these oilfields to the Mediterranean. Also, it is the only point connecting roads leading to the other two major Kurdish cities, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. 

So, you would think the Kurds would at least make some effort to hold onto to it. Especially in the wake of their referendum, when the majority of people in the Kurdish controlled zone voted for independence. Quite simply, without Kirkuk, an independent Kurdistan is incredibly difficult.

Instead, a mere 48 hours after Baghdad launched a sudden but quite predictable offensive, the city has fallen entirely into Iraqi hands, with the Kurdish "Peshmerga" forces literally turning tail and fleeing like a flock of sheep. For comparison, look at the case of Raqqah, a smaller town, where besieged ISIS forces with much less support, held out for almost 5 months, or Deir ez-Zor, where Syrian forces resisted an ISIS siege lasting years.

As reported by the Jerusalem Post, which seems quite upset about the whole thing:

"Overnight, confusion along the front line between the Iraqis and Peshmerga of the Kurdistan Regional Government led to clashes which destroyed several vehicles and a chaotic situation. By morning groups of Kurdish forces had abandoned their posts, some due to a prior local agreement. In the afternoon scenes of defeat were everywhere, with black Humvees of the Iraqi counterterrorism forces surrounding a famous statue to Peshmerga at the entrance to the city and thousands of Kurds fleeing in their cars towards Erbil and Sulaymaniyah."

This is all rather strange and leads to a lot of speculation. Here is a short list of possibilities:

1. The Kurds were weaker than most analysts estimated, possibly because large numbers of them were sent to Syria to serve as proxies for the US in its war against ISIS.
2. The Iraqis were stronger than most analysts estimated, possibly because of military assistance from the US, Turkey, or Iran. 
3. The Kurds were simply told to get out of Kirkuk by the Americans or else face isolation and the cutting off of all support. The US finds the prospect of Kurdish independence deeply "embarrassing" to its overall position in the region. 
4. One Kurdish group betrayed the other, either for its own reasons or to gain favour with the Iraqis or Americans. The Kurdish army, called the Peshmerga, is bascially made up of two rival militia groups controlled by the Democratic Party of Kurdistan and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. 
5. Units of the Peshmerga were simply bribed to back off and allow the Iraqis to advance. There is some evidence of this.

One other possibility is that they had too many women in combat positions, as this has always been one of the ways that the Kurds have sold themselves to Western audiences. While this is great PR to gain international support, it can backfire in actual combat situations. 

This may have been happening when the Iraqis launched their offensive.

Well, let's wait and see what the real story is here. Should be interesting.