They have basically been a country unto themselves for quite a while... part of the benefit of the Northern No-Fly Zone maintained for over 10 years by the US/coalition formed during the Desert Storm days.
Iraq under Saddam maintained control of the Northern cities, mainly by moving sunni immigrants from central Iraq into the major oil producing cities found there. The countryside was a different matter. Rugged higher elevations pretty much prevented Saddam's forces from being able to move in on the ground and of course, they had no control of the air.
Of course this same US support of Kurdish influence/independence has worried Turkey for many years. That same issue kept Turkey from allowing the US to use Turkey as a ground stage for a northern invasion during the regime changing operations of this century. My understanding was that Turkey wanted to occupy Northern Iraq for "security" purposes. When they were refused the Turks suddenly lost interest in providing a northern invasion point.
The April 23, 2007, issue of Time had a great article about Iraqi Kurdistan.
Something totally different from what we are ?fed? by the main stream media.
Does this look like anything you would imagine from Iraq. A Kurdish family celebrating Nowruz, a holiday for the Kurdish New Year and start of spring.
Since 2003, no US troops have been killed in Kurdish Iraq.
Since 2004, once semi-desert wastelands are now showplacing luxury housing developments that resemble gated California suburbs; high-rise condominium complexes providing modern apartment life styles, and western-style supermarkets.
There is a modern international airport, built after the fall of Saddam, with limited traffic at the moment, but expanding to accommodate jumbo jets.
Andrew Lee Butters, the reporter who wrote the article, referring to the city of Arbil, stated??I was practically given the keys to the city. I did my reporting by foot or hailed taxis from the street, spent my evenings in beer gardens or pizza parlors, and slept on the roof of the house, with the sounds of crickets rather than Kalashnikovs in the cooling night air.?
Although part of Iraq, the Kurdish enclave at the northern tip of Iraq, have been able to keep their region free of the insurgency and sectarian violence that exists elsewhere, thanks to their Peshmerga Army. This is an ?army?, with heavy weapons; tanks; armored vehicles; and self-propelled artillery.
If interested, go here for a look at the Peshmerga http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshmerga
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