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The Kurdistans

Elmo Has a Question: Who Voted For the Kurd?
Weam Namou - 2/10/2008
Iraq is as famous for its Kurdish jokes and riddles as America is for its Polack ones. After the January 30, 2005 elections, Iraqis came up with a new riddle: If 60% of Iraqis are Shia, 35% Sunni, and 15% Kurds, who voted for the Kurd? According to CIA’s World Factbook, the population of Iraq is 75%-80% Arab, 15%-20% Kurdish, and 5% Assyrian or other ethnicities. Yet Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, was chosen as Iraq’s president on April 6, 2005, becoming the first leader of an Arab country who is not himself an Arab. His leadership proved to satisfy both Sunnis and Shiites to such extent that he was reelected in April 2006.