Thursday, July 23, 2009

"Why Kurds vs. Arabs could be Iraq's next civil war"

This was the headline of a July 22, 2009 article at Time.com, written by Andrew Lee Butters. The headline almost got it right -- it should have said, "Why Kurds vs. Arabs WILL BE Iraq's next civil war."

The reason? It is fated by the prophet Jeremiah. And the outcome? Overwhelming victory by the Kurds -- "For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon a horde of great nations from the land of the north, and they will draw up their battle lines against her; from there she will be taken captive... And Chaldea will become plunder" (Jer. 50:9-10).

How do I know the "nations from the land of the north" refer to the Kurds? Jeremiah himself defines these nations -- "The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is against Babylon to destroy it... Consecrate (these) nations against her, summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz... Consecrate (these) nations against her, the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their prefects, and every land of their dominion... for the destroyers will come to (Babylon) from the north" (Jer. 51:11, 27-28, 48).

The "Medes" are the modern-day Kurds: "(W)hich ethnic groups can claim to be the descended from the Medes? If it mattered--and I do not believe it does--then Kurds along with a few others can make this claim" writes Professor M. R. Izady at Kurdistanica.com. While the professor does not believe it matters, it does matter when it comes to fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy.

According to the JewishEncyclopedia.com, Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz are "paraphrased" in the "Targum to Jer. li. 27" as "Kurdistan, Armenia, and Adiabene", and "Adiabene" itself is described there as "a district in Mesopotamia between the Upper Zab and the Lower Zab" whose chief city was "Arbela", and that city is, according to livius.org, "modern Arbil or Erbil", the "capital of Iraqi Kurdistan" as described by Michael Totten.

"Ararat" then would refer to the Turkish Kurds, "Ashkenaz" (or better "Adiabene") would refer to the Iraqi Kurds, and "Minni" (or "Mannaeans") would refer to the Iranian Kurds. Three "great nations" allied for the purpose (from God's point of view) of destroying Babylon, modern-day Iraq. Presently, only the Iranian Kurds and Iraqi Kurds are united under the Kurdistan regional government. The mention of Ararat in the prophecy would suggest the Turkish Kurds may join the Kurdistan alliance prior to the outbreak of this predicted civil war with Iraq.

The Time.com article describes the factors in place for the Arab-Kurd animosity. In summary, "Kurdish-Arab dispute has become the most worrisome fault line in Iraq."

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