Op-Edge: Why is it almost impossible for Kurds to secede from Iraq?

... it in such a critical time? The answer is definitely related to the ongoing events in Iraq and the instability followed the rise of Islamic State. Damascus and Baghdad are currently busy fighting a major terrorist threat on their mainland, along with Kurds of course. But at the same time the ongoing distraction and chaos in Iraq in the past 4 years, gave the KRG  a better experience in self-rule away from Baghdad. The expansion of ISIS have literally cut Iraq into two halves, an Arabic half, and a Kurdish one. Geographically speaking, this offered the Iraqi Kurds a further momentum of a de-facto independence. Barzani have been watching the continuous and recent defeats of ISIS,...