Apropos of my last posting, anger is at the boiling point in Iraqi Kurdistan following Jalal Talabani’s eldest son apparently ordering members of his militia to open fire on an opposition campaign rally. You might remember that in the municipal elections, the Gorran (Change) list, led by Jalal Talabani’s former deputy and campaigning against out-of-control corruption in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and in the Talabani family itself, came in first in the province. Gorran is now campaigning for the Kurdish vote in the March 7 Iraqi elections. At any rate, one senior Gorran official today noted, “the PUK anti-terror force was created to fight al-Qaeda, not to suppress campaign rallies.”

What does this mean for Washington? Anti-Americanism is beginning to run very high. Gorran members firmly believe that the Obama administration is supporting the PUK and Kurdistan Democratic party (KDP) — that’s what the Talabani and Barzani media are telling them, and that’s the impact of photos of Obama shaking hands with Barzani broadcast all over the place. Gorran complains that, after the KDP cheated in municipal elections, Gorran gave direct evidence to the U.S. representative in the region, but was ignored. The White House should not allow itself to be associated blindly with corruption, an optic which is also encouraged by the business activities of former U.S. officials.

It’s all well and good to work with the status quo, but when President Talabani is old and in not-so-great health, it’s silly to anchor U.S. policy to a man who, quite frankly, could be gone tomorrow. And it’s silly to turn a blind eye, no matter how charming his sons might be, when they beat up journalists and fire on crowds in the street.

If rule of law means anything in Kurdistan, as Qubad Talabani often says it does, it’s time for Qubad’s eldest brother to go to trial and, if found guilty, go to prison for a long, long time for what occurred last night. We don’t need any more Uday’s and Qusay’s.