BLOOMBERG Charlie Rose November 17, 2015
They have been fighting saddam for years. I think the main reason the government is as strong as it is. It has been going now for almost 20 years. First essentially liberated the kurds in the first gulf war in 1991. They have basically been autonomous since then. 1991 is essentially the birth of the kurdish government. They have been at it for a long time. They have had to protect that area and fight for it and its very ethically homogeneous there. They have had a big head start on everyone else...
Source: archive.org