Novak: Bush sending US Special Forces to help Turks against the Kurds. You cannot make up shit like this. Bush is terminally stupid.
Grim Reaper
deterred the Bush administration from taking on a dangerous and
questionable new secret operation. High-level U.S. officials are
working with their Turkish counterparts on a joint military operation
to suppress Kurdish guerrillas and capture their leaders. Through
covert activity, their goal is to forestall Turkey from invading Iraq.
While detailed operational plans are necessarily concealed, the broad
outlines have been presented to select members of Congress as required
by law. U.S. Special Forces are to work with the Turkish army to
suppress the Kurds' guerrilla campaign. The Bush administration is
trying to prevent another front from opening in Iraq, which would have
disastrous consequences. But this gamble risks major exposure and
failure.
The Turkish initiative reflects the temperament and personality of
George W. Bush. Even faithful congressional supporters of his Iraq
policy have been stunned by the president's upbeat mood, which makes
him appear oblivious to the loss of his political base. Despite the
failing effort to impose a military solution in Iraq, he is willing to
try imposing arms -- though clandestinely -- on Turkey's ancient
problems with its Kurdish minority, who comprise one-fifth of the
country's population.
The development of an autonomous Kurdish entity inside Iraq, resulting
from the decline and fall of Saddam Hussein, has alarmed the Turkish
government. That led to Ankara's refusal to allow U.S. combat troops
to enter Iraq through Turkey, an eleventh-hour complication for the
2003 invasion. As the Kurds' political power grew inside Iraq, the
Turkish government became steadily more uneasy about the centuries-old
project of a Kurdistan spreading across international boundaries --
and chewing up big pieces of Turkey.
The dormant Turkish Kurd guerrilla fighters of the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) came to life. By June, the Turkish government was
demonstrating its concern by lobbing artillery shells across the
border. Ankara began protesting, to both Washington and Baghdad, that
the PKK was using northern Iraq as a base for guerrilla operations. On
July 11, in Washington, Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy became the
first Turkish official to assert publicly that Iraqi Kurds have claims
on Turkish territory. On July 20, just two days before his successful
reelection, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened a
military incursion into Iraq against the Kurds. Last Wednesday, Murat
Karayilan, head of the PKK political council, predicted that "the
Turkish Army will attack southern Kurdistan."
Turkey has a well-trained, well-equipped army of 250,000 near the
border, facing some 4,000 PKK fighters hiding in the mountains of
northern Iraq. But significant cross-border operations surely would
bring to the PKK's side the military forces of the Kurdistan Regional
Government, the best U.S. ally in Iraq. What is Washington to do in
the dilemma of two friends battling each other on an unwanted new
front in Iraq?
The surprising answer was given in secret briefings on Capitol Hill
last week by Eric S. Edelman, a former aide to Vice President Cheney
who is now undersecretary of defense for policy. Edelman, a Foreign
Service officer who once was U.S. ambassador to Turkey, revealed to
lawmakers plans for a covert operation of U.S. Special Forces to help
the Turks neutralize the PKK. They would behead the guerrilla
organization by helping Turkey get rid of PKK leaders that they have
targeted for years.
Edelman's listeners were stunned. Wasn't this risky? He responded that
he was sure of success, adding that the U.S. role could be concealed
and always would be denied. Even if all this is true, some of the
briefed lawmakers left wondering whether this was a wise policy for
handling the beleaguered Kurds, who had been betrayed so often by the
U.S. government in years past.
The plan shows that hard experience has not dissuaded President Bush
from attempting difficult ventures employing the use of force. On the
contrary, two of the most intrepid supporters of the Iraq intervention
-- John McCain and Lindsey Graham-- were surprised by Bush during a
recent meeting with him. When they shared their impressions with
colleagues, they commented on how unconcerned the president seemed.
That may explain his willingness to embark on such a questionable
venture against the Kurds.
John Smith
"Grim Reaper" <pilgrimina...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1185841074.9...@19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
> The morass in Iraq and deepening difficulties in Afghanistan have not
> deterred the Bush administration from taking on a dangerous and
> questionable new secret operation. High-level U.S. officials are
> working with their Turkish counterparts on a joint military operation
> to suppress Kurdish guerrillas and capture their leaders. Through
> covert activity, their goal is to forestall Turkey from invading Iraq.
>
> While detailed operational plans are necessarily concealed, the broad
> outlines have been presented to select members of Congress as required
> by law. U.S. Special Forces are to work with the Turkish army to
> suppress the Kurds' guerrilla campaign. The Bush administration is
> trying to prevent another front from opening in Iraq, which would have
> disastrous consequences. But this gamble risks major exposure and
> failure.
>
>
>
> The Turkish initiative reflects the temperament and personality of
> George W. Bush. Even faithful congressional supporters of his Iraq
> policy have been stunned by the president's upbeat mood, which makes
> him appear oblivious to the loss of his political base.
Let me rephrase that:
He IS oblivious to many things going on around him ... this is merely a
DISCOVERY of an already existing condition.
Despite the
> failing effort to impose a military solution in Iraq, he is willing to
> try imposing arms -- though clandestinely -- on Turkey's ancient
> problems with its Kurdish minority, who comprise one-fifth of the
> country's population.
>
> The development of an autonomous Kurdish entity inside Iraq, resulting
> from the decline and fall of Saddam Hussein, has alarmed the Turkish
> government. That led to Ankara's refusal to allow U.S. combat troops
> to enter Iraq through Turkey, an eleventh-hour complication for the
> 2003 invasion. As the Kurds' political power grew inside Iraq, the
> Turkish government became steadily more uneasy about the centuries-old
> project of a Kurdistan spreading across international boundaries --
> and chewing up big pieces of Turkey.
The Kurds are a group of people who LIVE in the northern part of Iraq, AND
in the Northern part of Turkey.
It is the boundaries that have separated them.
The Kurds want independance and a nation of their own.
Something we SUPPORTED in Israel, and opposed in Vietnam.
>
> The dormant Turkish Kurd guerrilla fighters of the Kurdistan Workers
> Party (PKK) came to life. By June, the Turkish government was
> demonstrating its concern by lobbing artillery shells across the
> border. Ankara began protesting, to both Washington and Baghdad, that
> the PKK was using northern Iraq as a base for guerrilla operations. On
> July 11, in Washington, Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy became the
> first Turkish official to assert publicly that Iraqi Kurds have claims
> on Turkish territory. On July 20, just two days before his successful
> reelection, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened a
> military incursion into Iraq against the Kurds. Last Wednesday, Murat
> Karayilan, head of the PKK political council, predicted that "the
> Turkish Army will attack southern Kurdistan."
Although this SEEMS like the same "invasion" that Saddam did into Kuwait -
it is more like the illegal invasion by America (George Bush) into Iraq.
>
> Turkey has a well-trained, well-equipped army of 250,000 near the
> border, facing some 4,000 PKK fighters hiding in the mountains of
> northern Iraq. But significant cross-border operations surely would
> bring to the PKK's side the military forces of the Kurdistan Regional
> Government, the best U.S. ally in Iraq. What is Washington to do in
> the dilemma of two friends battling each other on an unwanted new
> front in Iraq?
>
> The surprising answer was given in secret briefings on Capitol Hill
> last week by Eric S. Edelman, a former aide to Vice President Cheney
> who is now undersecretary of defense for policy. Edelman, a Foreign
> Service officer who once was U.S. ambassador to Turkey, revealed to
> lawmakers plans for a covert operation of U.S. Special Forces to help
> the Turks neutralize the PKK. They would behead the guerrilla
> organization by helping Turkey get rid of PKK leaders that they have
> targeted for years.
Turkey has no one in it's whole army thais as good, and competant, as the
special forces?
That's embarassing.
>
> Edelman's listeners were stunned. Wasn't this risky? He responded that
> he was sure of success, adding that the U.S. role could be concealed
> and always would be denied.
Bwahahahaaaaaaa....... assured and denied. Pre-event propaganda.
Even if all this is true, some of the
> briefed lawmakers left wondering whether this was a wise policy for
> handling the beleaguered Kurds, who had been betrayed so often by the
> U.S. government in years past.
>
> The plan shows that hard experience has not dissuaded President Bush
> from attempting difficult ventures employing the use of force. On the
> contrary, two of the most intrepid supporters of the Iraq intervention
> -- John McCain and Lindsey Graham-- were surprised by Bush during a
> recent meeting with him. When they shared their impressions with
> colleagues, they commented on how unconcerned the president seemed.
> That may explain his willingness to embark on such a questionable
> venture against the Kurds.
and should this betrayal lead to Kurdish acts of terrorism against he United
States and it's interests - the republican politicos will merely feign
ignorance and blame someone else.
Scotius (Ponti Fickatur)
I remember that Tayyip Erdogan said that the Turkish
government's decision to not allow the US to use Turkey as a base to
attack Iraq represented the will of "...100% of the population".
Of course, that was pure bull. No country ever has anywhere
near a "perfect" level of agreement on anything.
The thing is, Bush and the neocon strategists have apparently
decided that Turkey is geographically important for their plans, and
are willing to do darned near anything to help Turkey out to get their
backs scratched later.
Also, no one ever encouraged the Kurds to rise up against the
Turks (as Turkey is a NATO and US ally), but Bush Sr. did encourage
them to rise up against Hussein in '91.
Hmmm.... gee. I wonder...
Could it be that the neocon strategists have decided to use
the Turks to drive the Kurds into Iraq? The Kurdish leaders will
probably figure that it will be easy to get into and stay within Iraqi
borders since the Iraqis are so busy fighting their civil war, and
then there will be one more ethnic group involved in that civil war -
the Kurds.
I'm convinced that the oil companies WANT Iraq to be in a
state of civil war so they can buy the oil cheap while claiming the
supply is endangered by the sectarian violence there so they can sell
it for even more in the US. Or maybe they just want to buy it cheap so
they can make "some" profit ... and pass the savings on to American
citizens (unlikely). Anyway, I have no doubt that as with most wars,
there's a lot of using of people as assets involved, which is just the
way CIA personnel and diplomats are trained to think about people.
It's wrong, clearly, but that's the way the business of politics is
conducted, especially when you have people running the show who think
politics IS business.