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Iraqi FM: Turkey massing 140,000 troops
By BUSHRA JUHI, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 14 minutes ago
Turkey has massed 140,000 soldiers on its border with northern Iraq,
Iraq's foreign minister said Monday, calling the neighboring country's
fears of Kurdish rebels based there "legitimate" but better resolved
through negotiation.
The Turkish military had no comment to the remarks by Foreign Minister
Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd from northern Iraq, and it was unclear where he
got the figures. If they are accurate, Turkey would have nearly as
many soldiers along its border with Iraq as the 155,000 troops which
the U.S. has in the country.
Zebari's comments came amid calls by Turkey's military for the
government to give it the green light to carry out military operations
in northern Iraqi against the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.
"Turkey is building up forces on the border. There are 140,000
soldiers fully armed on the border. We are against any military
interference or violation of Iraqi sovereignty," Zebari said in
Baghdad.
Turkey has been pressuring the United States and Iraq to eliminate PKK
bases in Kurdish-controlled parts of northern Iraq and has said it
will carry out a cross-border offensive if necessary.
"Turkey's fears are legitimate but such things can be discussed,"
Zebari said. ""The perfect solution is the withdrawal of the Turkish
forces from the borders."
He added: "No one wants a new military conflict in the region."
He said there had been no "Turkey military violation until now,"
citing artillery shelling and Turkish surveillance overflights.
Turkey has long complained of U.S. inaction against separatist rebels,
who have escalated attacks inside Turkey in recent months. Last week,
Turkey's military chief asked the government to set political
guidelines for an incursion into northern Iraq.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Friday confirmed that
detailed incursion plans were ready.
Zebari said that his government cannot send its troops to secure the
border with Turkey at a time when U.S. and Iraqi forces are fighting a
deadly insurgency that has killed thousands of people.
"Our military forces are over-occupied with securing the streets and
we do not have forces enough to open a new front. We do not want any
conflict. However, no military violation has taken place till now,"
Zebari said.
Turkey has been battling separatist Kurdish rebels since 1984 in a
conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. There has been a
recent surge in rebel attacks, and 67 soldiers have been killed this
year. More than 110 rebels were killed in the same period, according
to the Turkish military.
Zebari said the best way is to address Turkey's "legitimate security
concerns" and revive the security and military commission which is
made up of the united states, Iraq and Turkey.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VDARE.COM - http://www.vdare.com/roberts/070702_turkey.htm
July 02, 2007
Enter Turkey-From Cakewalk to Quicksand
By Paul Craig Roberts
John Lukacs in his monograph, June 1941: Hitler and Stalin, reports
that "the best military experts throughout the world predicted the
defeat of the Soviet Union within a few weeks, or within two months at
the most" following Hitler's invasion of Russia on June 22, 1941.
While the superb German military machine made an excellent showing, by
the beginning of 1943 its offensive capability was exhausted and the
Germans were defeated at Stalingrad. Germany lost the war one and one-
half years before the US could manage the invasion of Normandy. If
Hitler had not depleted the German Army in Russia, a US invasion of
Normandy could not have been contemplated.
Lukacs concerns himself with unintended consequences of June 22, 1941.
It is not too early, or too late, to concern ourselves with the
unintended consequences of March 20, 2003.
Four and one-quarter years ago the Pentagon and its neoconservative
advisors and media propagandists promised Americans a "cakewalk" war
of 3 to 6 weeks duration. Six weeks later on May 2, 2003, in history's
most ill-advised propaganda stunt, President Bush landed on the
aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, whose tower was adorned with a banner
declaring "Mission Accomplished," and announced the end to major
combat operations in Iraq.
In fact, the war had hardly begun. Four years later with the failure
in June 2007 of President Bush's desperate last measure-"the surge"-US
offensive capability is exhausted. The US military can do no more and
has less control of the situation than ever.
Perhaps the clearest indication that the war in Iraq is no longer
under American control is Turkey's announcement of plans to invade
northern Iraq, the home of the Iraqi Kurds. As June 2007 came to an
end, Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul announced that if US or
Iraqi forces did not eliminate the Kurdish guerrillas that were
attacking Turkey, the Turkish Army would move into northern Iraq to
deal with the situation.
Foreign Minister Gul was unequivocal: "The military plans have been
worked out in the finest detail. The government knows these plans and
agrees with them. If neither the Iraqi government nor the US occupying
forces can do this [crush the guerrillas], we will take our own
decision and implement it." [Turkey warns of plans to invade northern
Iraq , By Michael Howard, Guardian, June 30, 2007]
This ultimatum puts President Bush in an impossible situation. Neither
the Iraqi government nor the US military have the means to deal with
Kurdish guerrillas in their mountain strongholds. The US military
cannot even occupy Baghdad. The Iraqi government exists in name only
and can be found only in its offices located inside the fortified and
US-protected Green Zone in Baghdad. Moreover, to the extent that the
in-name-only Iraqi government has any support, it comes from the Kurds
in northern Iraq.
The rest of Iraq is controlled by Sunni insurgents and Shi'ite
militias. Even Basra in the south has been abandoned to the Shi'ite
militias by Bush's British ally.
The over-stretched American Empire hasn't any troops to send to
northern Iraq. NATO, whose charter was to defend Western Europe from
Soviet invasion should have been disbanded two decades ago. Today NATO
functions as an auxiliary US force and has been sent to Afghanistan,
where it is being defeated like the British and Russians before it.
In the midst of this unmanageable chaos, vice president Cheney, Bush's
former UN ambassador John Bolton and large numbers of Christian and
Jewish Zionists are demanding that the US attack Iran, and Syria, and
Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The unintended consequences of the "cakewalk war" are already far
outside the Bush administration's ability to manage and will plague
future governments for many years. For the administration to initiate
new acts of aggression in the Middle East would go beyond recklessness
to insanity.
COPYRIGHT CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
Paul Craig Roberts [email him] was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
in the Reagan Administration. He is the author of Supply-Side
Revolution : An Insider's Account of Policymaking in Washington;
Alienation and the Soviet Economy and Meltdown: Inside the Soviet
Economy, and is the co-author with Lawrence M. Stratton of The Tyranny
of Good Intentions : How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the
Constitution in the Name of Justice. Click here for Peter Brimelow's
Forbes Magazine interview with Roberts about the recent epidemic of
prosecutorial misconduct.
The articles on VDARE.com are brought to you by the VDARE Foundation.
We are supported by generous donations from our readers. Contributions
are tax deductible and appreciated. Contribute...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YNET: Risk of war with Syria this Summer warns former senior (Jewish/
AIPAC associated) US diplomat:
http://www.itszone.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=75268
Another excellent piece by Christopher Hedges:
A Declaration of Independence From Israel
http://www.itszone.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=75227
This piece by James Petras is excellent as well:
Unopposed Zionist War Lobby:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=75239
By BUSHRA JUHI, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 14 minutes ago
Turkey has massed 140,000 soldiers on its border with northern Iraq,
Iraq's foreign minister said Monday, calling the neighboring country's
fears of Kurdish rebels based there "legitimate" but better resolved
through negotiation.
The Turkish military had no comment to the remarks by Foreign Minister
Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd from northern Iraq, and it was unclear where he
got the figures. If they are accurate, Turkey would have nearly as
many soldiers along its border with Iraq as the 155,000 troops which
the U.S. has in the country.
Zebari's comments came amid calls by Turkey's military for the
government to give it the green light to carry out military operations
in northern Iraqi against the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.
"Turkey is building up forces on the border. There are 140,000
soldiers fully armed on the border. We are against any military
interference or violation of Iraqi sovereignty," Zebari said in
Baghdad.
Turkey has been pressuring the United States and Iraq to eliminate PKK
bases in Kurdish-controlled parts of northern Iraq and has said it
will carry out a cross-border offensive if necessary.
"Turkey's fears are legitimate but such things can be discussed,"
Zebari said. ""The perfect solution is the withdrawal of the Turkish
forces from the borders."
He added: "No one wants a new military conflict in the region."
He said there had been no "Turkey military violation until now,"
citing artillery shelling and Turkish surveillance overflights.
Turkey has long complained of U.S. inaction against separatist rebels,
who have escalated attacks inside Turkey in recent months. Last week,
Turkey's military chief asked the government to set political
guidelines for an incursion into northern Iraq.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Friday confirmed that
detailed incursion plans were ready.
Zebari said that his government cannot send its troops to secure the
border with Turkey at a time when U.S. and Iraqi forces are fighting a
deadly insurgency that has killed thousands of people.
"Our military forces are over-occupied with securing the streets and
we do not have forces enough to open a new front. We do not want any
conflict. However, no military violation has taken place till now,"
Zebari said.
Turkey has been battling separatist Kurdish rebels since 1984 in a
conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. There has been a
recent surge in rebel attacks, and 67 soldiers have been killed this
year. More than 110 rebels were killed in the same period, according
to the Turkish military.
Zebari said the best way is to address Turkey's "legitimate security
concerns" and revive the security and military commission which is
made up of the united states, Iraq and Turkey.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VDARE.COM - http://www.vdare.com/roberts/070702_turkey.htm
July 02, 2007
Enter Turkey-From Cakewalk to Quicksand
By Paul Craig Roberts
John Lukacs in his monograph, June 1941: Hitler and Stalin, reports
that "the best military experts throughout the world predicted the
defeat of the Soviet Union within a few weeks, or within two months at
the most" following Hitler's invasion of Russia on June 22, 1941.
While the superb German military machine made an excellent showing, by
the beginning of 1943 its offensive capability was exhausted and the
Germans were defeated at Stalingrad. Germany lost the war one and one-
half years before the US could manage the invasion of Normandy. If
Hitler had not depleted the German Army in Russia, a US invasion of
Normandy could not have been contemplated.
Lukacs concerns himself with unintended consequences of June 22, 1941.
It is not too early, or too late, to concern ourselves with the
unintended consequences of March 20, 2003.
Four and one-quarter years ago the Pentagon and its neoconservative
advisors and media propagandists promised Americans a "cakewalk" war
of 3 to 6 weeks duration. Six weeks later on May 2, 2003, in history's
most ill-advised propaganda stunt, President Bush landed on the
aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, whose tower was adorned with a banner
declaring "Mission Accomplished," and announced the end to major
combat operations in Iraq.
In fact, the war had hardly begun. Four years later with the failure
in June 2007 of President Bush's desperate last measure-"the surge"-US
offensive capability is exhausted. The US military can do no more and
has less control of the situation than ever.
Perhaps the clearest indication that the war in Iraq is no longer
under American control is Turkey's announcement of plans to invade
northern Iraq, the home of the Iraqi Kurds. As June 2007 came to an
end, Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul announced that if US or
Iraqi forces did not eliminate the Kurdish guerrillas that were
attacking Turkey, the Turkish Army would move into northern Iraq to
deal with the situation.
Foreign Minister Gul was unequivocal: "The military plans have been
worked out in the finest detail. The government knows these plans and
agrees with them. If neither the Iraqi government nor the US occupying
forces can do this [crush the guerrillas], we will take our own
decision and implement it." [Turkey warns of plans to invade northern
Iraq , By Michael Howard, Guardian, June 30, 2007]
This ultimatum puts President Bush in an impossible situation. Neither
the Iraqi government nor the US military have the means to deal with
Kurdish guerrillas in their mountain strongholds. The US military
cannot even occupy Baghdad. The Iraqi government exists in name only
and can be found only in its offices located inside the fortified and
US-protected Green Zone in Baghdad. Moreover, to the extent that the
in-name-only Iraqi government has any support, it comes from the Kurds
in northern Iraq.
The rest of Iraq is controlled by Sunni insurgents and Shi'ite
militias. Even Basra in the south has been abandoned to the Shi'ite
militias by Bush's British ally.
The over-stretched American Empire hasn't any troops to send to
northern Iraq. NATO, whose charter was to defend Western Europe from
Soviet invasion should have been disbanded two decades ago. Today NATO
functions as an auxiliary US force and has been sent to Afghanistan,
where it is being defeated like the British and Russians before it.
In the midst of this unmanageable chaos, vice president Cheney, Bush's
former UN ambassador John Bolton and large numbers of Christian and
Jewish Zionists are demanding that the US attack Iran, and Syria, and
Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The unintended consequences of the "cakewalk war" are already far
outside the Bush administration's ability to manage and will plague
future governments for many years. For the administration to initiate
new acts of aggression in the Middle East would go beyond recklessness
to insanity.
COPYRIGHT CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
Paul Craig Roberts [email him] was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
in the Reagan Administration. He is the author of Supply-Side
Revolution : An Insider's Account of Policymaking in Washington;
Alienation and the Soviet Economy and Meltdown: Inside the Soviet
Economy, and is the co-author with Lawrence M. Stratton of The Tyranny
of Good Intentions : How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the
Constitution in the Name of Justice. Click here for Peter Brimelow's
Forbes Magazine interview with Roberts about the recent epidemic of
prosecutorial misconduct.
The articles on VDARE.com are brought to you by the VDARE Foundation.
We are supported by generous donations from our readers. Contributions
are tax deductible and appreciated. Contribute...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YNET: Risk of war with Syria this Summer warns former senior (Jewish/
AIPAC associated) US diplomat:
http://www.itszone.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=75268
Another excellent piece by Christopher Hedges:
A Declaration of Independence From Israel
http://www.itszone.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=75227
This piece by James Petras is excellent as well:
Unopposed Zionist War Lobby:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=75239
