Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Story Iraq: Turkish Aggression

Being hidden nicely by the MSM, but there are blurbs in my paper:

"Turkish shelling reported in Iraq; Suspected Kurdish rebel sites targeted" by Christopher Torchia/Associated Press June 9, 2007

ISTANBUL -- Turkish artillery shelled suspected positions of Kurdish rebels based across the border in northern Iraq yesterday, according to reports. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Turkey that it risked expanding regional tensions with any "robust" move of troops into Iraq.

Turkey has been building up its forces along the border with Iraq, and its leaders are debating whether to stage a major incursion to pursue Kurdish rebels from Turkey who rest, train, and resupply at bases in Iraq. Such an operation could ignite a wider conflict involving Iraqi Kurds, and draw in its NATO ally, the United States.

Rice, speaking in New York to a panel of Associated Press journalists, said it's "not good for anybody for a robust move across the border." She described it as "not good for Iraq and not good for Turkey."

The statement by Rice suggested Washington has acknowledged that Turkey might conduct limited incursions across the rugged frontier against the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party .

Tension and violence involving Kurds, who lack a nation-state but have long sought autonomy, have ebbed and surged in the past century in Turkey... Kurds make up about 20 percent of the population of more than 70 million.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan , the party of President Jalal Talabani of Iraq, reported the overnight Turkish... shelling on its website. Turkish military authorities at the general staff in Ankara were not immediately available for comment.

The Patriotic Union party said artillery shells overnight hit some areas in the Sidikan area in Irbil Province, where the borders of Turkey, Iran, and Iraq converge, and that nine villages were affected.

"Huge damage was inflicted on the area," the party said, citing what it described as an unidentified "source" in the area. "The source said that residents have left their houses, fearing for their lives."

[Oh, I'm sorry.

That was a story from LAST JUNE!

Here's today's "news."

"Turkey Takes Step Toward Iraq Operation" by Christopher Torchia/Associated Press October 16, 2007

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Turkey moved closer to opening a new front in the Iraq war Monday, with the government asking parliament to approve a cross-border offensive against Kurdish rebels.

Some residents in northern Iraq have called for U.S. intervention after Turkish shelling of the region over the weekend.

Col. Hussein Rashid of the Iraqi army's border guard forces said Turkish troops fired more than 250 artillery shells and at least 10 missiles into northern Iraq. He said the shelling hit abandoned areas in the mountains and caused no casualties or damages.

The Turkish military said its troops had "responded heavily'' to armed attacks from northern Iraq on Friday and would continue to do so.

Oil prices surged above $85 a barrel Monday, partly because of concerns that Turkish military action could disrupt oil supplies in the region.

[This part of the article was cut for my paper. Isn't that nice, reader?]

An offensive could also undermine Turkey's relations with the United States... and its frustration with the perceived lack of U.S. support in the fight against the PKK, branded as terrorists by Washington, has intensified because of another sensitive issue: the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. A U.S. House panel approved a resolution last week labeling the killings as genocide, an affront to the Turks.

[What I say is, if the Turks the pass their resolution, we should throw it in their face!

You passed one we didn't like?

We'll pass one you don't like. So there!]


Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, said President Bush would not intervene in any vote on the genocide resolution in Congress, although the administration has tried to persuade lawmakers to reject it:

"There should be no question of the president's views on this issue and the damage that this resolution could do to U.S. foreign policy interests.''

[Can you imagine Bush saying this to the Germans after World War II, and denying the founding of Israel on such a basis?

Naw, neither could I!]


Some commentators say the PKK would benefit from a Turkish offensive into Iraq because Iraqi Kurds, whose ties with the PKK are uneasy, would see a common enemy in the invaders. Moreover, Turkey could isolate itself on the international stage by echoing, albeit in a limited way, the unpopular U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

[Why? Israel bombed Syria, and nothing happened there!]


Senior PKK rebel commander Duran Kalkan said the Turkish military would suffer a serious blow if it launched an offensive, saying it would "be bogged down in a quagmire,'' the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency reported.

During the 1990s, Turkish troops penetrated Iraqi territory on numerous occasions, sometimes with as many as 50,000 troops.

[And you hardly heard about it, didn't you, readers?]


The Turkish forces withdrew, leaving behind about 2,000 soldiers who remain to monitor rebel activities.

The separatists have been fighting the Turkish government since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives."

[Yeah, but Turkish annihilation of Kurds is not a problem.

Another of Bill Clinton's murderous legacies!

Of course, if it was Hussein, you hear all about killing and gassing Kurds.

Hey, whatever serves the Zionist masters, right?]

This is all the due the Times gives it.

"Turkey Moves Closer to an Incursion Into Iraq" by ALISSA J. RUBIN

BAGHDAD, Oct. 15 — Tensions mounted along the Iraqi-Turkish border on Monday as the Turkish government sought parliamentary approval for military raids into northern Iraq. The vote in Parliament would permit Turkish armed forces to cross the border in pursuit of Kurdish rebels who launch attacks into Turkey from the Kurdish region of Iraq.

On Sunday, Turkish artillery heavily shelled two villages on the Iraqi side of the border in northern Kurdistan, according to Col. Hussein Rashid of the Iraqi Border Protection Forces.

“There was no reason for the strike because there was no P.K.K. in this area,” Colonel Rashid said. No casualties were reported."

Remember, the less coverage in the Times, the more important the story.

How many more front-page Zionist-tilted propagandas do you need to see?

There to PROMOTE an AGENDA and a WORLDVIEW, not "report news," folks!

Sorry!