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| Iraq |
| Coalition Forces Press Closer to Tikrit |
| 2003-04-11 |
| KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) - With stunning speed and barely a fight, Kirkuk and its oil fields changed hands Thursday. By sundown, Kurdish fighters roamed unchallenged through the streets, looters had emptied government buildings down to the bathroom fixtures and statues of Saddam Hussein lay broken in the dust. Thousands of young Iraqi soldiers walked south from Kirkuk toward Baghdad Friday, telling CNN they were making their way home after being abandoned by their commanders. Such stalwart commanders. Mr. Galloway must be proud. The men, some of them walking barefoot, trudged down a blacktop two-lane road through farmland, carrying bedrolls and wearing civilian clothes under a bright blue sky and amid flocks of sheep. One man said his military superiors had confiscated the soldiers' documents in an attempt to keep them from deserting earlier. He said the troops learned on Thursday while in Kirkuk of Saddam's apparent downfall. Bet that sapped morale. Not that Iraqi army morale was all that good to begin with. At the same time, an endless stream of cars jammed roads into Kirkuk as Kurds flooded into the city they consider one of the capitals of their ethnic homelands but which many fled after 1991. Many of those returning wore suits and ties and other nice clothes as if headed to see long-lost relatives or friends. Jes' goin' home. Kirkuk's fall - coupled with indications that Mosul, the largest city in the north, might quickly follow - brought the northern front within nearly 60 miles of the Iraqi president's hometown of Tikrit, the possible last refuge of his rule. The capture of Kirkuk also left Iraq's No. 2 oil region almost fully intact. Coalition leaders had feared retreating Iraqi forces might set the fields ablaze, but only one well fire raged near Kirkuk. It was not known if it was caused by fighting or sabotage. The United States had asked Kurdish forces not to enter Kirkuk, a senior Pentagon official said Thursday, amid U.S. concerns not to stoke Turkish fears over swelling Kurdish power. But when the peshmerga fighters went in anyway, some U.S. troops were sent to accompany them. "Hey Joe!" "Yeah Willie?" "We got orders to escort some Pes' Merg Gas inta town." "Yeah, sure, but lemme put on some clean socks first." "You ain't got no clean socks." "Well lemme put on some dirty ones then!" U.S. special operations forces were with the Kurds when they entered the city of 100,000 people, said Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, vice director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff. They were soon joined by elements of the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he promised Turkey the Kurds would pull out and be replaced by U.S. troops - easing Turkish fears that the Kurds could use Kirkuk as a step toward an independent state, perhaps inspiring separatists among Kurds in Turkey. Jalal Talabani, leader of one of the factions whose forces entered the city, told the Turkish television channel CNN-Turk that all Kurdish fighters would leave by the end of Friday. What a shame. Kinda like the Kurds getting back what they formerly had. Mosul, Iraq's third largest city and the next prize in the north, appeared about to follow Kirkuk. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said small numbers of U.S. and Kurdish forces were entering Mosul and ``being welcomed by the people.'' Gen. Babakir Zibari, a Kurdish commander, said remnants of the Baath Party and Iraqi military commanders in Mosul have offered to surrender, but only on condition that they be granted amnesty, and if coalition bombing stops. "We surrender! We surrender! Stop killing us!" Lt. Col. Robert Waltemeyer, commander of a U.S. special forces unit north of Mosul, said U.S. forces would meet Friday with Mosul leaders to establish secure zones. Unlike Kirkuk, Kurdish fighters will stay on Mosul's outskirts, he said. The entry into Kirkuk marked an extraordinary day for Iraqi Kurds, a moment akin to the fall of the Iron Curtain. After the 1991 Gulf War, the Kurdish lands were divided - part becoming autonomous under Western protection. Kirkuk and Mosul were left under Baghdad rule and many Kurds fled to north as Arab settlers moved in. ``We are one again. Finally, we are one,'' said Kareem Mohammad Kareem, a Kurd who joined crowds cheering the toppling of a statue of Saddam in Arab dress. ``I am 50 years old, but my life just started today.'' Kurdish fighters, aided by U.S. Special Forces, roared south in ragtag convoys: pickup trucks, private cars, military transport and some motorcycles. Kurds often stopped to grab Iraqi guns or claim jeeps or other equipment - even a garbage truck - left behind. But there was almost no one left to fight. ``We expected to come into town fighting Iraqis,'' said a U.S. Special Forces soldier who could not give his name under military rules. ``They were gone.'' I can hear the disappointment. Remaining troops and Saddam loyalists, including officials of his Baath Party, fled before coalition forces reached the outskirts. There were few signs of battle. The bodies of three Iraqi soldiers were scattered around Arafat Square, dominated by a statue of Saddam on a platform representing an oil well. A few hours later, men ripped a heavy chain from around the statue, looped it around the figure and hooked the chain to a commandeered fire truck. They cheered as it tumbled down with just a slight metallic creak. ``Liberty!'' yelled 18-year-old Tariq Abid Mohammad. ``Freedom. USA. Thank you, George Bush.'' You're welcome, pal. Many families - Arabs as well as Kurds - stood outside their homes in disbelief and joy as the Kurdish fighters entered the city. One woman threw a handful of daisies. Nowrooz Ali cradled her 2-year-old daughter, Aya, as crowds used stones and bricks to smash a mural of Saddam. At the local offices of the state oil company, people carted away chairs, carpets, air conditioners, ceiling fans and TV sets. At the main post office building, the bathrooms were stripped of their faucets. Outside, men used hammers and crowbars to try to open a safe they believed held dollars. Cars were laden with the plunder: refrigerators, bookcases, chairs. Sometimes the vehicles themselves were the prize. A bus-size ambulance sped out of the city, apparently driven by looters. Are we sure they weren't Paleos? Gas flowed for free at state-run service stations. A bank office was set ablaze. Kurdish leaders bedded down in stately homes abandoned by Baath Party figures. In Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said his country had U.S. approval to send military observers to Kirkuk to make sure Kurdish fighters eventually withdraw from Kirkuk. Turkey had said it could send troops into northern Iraq to protect its interests - a move that could put Washington in the middle of a potential Turkish-Kurdish conflict. Barham Salih, one of the Kurdish leaders, said Kurds insist that all victims of ``ethnic cleansing'' in Kirkuk be allowed to return home. But he stressed the need to continue dialogue with Turkey and others to ``prevent any party from causing chaos.'' Barham clearly is a good listener. ``Kirkuk represents the climax of the suffering of the Kurdish people,'' he said. ``We want to make Kirkuk an example of coexistence.'' Many believe Saddam's remaining backers headed for Tikrit, about 65 miles southwest of Kirkuk. Coalition aircraft have hit the Republican Guard's Adnan Division in Tikrit and roadblocks tried to prevent Iraqi leaders from reaching the city to mount a last stand, U.S. officials said in Qatar. In addition, remnants of Republican Guard divisions and regular army units have ``coalesced into composite forces'' throughout the north, including the area from Kirkuk to Mosul, said Capt. Frank Thorp, a Central Command spokesman. A task force of about 300 soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division, based in Germany, was deployed to northern Iraq on Thursday to beef up the effort there. Southeast of Kirkuk, on the Iranian border, Kurds also swept unopposed into the strategic city of Khaneqin. A small group of troops belonging to the Badr Brigades, an Iranian-based Shiite Iraqi opposition group, entered the city first, in the dark, followed by a force of up to 4,000 Kurds, witnesses and officials said. Kurdish forces riding pickup trucks with mounted artillery were supported by U.S. special operations forces. Crowds welcomed the convoy with flowers and candy. I guess you can use a technical effectively. ``We were waiting for this day since 1991,'' said Salman Ajaf, a college student. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #20 The reason the French, Germans and Russians have moderated their braying is that with Iraqi archieves about to fall in US hands they probably do not wish to irritate George more than they all ready have. It wouldn't be good PR to see all the double dealing and UN sanction violations they have been involved in. Even the French and German electorates might wake up from their stupor and get annoyed. Murat is dead wrong. There are only Cuba, North Korea or Libya that might offer safe haven to Saddam. The vanishing troops, well I guess if I had the choice better death and desertion I'd be shucking those nasty old uniforms right quick. |
| Posted by: TJ Jackson 2003-04-12 00:43:06 |
| #19 Maybe the TURKS are why the Air Force is moving MOAB weapons into Iraq? I don't think any Turkish general would be too happy to run across the Iraqi border, just to be smashed into a pancake. Seems the US HAS learned a thing or two about dealing with the Middle East. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-04-11 16:56:26 |
| #18 Tex: I don't have a link for this but I've read somewhere that the problem is that there are a lot of ethnic Turks in Iraq, especially around Kirkuk and Mosul. (They call them Turkomans or something like that, but they're basically Turks left over from when Iraq was part of the Turkish empire.) Since Turkey oppresses their Kurds, it wouldn't be at all surprising if the Iraqi Kurds (whether still in Iraq or in an independent Kurdistan) decided to oppress their Turk(oman)s. As I undertand it, that's a lot of what the Turks in Turkey are worried about. They can't just annex the Turk(oman) areas, because they're little pockets a long way from the border, with most of the Kurds in between. That means that partition wouldn't help much: the Kurds, Turk(oman)s, Shiite Arabs, and Sunni Arabs are all mixed up geographically. They're going to have to find some way to get along with each other. |
| Posted by: Dr. Weevil 2003-04-11 16:40:37 |
| #17 Excuse me for butting in here, but this is for Murat. You've said before that you won't respond to people insulting you. Fair enough, but why haven't you responded to the two questions I've posed here for you today in other sections? (Turkey joining up with Syria & Iran, and the kid getting 5 years for saying he's happy to be a Kurd) |
| Posted by: Former Russian Major 2003-04-11 16:37:28 |
| #16 Murat's thinking: {inside murats head} Oh My God - the Kurds took over on of their own cities, they are amred, fighting well - people are starting to take them seriously in the West as FRIENDS! And they didnt go in and kill the Turks there - so they didnt give us Turks a pretext for stomping them and continuing our genocidal actions! DAMN - fast - post a comment to distract people before they start saying how nice the Kurds are compared to the racist genocidal Turks and Kemalists! Lets see whats the biggest flase rumor the Arab press is floating... Deal for Saddam - that ought to move them off the subject... {/inside murats head} Nice try Murat - you want to see a genocidal regime supporter - go look in the mirror. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2003-04-11 15:47:56 |
| #15 [Re: Tex's comment] Invites?? We were supposed to wait for invites? I didn't hear nuthin' about no invites. Boy, is my face red. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2003-04-11 14:58:52 |
| #14 Murat is about as logical as his Turkish masters. Let's see... we'll prevent the Americans from invading in the north then we'll get our panties in a twist because the Americans can't control the Kurds. How many times do the Turks have to shoot themselves in the foot before they get it? Fer Pete's sake, if they stopped scheming and playing bazaar merchant and just started analyzing and planning, they might have come out ahead in this war. PS Why do I think that between the peshmerga, the 173d, and the 1st AD elements, the Turkish divisions wouldn't get more than five mile into Kurdistan before they were stopped cold? |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2003-04-11 13:25:49 |
| #13 Guys, pardon me for jumping in uninvited..after lurking here many days, reading, learning, and especially laughing at some of the comments..I have to ask a question about some of this Kirkuk commentary....to wit--Turkey doesnt want the Kurds in Kirkuk....I thought Kirkuk was a Kurdish area and homeland at one time....so, the Kurds cant come back into their "country" because the Turds..er, uh Turks dont want them to? Excuse me? They--the Turks are afraid that the Kurds in Turkey will get the idea that they too can have a peaceful existence in their own homelands? With the human rights record of the Turks, seems like a reasonable thing for the Kurds to want out of there post haste....and the Turks dont want them to go where they would be free? Sorry, I must be missing something here.... Why cant the Kurds do some self-determining of their own, get their own lands back after being repressed by the Turks and get on with their lives? Is there a reason we are allowing the Turks to continue to control the Kurds? Thanks for all your rational, seemingly educated, highly coherent comments and remarks---Murat excepted. Rock on!!! |
| Posted by: Tex 2003-04-11 13:08:36 |
| #12 Murat - your starting to sound like the belgians -did thier warnings have the desired affect? Must suck to be at the mercy of tiny belgian...lololol |
| Posted by: Dan 2003-04-11 11:11:27 |
| #11 Read somewhere yesterday (can't remember where, and can't find it) that someone had reported Iraqis on the beach at Latakia, in Syria. Sounds a bit far-fetched, but possible. Who knows what was actually in that Russian convoy? If true, I'm sure Latakia will be visited by our CIA and Delta Force in the very near future. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-04-11 11:01:11 |
| #10 Murat: You have a wrong notion on the word sarcasm, you say sarcasm and mean irony. Still no reply? |
| Posted by: michael 2003-04-11 10:48:47 |
| #9 Never blame conspiracy when other factors better explain the situation. Thomas Sowell said that he doubts that the war has gone according to plan. He doubts the Army expected Baghdad to fall on the 21st day of the war. I do too, and I expect even CENTCOM is surprised. Pleased, but surprised. The French, German, Russian and Chinese contracts are dead, and they know it. The war is all but won, and they are the ones left holding the bag. That is the explaination for the about face. |
| Posted by: Ben 2003-04-11 09:42:44 |
| #8 Murat: "vanishing troops into thin air"? Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the terms "bombs" as in "we dropped lots of big bombs on them" and "hiding" as in "gone AWOL and into hiding to save their own lives". |
| Posted by: Tom 2003-04-11 08:48:08 |
| #7 You crack me up, Murat. "the US has made some secret deals with France, Germany and Russia about the fate of Saddam" -- yeah, bullet or noose, let's make a deal! "the quick capitulation of Baghdad and the absence of major Iraqi leading members are related to these agreements" -- I suspect it had more to do with air supremacy, columns of tanks, and that choice of bullet or noose. "What made France, Germany and Russia suddenly turn to moderate their voice against the war" -- perhaps the fact that the worst fears about the war have started to subside. No big terrorist attacks at home, no WMD use (at least yet), no longterm seige, etc. Oh yes, they also want a piece of the action now that it's clear to them that victory is at hand. Really, Murat, your conspiracy theories amuse me. The truth is simply that everybody is now just looking out for their own interests -- just like they always were. Good luck on that EU thing! |
| Posted by: Tom 2003-04-11 08:36:05 |
| #6 Chuck, sure it’s not deniable that Tikrit got a lot of kicking, but does that explain vanishing troops into thin air, where are the prominent Baath Iraqis, I guess all of them where hit by a smart bomb leaving no trace of them. You have a wrong notion on the word partner, you say partner and mean a lapdog. Not all of us want to play the blare of Bush (Tony Blare) |
| Posted by: Murat 2003-04-11 08:30:05 |
| #5 "I am XX years old, but my life just started today." -- Seems to be a common saying. Anyone with Middle East experience know if this is a common idiom? |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-04-11 08:15:51 |
| #4 George, sure, that makes some sense. The water dept., the garbage pickups, the post office, etc. all need to run. And some police were after real criminals (the ones Saddam let out a few months ago). No need to exclude every government employee just for having worked for the government. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-04-11 08:04:03 |
| #3 Murat may be not far off the mark. I heard today (Maybe misinformation) that amnesty has been given to former gov't workers if they work in the new gov't. |
| Posted by: George 2003-04-11 07:35:28 |
| #2 Jeez, Murat, you don't suppose that the ass kicking we've given the Tikrit Thugocracy had any thing to do with the change of heart? Framany and Gerance realize that they are on the outside looking in, and not dollar one will be going their way for post war work. The only back door |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-04-11 07:33:12 |
| #1 It might be just rumours but these rumours do give a lot of question marks after the agreement talks in Belfast. There are a lot of rumours lately that the US has made some secret deals with France, Germany and Russia about the fate of Saddam. In short it is said that the quick capitulation of Baghdad and the absence of major Iraqi leading members are related to these agreements. Somehow it is very fishy, where are these guys especially the Iraqi minister of information Muhammed Said Al Sahaf who appeared regularly on the media from Baghdad and all the Iraqi troops vanishing into thin air? What made France, Germany and Russia suddenly turn to moderate their voice against the war in their fast U-turn? Well, I guess the backdoor deals back there in Belfast where effective. |
| Posted by: Murat 2003-04-11 04:09:07 |