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2007-11-05 Iraq

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Posted by anonymous5089 2007-11-05 15:43|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 There's an interesting op-ed in the Washington Times today (registration required, but it's free), from a reporter who just got back from a stay with the PJAK -- the Kurds fighting against Iran. He says:

A Turkish invasion of northern Iraq will directly benefit another key regional player, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Little known in Washington is the strategic and military alliance forged recently between U.S. NATO ally Turkey and U.S. arch-enemy Iran.

Since August, Iran and Turkey have jointly battled Kurdish rebel groups based in Northern Iraq. When the cross-border shelling of Iraqi villages began Aug. 16, Turkish gunners opened fire against PKK bases along Iraq's border with Turkey, while Iranian gunners simultaneously took aim at guerrillas of the Party of Free Life of Iranian Kurdistan, commonly known as PJAK.

The PKK and PJAK occupy completely different areas of northern Iraq, separated from each other by 11,000-foot mountain peaks and breathtaking canyons. The PKK faces north, toward Turkey, and directs its activities against Turkey. PJAK faces east, toward Iran, and since 2004 has been conducting political and guerrilla operations inside Iranian Kurdish areas. In the two months since the recent fighting began, PJAK guerrillas told me they have killed 200 Iranian Revolutionary Guards troops in 21 separate clashes, most of them provoked by the Iranian side.

In the PJAK bases I visited, there was not only no PKK presence: There was no hint of political, military or strategic cooperation between the two groups. PJAK seeks to democratize Iran through a broad-based political struggle, backed by "self-defense forces" whose purpose is to deter repressive actions by the Revolutionary Guards and other security forces. They do not seek a military confrontation with the regime, nor are they asking for U.S. military assistance. PJAK has no involvement and, indeed, does not endorse the actions against Turkey by the HPG self-defense forces, commonly (and erroneously) known as the PKK.

Part of Iran's goal is to get Turkey to carry its political water in Washington. Iran's leaders hope Mr. Erdogan will convince the State Department and the White House to accept the Iranian fable that PJAK is merely the "Iranian branch" of the PKK. If there is any covert cooperation, it is between Iran and Turkey. Turkish military officers are today stationed at Revolutionary Guards headquarters in Urmieh and in other Iranian cities close to northern Iraq, where they advise Iranian troops in counterinsurgency methods.

And yet, the CIA and the State Department appear more eager to talk to the Iranian regime than they are to talk with PJAK, whose president, Rahman Haj Ahmadi, they refused to meet during a recent trip to Washington this summer.

Posted by trailing wife">trailing wife 2007-11-05 16:46|| 2007-11-05 16:46|| Front Page Top

#2 There was also Turkish disinformation in the WSJ this morning. Looks like they have given their PR firm a bigger budget.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-11-05 16:51|| 2007-11-05 16:51|| Front Page Top

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