Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 16/08/07 - 03/11/07

Iraqi Parliament Resumes Session Saturday by Discussing Turkish Threats

The parliament's leadership has decided to resume parliament's session on Saturday after the Eid al-Fitr, during which a number of issues will be discussed, mainly the Turkish threats to invade northern Iraq to pursue elements of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a media source from the parliament said on Thursday.

The parliament's Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani decided to resume sessions next Saturday to discuss a number of issues, mainly the Turkish threats to invade northern Iraq," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq.

”Saturday's session is expected to attract a large number of lawmakers from different parliamentarian blocs to discuss the Iraqi-Turkish crisis," the source also said, noting that the parliament is likely to issue an important decision within this context.

The Turkish parliament on Wednesday voted to allow military strikes against Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, de****e stiff U.S. opposition and appeals from Baghdad for time to purge the rebels.

Only 19 Turkish lawmakers out of the 555 parliament members voted against the bill, which permitted any Turkish incursion into northern Iraq to pursue fighters allegedly using mountain areas in northern Iraq as a base to attack Turkish targets.

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the parliamentary session.

The motion came at a time that both Iraq and the U.S. urged Turkey to show self-restraint and to seek a peaceful means of resolving the crisis.

Last week, the Turkish government sought a mandate from the parliament to pursue the PKK's fighters inside the Iraqi territories after 13 Turkish soldiers were ambushed by PKK in southeastern Turkey.

Erdogan however, said that the mandate did not mean an imminent incursion into northern Iraq, expressing hope that "the military action be avoided."

For his part, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday that he understands Turkey's concerns about the Kurdistan Workers Party's (PKK) activities and reiterated his government's keenness to prevent Kurdish separatists' operations from being launched from within Iraqi territories.

PUKmedia :: English - Iraqi Parliament Resumes Session Saturday by Discussing Turkish Threats

Blackwater likely to be out of Iraq

A US State Department review of private security guards for diplomats in Iraq is unlikely to recommend firing Blackwater USA over the deaths of 17 Iraqis last month, but the company probably is on the way out of that job, US officials said.

Blackwater's work escorting US diplomats outside the protected Green Zone in Baghdad expires in May, one official said Wednesday, and other officials told AP they expect the North Carolina company will not continue to work for the embassy after that.

It is likely that Blackwater will not compete to keep the job, one official said. Blackwater probably will not be fired outright or even "eased out," the official added, but there is a mutual feeling that the Sept. 16 shooting deaths mean the company cannot continue in its current role.

State Department officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has not yet considered results of an internal review of Blackwater and the other two companies that protect diplomats in Iraq.

Department officials said no decisions have been made and that Rice has the final say.

They gave admiring appraisals of Blackwater's work overall, noting that no diplomats have died while riding in Blackwater's heavily armed convoys.
President George W. Bush did not directly answer a question Wednesday about whether he was satisfied with the performance of security contractors.

"I will be anxious to see the analysis of their performance," Bush said at a news conference. "There's a lot of studying going on, both inside Iraq and out, as to whether or not people violated rules of engagement. I will tell you, though, that a firm like Blackwater provides a valuable service. They protect people's lives, and I appreciate the sacrifice and the service that the Blackwater employees have made."

A panel that Rice appointed to review the contractors will report to her as soon as Friday, and Rice's announcement of what to do next probably will follow quickly, one department official said.

Blackwater likely to be out of Iraq | Iraq Updates

US Army Officer in Iraq Accused of Aiding al-Qaeda

A senior U.S. army officer in Iraq faced court martial accusations on Friday of aiding al Qaeda and illegally possessing secret documents that could have been used "to the injury of the United States".

Lieutenant-Colonel William Steele, 52, is a former military police commander at Camp Cropper, a U.S. detention facility near Baghdad airport where he oversaw the detention of Saddam Hussein in the days before the Iraqi leader's execution on Dec. 30.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Steele aided the enemy, al Qaeda in Iraq is the enemy, there's no question," prosecutor Captain Michael Rizzotti told the final day of Steele's court martial at Camp Liberty, a U.S. military base near the airport.

Steele is charged with aiding the enemy, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, illegally possessing classified information and maintaining an inappropriate relationship with a woman interpreter.

He is the highest-ranking U.S. officer to face a charge of aiding the enemy since Captain James Yee, a Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay, was charged in September 2003. The army eventually dropped the case.

Steele is accused of allowing detainees at Cropper to use his mobile phone. His defence team argues that he did this as a humanitarian gesture. Steele himself has opted not to testify.

"He did have interaction with detainees, treating them with dignity and respect. Let's not confuse that with sympathising with the enemy," defence counsel Major David Barrett said in his closing argument.

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Rizzotti said Steele had allowed an al Qaeda detainee, identified only as ISN 2184, "responsible for hundreds of deaths of coalition forces" to make a five-minute unmonitored telephone call in Arabic.

"We'll never know who was called, we'll never know what was said. ... It's the equivalent of putting an AK-47 in his hand. He aided the enemy," he said.

"Did he do it once? Did he do it twice? Nine soldiers saw him do this."
Prosecutor Rizzotti said nearly 12,000 secret documents had also been found in a search of Steele's living quarters in Camp Victory, the main U.S. base in Baghdad.

"(They were) documents that if fallen into the wrong hands could be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation. He did not get authority to take these documents," he said.

Much of the trial was held in closed session because of the sensitive nature of the documents, but reporters were given a glimpse of one which contained aerial photographs of Kandahar airbase and Bagram airfield in Afghanistan.

The court also heard how Steele sent intimate emails to his interpreter Bahar al-Suseyi, including one saying "there are a few things I need to do with you/to you" and planned to take her with him on a trip to Qatar.

Rizzotti said it was inappropriate behaviour for the married camp commander, whose wife Judith has been attending the sessions. It is still unclear what sentence Steele faces on this charge if he is found guilty.

PUKmedia :: English - US Army Officer in Iraq Accused of Aiding al-Qaeda

Deny All Charges of Helping the PKK, Iraq’s Kurds Vow to Fight if Region Attacked

Iraq's autonomous Kurds vowed on Friday to fight off any attack on their region, as Turkey mulled a military incursion to crack down on Kurdish rebels.

Iraqi Kurds were not to blame for the trouble between Turkey and the rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), said a statement issued from the office of Kurdish regional president Massoud Barzani.

"We frankly say to all parties: if they attack the region or Kurdistan experiment under whatever pretext, we will be completely ready to defend our democratic experiment and the dignity of our people and the sanctity of our homeland," it said.

The Turkish parliament gave permission to the military on Wednesday to launch an incursion into northern Iraq to pursue the rebels although Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoyan has indicated that no such action is imminent.

Turkey says the PKK enjoys free movement in northern Iraq and is tolerated or even actively supported by Iraqi Kurdish leaders, something they strongly deny.

"We are astonished by this tension during the past few days and the Turkish stance in crossing Kurdistan's borders under the pretext of striking at the PKK.

"Kurdistan is not responsible for the war between Turkey and the PKK, after all, and we have not supported the war or the violence and bloodletting or been dragged into this war," said the statement from Barzani.

"The Kurdish region strongly rejects the charges of helping the PKK," it added.

Barzani's office again stressed that the regional government stood ready to hold direct talks with Ankara over its concerns and urged the United States, the European Union and the United Nations to help promote dialogue instead of war.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to Ankara that he would bring an end to the presence of the PKK in northern Iraq, who he has labeled "terrorists" several times in recent days.

But the situation on the ground means his options are limited. The Iraqi army is not deployed on the Turkish border or anywhere else in the autonomous region, where security is under the control of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga militiamen.

PUKmedia :: English - Deny All Charges of Helping the PKK, Iraq’s Kurds Vow to Fight if Region Attacked

Cooperating with U.S. the Only Way to Silence PKK

It is as easy as it is hard to write an article these days. The easy way is to favour heroism and compose tales of bravery and patriotism.

The high-strung condition of our public leaves no room for criticism and its rational outrage is gradually turning into a giant manifestation. What's hard is to do one's duty to the public of being realistic. I prefer to take the hard way. I have no doubt that I am right. Ankara is doing what is necessary. We cannot ignore the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terror. We have to react to it. However, there are also some practical facts. Is reaction what really counts or is it to silence the PKK once and for all? What's important is the answer to that question. If the incursion motion was approved only in order to show off, then we can content with heroic displays of patriotism.

This would be one way of trying to impress the other side. That would be all, however. It wouldn't get us any further. The PKK may take cover for a certain period to return in the spring. That is certain. As for the second part of the question…Is our main objective to silence the PKK? The answer to this question must be YES. Nobody would prepare to mount a huge military operation for show. If the aim is to reduce the PKK terror to an acceptable or tolerable level, if not to silence it completely, then we have to be realistic. What I mean by being realistic is to enlist America's concrete support. We cannot organise an effective fight against the PKK by beating Washington or fighting against the U.S. administration and the Pentagon. The U.S. is a super power that has occupied Iraq. It would be extremely difficult to operate in that region without an approval or a green light from Washington. It might be possible to engage in one air attack or an individual bombing, but a long-term military venture would be impossible to maintain. Washington could use its military, financial and political mechanisms to do us great harm, especially if it decides to openly support the PKK. Our country would then suffer dire consequences. On the other hand, it is possible to increase our cooperation with Washington and to get it on our side in an effective fight against the PKK. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not talking about doing everything that America tells us to do. I'm talking about convincing the U.S. I'm talking about taking steps to show our determination, like we are doing at the moment.

This is like walking on a tight rope. It is not easy, but it can be done if there's a will. That is what realism means.

PKK's roots are inside and not outside.

All eyes were turned to the other countries during the incursion motion's approval process. All related speeches, news broadcasts and commentaries created the public impression that “the PKK has nothing to do with Turkey and that all its sources are completely outside.” I followed the debates in Parliament with amazement. Nobody even mentioned the conditions in Turkey and its unfortunate past policies. Everybody was indignant, especially the prime minister and even Government Speaker Cemil Çiçek. America got a big share of the criticism in every subject, from feeding the PKK to supplying it with arms. (However, nobody mentioned that the same America had caught and delivered Öcalan to Turkey in 1999, and that we've made no effort to settle this issue since then.) Europe also got its fair share of criticism. Concrete examples were given of the aid supplied to the PKK by some European countries. Attention was drawn to the countries that had given the PKK permission to establish local offices, agencies and broadcast stations and to others that had qualified the terrorists as “freedom fighters.” Of course, the major part of this outburst was directed at the north Iraqi leaders and administration. There was a lot of truth in all these criticisms. The speakers accused our allies for a reason. However, and I want to take a moment to insert this word in capital letters: HOWEVER, all the speeches were so biased that they gave the impression that the PKK had been set up outside Turkey altogether. This is the greatest trap that our nation can fall into, as well as being the most misleading impression. We could do ourselves a lot of harm if we lead our society to believe this. Yes, the PKK is fed from the outside and it does use some countries to benefit from their moral and financial support. If these countries sometimes do it out of their own understanding of democracy, at other times, they are motivated by the wish to weaken or to corner Turkey. Yes, these countries have some responsibility in the PKK terror. HOWEVER, no, the PKK is not a “foreign production.” The PKK originates from our land and is feeds itself in our own country. If the PKK has grown and developed to its present situation, the major part of the responsibility belongs to the undeniable mistakes that we have made in the past. Our fight against terror would have been much easier without the outside support to the PKK. HOWEVER, that was never the whole problem. If Turkey had woken up and taken the necessary domestic measures during the 1980-90 period, before the Gulf Crisis and the occupation of Iraq, the PKK would not have been what it is today. The present dimensions of this issue exceeds Turkey. It is now a part of the big interest fights that take place in the region. It has become almost impossible to solve. We suffer most from this bedlam that everybody helped create. Let's recognise these facts and stop harassing our allies in vain, as well as ourselves.

PUKmedia :: English - Cooperating with U.S. the Only Way to Silence PKK

Kosrat Rasul: the Military Option is not and would not be a Solution to the Issue of PKK

Mr. Kosrat Rasul Ali, the Vice President of the Kurdistan region called on the Turkish government to abandon the military option and do not conduct a military incursion in the territory of the Kurdistan region for pursuing elements of PKK.

The Vice President of the Kurdistan region, who spends a convalescence time in the United States of America, during an interview with the Kurdish section of the Voice of America, said that the military option would not be a solution to address the crisis of the PKK, adding that the Kurdish issue in Turkey is a fact and cannot be addressed with violence, calling the Turkish Parliament to more careful thinking about the decision to resolve the crisis.

In reply to a question about his health, Mr. Kosrat Rasul said that his health is very good and he will return to the Kurdistan region soon.

PUKmedia :: English - Kosrat Rasul: the Military Option is not and would not be a Solution to the Issue of PKK

Winter limits Turkish Army options

Turkey's military now has a green light to chase Kurdish guerrillas into northern Iraq but the approach of winter and fears of getting bogged down in mountainous terrain severely limit its options.

The Ankara parliament approved a motion on Wednesday giving Nato's second biggest army free rein to pursue Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters based in mainly Kurdish northern Iraq, which they use as a launchpad for attacks on Turkey.

"If they are going to do a major operation they don't have much time. We are talking weeks before weather conditions get bad. It has already begun snowing there," Gareth Jenkins, an Istanbul-based expert on Turkey's military, said.

The powerful army will want to avoid getting bogged down in a protracted fight against veteran guerrillas in difficult terrain the PKK has been in command of for several years.

NJ Gohel, director of the Asia Pacific Foundation, an independent security and intelligence think-tank, said that to be effective, the Turkish military would have to go at least 60km deep into northern Iraq.

"That would be dangerous as they would get sucked into a guerrilla war very quickly," he said. "The PKK units are very mobile. The Turks would be chasing an invisible enemy that blends in with the local population and has mountainous hideouts.

"Past experience has shown in Vietnam and Afghanistan, not to mention Iraq, that a conventional army is very ill-equipped to fight a guerrilla war," he said.

With the onset of winter, analysts say, Turkey's options will be reduced to air strikes and commando raids.

Winter limits Turkish army options | Iraq Updates

President Talabani returns to the Homeland after a Visit to US and France

The plane carrying President Jalal Talabani, President of the Republic of Iraq, landed a short while ago in Sulaimani International Airport, returning from France after his Excellency ended his visit to the United States of America and France.

His Excellency was received by a number of governmental and party officials.

PUKmedia :: English - President Talabani returns to the Homeland after a Visit to US and France

Oil pipeline set ablaze near Iraq's Kirkuk

Suspected insurgents set ablaze an oil pipeline near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Friday, halting the flow as firefighters scrambled to tackle a massive blaze, police said.

"According to first reports the explosion was an act of sabotage, probably by insurgents who blew up a subsidiary pipeline with an improvised explosive device," a police spokesman said.

The attack happened near Al-Safra, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) west of Kirkuk, the main oil city in northern Iraq, on a pipeline that carries crude from the province's rich oilfields to the refinery city of Baiji, he told AFP.

Huge licks of flame and plumes of smoke could be seen billowing into the sky as firefighting teams arrived at the scene to try and extinguish the blaze.

A spokesman for the Northern Oil Company said they expected the flames to be brought under control within a few hours, and that the flow of oil through the pipeline had been halted in the meantime.

The damage would be assessed after the blaze had been extinguished, the spokesman said.

Insurgents have launched deadly attacks over recent months in Kirkuk, an ethnically volatile city claimed both by the Arabs and Kurds.

Longstanding Kurdish demands for Kirkuk to be incorporated in their autonomous region in northern Iraq are due to be put to a referendum by December 30.

Oil pipeline set ablaze near Iraq's Kirkuk - Yahoo! News

Resident Talabani: US will not allow Turkey to conduct Cross-Border Operation into Kurdistan Region

Speaking to the reporters in Sulaimani International Airport, his Excellency Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi President stressed that Washington will never allow Turkey to conduct a cross-border operation into Kurdistan Region aiming at pursuing PKK elements.

“The US administration sent delegations to Turkey several times during which it has been emphasized that Turkey will not conduct military operation into Kurdistan Region.” Talabani clarified.

Concerning the statements of Sami al-Askari, advisor of Iraqi PM Nuri al- Maliki, who has said that KRG remembers the Iraqi federal government only in times of calamity, President Talabani said those statements does not express the opinion of Iraqi government and its PM.
PUKmedia :: English - Resident Talabani: US will not allow Turkey to conduct Cross-Border Operation into Kurdistan Region