Kurds flee homes as Iran shells Iraq's northern frontier

[ECH1969]

Turkey and Iran have dispatched tanks, artillery and thousands of troops to their frontiers with Iraq during the past few weeks in what appears to be a coordinated effort to disrupt the activities of Kurdish rebel bases.

Scores of Kurds have fled their homes in the northern frontier region after four days of shelling by the Iranian army. Local officials said Turkey had also fired a number of shells into Iraqi territory.

Some displaced families have pitched tents in the valleys behind Qandil Mountain, which straddles Iraq's rugged borders with Turkey and Iran.

They told the Guardian yesterday that at least six villages had been abandoned and one person had died following a sustained artillery barrage by Iranian forces that appeared designed to flush out guerrillas linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who have hideouts in Iraq.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1852843,00.html

[Botany]

1. GOD DAMN YOU bush

All of this is on you ..... no good little fucker

[htuttle]

2. Is this a private fight, or can anyone join in?

:wow:

on edit:
I notice the headline omits the fact that Turkey also shelled Northern Iraq.

[enid602]

3. breach

Isn't this a breach of Iraqi sovereignty?

[htuttle]

5. Turkey's membership in NATO might complicate matters...just a bit...

[enid602]

9. very complicated

Also, the Turks can complicate things for the Iraqis, as the sources for both the Tigrid and Euphrates are both in southern Turkey, and the US is trying to keep Turkey from building dams on the river to keep Iraq's water.

[Crayson]

28. They do that for years now...

... and usually Iraq doesn't mind.. at least Saddam didn't, when Turkey hunted down Kurds in Iraq.

It's kind of a common vermin problem between Iran, Iraq and Turkey and they absolutely don't mind a little neighbours help.
That's their point of view at least.

i'm not sure of the U.S. policy right now but I think they're not fond of the kurds either anymore. Kurds came in handy as a means to install those no-fly-zones back then some years ago and maybe deliver them some weapons, but the U.S. could never really support the Kurds, Turkey with it's U.S. bases was more important.

[Tempest]

31. Technically, no

The Kurds were granted semi-autonomy by the Iraqi government so the argument can be made that it doesn't violate Iraqi sovereignty.

Regardless, Iran's actions are justified using Bush's own standards and the fact that the PKK continue to violate Turkey's sovereignty.

[don954]

4. Iraq / Iran war Take 2

just in time for the elections too...

[Crayson]

29. Shelling Kurds is business as usual.. no reason for war...

no, I don't think so.

Why should Iran/Iraq go to war over some Kurds getting shelled.
They do that for years now and they probably think they're actually doing each other a favor as Iran, Iraq and Turkey are all annyoed by the Kurds.

[don954]

35. because it will make an ideal excuse for Bush to attack iran in

Iraq's name...

[whistle]

6. What a total fuck-up this administration is....absolutely out of control

[Joanne98]

7. The Kurdish Workers Party. Oh that figures.

I suppose nobody's said anything because they're leftists. I guess Bush is supporting the Islamic Fascists on this one. grrrrrrrr!!!!!!

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

8. Just saw a tourist ad during Tweety to "visit the 'other' Iraq"

Guess those tourist ads are a bit premature.

What a goddamn mess!!

[alstephenson]

11. Ha! "The Other Iraq" my ass

So much for stabilizing the region....MORE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION!

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

13. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[alstephenson]

34. Thanks for the welcome! Glad to be here!

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. They've been doing this for weeks?

And we're just finding out now?

Six villages have been abandoned?

So if Bush & Co were so concerned about Iran helping Hezbollah, why do they not even seem to notice Iran violating Iraq's sovereignty?

[StClone]

12. It'll come to this

Bush will call for an attack on Iran because of their attack on Iraq (after Bush preemptively invaded and destroyed Iraq). :crazy:

[Dover]

24. "Do as we say, not as we do", is Bushco's anthem.

If Turkey joins into this war, that will be the signal that WWIII is a done deal.

[cally]

14. So, we've now got the Turks aligning with Iran

The Turks used to be aligned with the Europeans and the US. We just keep making enemies. :argh:

[highnooner]

15. Scores of Kurds have fled their homes

OK, are they saying that 40, 60 or even 200 Kurds have fled?

This is bullshit.

[IndianaGreen]

16. Actually, the Turks are fed up with the Kurds

and they have threatened to invade Northern Iraq to put down the PKK terrorists that operate there. The fact that Iran and Turkey are doing at the same time is because Iraq has become ungovernable, and has no central government to speak of. Turkey and Iran could take chunks of Iraq and there is nothing Bush or Blair could do about it.

[Dover]

26. *

[Tempest]

32. Turkey has always been aligned against the PKK

The PKK attack Turkey constantly and Turkey has been attacking back for years.

This in no way demonstrates a working relationship between Turkey and Iran.

[TexasLawyer]

17. Really scary

W--look what else you've unleashed


Frustrated by the reluctance of the US and the government in Baghdad to crack down on the PKK bases inside Iraq, Turkish generals have hinted they are considering a large-scale military operation across the border. They are said to be sharing intelligence about Kurdish rebel movements with their Iranian counterparts.

"We would not hesitate to take every kind of measures when our security is at stake," Abdullah Gul, the Turkish foreign minister, said last week.

[FormerOstrich]

18. Yep,

Turkey has tried talking and talking....

* has himself painted in a corner on this one. On the same day he was saying Israel has a right to defend itself by going into Lebanon, the other side of his mouth was saying Turkey should cool their heels and not invade. I think even * could see the double standard (because it's that blatant not because he is tuned in). I bet he is hoping to buy a little time for people to focus on some terra events and forget last week. Then the cowboy will charge in.

[unkachuck]

19. ah....

....the plot thickens....

[sjdnb]

20. Surprised Turks didn't do something before, but Iran?

This story just illustrates how messed up/hypocritical US policy is and has been -- and how dangerous taking irrational, impulsive, military action can be.

We take out Saddam and demonize him for 'gassing the Kurds' (which, I agree was an atrocious act - but, not all that much unlike other acts of war that are not considered atrocious (for me, for example, Hiroshima/Nagasaki)) but the US was also the ONLY country to vote against a UN Security Council statement condemning the act, because we were actually aiding Saddam behind the scenes as we saw it as a defensive action due to the collusion between the Kurds and Iran during the Iran-Iraq War.

And, in turn, our actions to bring 'freedom' to the Iraqis have caused almost as many civilian deaths in one month (3,438 in July 2006), as are estimated to have occurred in Halabja.

When will the people 'in power' realize just how moronic and ineffectual war is?

[Tempest]

33. Turkey has done something before

This isn't the first Turkish attacks in Iraqi territory since the start of the Iraq war.

The fact is, Turkey has been attacking Kurdish Iraq for years after PKK attacks in Turkish territory.

[54anickel]

21. Is this why * was so adamant that a partitioned Iraq was out of the

question? I remember way back before the illegal war there was talk that a divided Iraq could be the outcome and Turkey wasn't any too happy with that prospect. I feel rather sorry for the Kurds, first they were used by Poppy, then they were allowed their little experimental "sovereignty" after Poppy's war. Now they have to deal with Dimson.

Wonder if a partitioned Iraq is closer to reality that Bushco is willing to admit to?

The ME sure has become a complicated mess.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[w4rma]

23. Or Gore, or Kerry, or Dean, or Edwards, or Clark, or Feingold. (nt)

[xchrom]

25. another bush fuck-up.

[Dover]

27. Forbes: Turkey Signals It's Prepared to Enter Iraq

Turkey Signals It's Prepared to Enter Iraq
By LOUIS MEIXLER , 07.18.2006, 02:25 PM

Turkish officials signaled Tuesday they are prepared to send the army into northern Iraq if U.S. and Iraqi forces do not take steps to combat Turkish Kurdish guerrillas there - a move that could put Turkey on a collision course with the United States.

Turkey is facing increasing domestic pressure to act after 15 soldiers, police and guards were killed fighting the guerrillas in southeastern Turkey in the past week.

"The government is really in a bind," said Seyfi Tashan, director of the Foreign Policy Institute at Bilkent University in Ankara. "On the one hand, they don't want things to break down with the United States. On the other hand, the public is crying for action."

Diplomats and experts cautioned the increasingly aggressive Turkish statements were likely aimed at calming public anger and pressing the U.S. and Iraq to act against the Turkish Kurdish guerrillas. But they also said Turkish politicians and military officers could act if nothing is done...cont'd


http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2006/07/18/ap2887214.html

________________


This was going on back in May as well:

May 13, 2006

Iran and Turkey fire salvo over Iraq
By Sami Moubayed


DAMASCUS - Both Turkey and Iran have been launching military raids into northern Iraq against a Kurdish paramilitary group that is based there, posing a dangerous new threat to stability both within Iraq and to the region.

The Iraq-based Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), labeled a terrorist group by the United States, Britain and the European Union, is a paramilitary party that preaches Kurdish nationalism, especially in Turkey, where it is demanding political rights and better living standards for the country's 12 million Kurds.

Turkey recently launched a massive military operation involving more than 250,000 troops against the PKK (nearly double the number of US troops in Iraq), concentrated in the mountains along Turkey's borders with Iran and Iraq. Extensive incursions into northern Iraq have been reported, aimed at cutting off the PKK's supply lines to Turkey from its camps in northern Iraq. Turkey also claims that "the PKK has recently increased its activities and obtained weapons from Iraq".

Iran, meanwhile, has begun attacks on PKK units based in Iran, and the Iranian military has entered Iraqi territory in hot pursuit of PKK militants. This represents a different approach from recent years, when Turkey regularly accused Tehran of turning a blind eye to the PKK in Iran.

..snip..

The Turks, especially Erdogan, are serious in wanting to eradicate the PKK threat coming from Iraq. As much as they value their relationship with the US, they will not tolerate a Kurdish presence on their border.

The Americans, although they have helped fight the PKK in the past, nevertheless have recently been passive toward its activities in Iran and Turkey. So has the European Union. While both the US and the EU "oppose" PKK strikes on Turkey, they also oppose Turkey's militarization of the crisis.

Now Turkey has found an ally in the form of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, who has shown the will - and the army - to support the Turks in combating the PKK.

Iran has arrested 50 PKK members, and a similar crackdown has taken place in Syria, a onetime ally and host of the PKK and currently a good friend of the Iranians....cont'd

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE13Ak03.html

[Oreo]

30. kick

wake up corporate media