Turkish, Iranian armies build up forces: Response to US Build-Ups & Covert Ops
Various | 11.05.2006 21:53 | Anti-militarism | World
The "Iraq Treatment" proving useless against Iran, it appears that in sending Kurdish Colonial Auxiliaries and Covert Operatives into Iran - funded with money stolen from the Iraqi People - the Bush/PNAC Regime appears to be attempting to create a military crisis along Iraq's border.
Turkish, Iranian armies build up forces along Iraq’s only quiet area
5/11/2006 AP - By Louis Meixler
Kurdish men inspect a crater that villagers say
was caused by Iranian forces' shelling in the
village of Razaga on May 1, 2006 (Reuters)
ANKARA, Turkey – Hundreds of Kurds had to flee their homes in the mountain village of Razqa, Iraq, when artillery shells came whistling down from Iran early this month, blowing apart their homes and livestock.
In Turkey, meanwhile, armored personnel carriers and tanks rumble along its remote border with Iraq's Kurdish zone. Turkey has sent tens of thousands of fresh soldiers in the last few weeks to beef up an already formidable force there.
The Kurdish provinces of northern Iraq are the country's most stable and prosperous area. But to neighboring Iran and Turkey, both with large Kurdish minorities, they are something else: an inspiration and a support base for the Kurdish militants in their own countries.
So Iran and Turkey are sending troops, tanks and artillery to the frontier to seal off the borders and send a message: If the U.S.-backed Iraqi government doesn't clamp down on Kurdish guerrillas who use Iraq as a base, they could do it themselves.
That has left the United States in a quandary. If U.S. forces take action, they risk alienating Iraqi Kurds, the most pro-American group in the region. And if they don't, they risk increased tensions – and possibly worse – with two powerful rivals.
Just listen to Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
“We would not hesitate to take every kind of measures when our security is at stake,” Gul said when asked whether Turkish troops might cross into Iraq. “The United States best understands Turkey's position. Everybody knows what they can do when they feel their security is threatened.”
Iran's artillery barrages could be warning shots, a crackdown on Kurdish guerrillas now as a factor in the wrangling with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program.
Kurds, who make up 14 percent of Iran's population, have long complained of discrimination in Iran. Iraq's Kurds backed the U.S. invasion of their country. Would the Kurds of Iran take the American side if tensions escalated there?
“The Iranians are clearly very concerned over the mobilization of their own Kurdish minority,” said Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at Queen Mary College, University of London.
And Tehran may also be flexing its muscles to remind the United States that it shares a long border with Iraq, and could cause serious problems there for the United States.
The Iranians' policy is to warn that “we have the potential to run you out of Iraq if you don't give us some slack over the nuclear issue,” Dodge said.
The traditional Kurdish region spans Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria and the guerrillas are based in a mountain range of northern Iraq that stretches into Turkey and Iran. They seem determined to keep up their decades-long struggle.
Kurdish guerrillas of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, or PEJAK, have called on Kurds in western Iran to begin a campaign of civil disobedience. In clashes with Iranian security forces last year, dozens of PEJAK fighters and about a dozen Iranian soldiers were killed, according to official Iranian reports.
This year, more than a dozen members of Turkish security forces in southern Turkey have been killed fighting Kurdish guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which is closely allied with PEJAK.
After Iran shelled a village used by Kurdish guerrillas, the PKK warned that it was “capable of responding to these attacks with more strength then ever.”
The attacks, which heat up in the spring when snow-covered mountain passes clear, have led to the military buildups along the borders. Turkey and Iran have both rushed tens of thousands of troops to the area.
Iran has twice shelled Iraqi Kurdish villages believed to be harboring PKK militants.
As the Iranians bombarded Razqa on May 1, hundreds of people fled. The shelling killed some farm animals but there were no reports of human casualties. Several homes could be seen severely damaged and holes from shells cratered the streets.
Olla Hamad, a villager, said most of the guerrillas are hiding in the mountains.
“PKK militants do not care about the bombings,” he said, pointing toward the heights near the village. “They hide in safe rocky places in the mountains.”
A Western diplomat said Turkish officials have hinted to the United States that they are considering a large-scale military operation across the border.
In a visit to Turkey in late April, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned against any major strike.
“We want anything we do to contribute to stability in Iraq and not to threaten that stability or to make a difficult situation worse,” Rice said at a news conference with Gul.
The Western diplomat said Iranian troops on the border are not front-line combat troops and Washington does not believe there will be any Iranian cross-border operations. The diplomat agreed to discuss the situation only if granted anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity.
Some analysts say that besides sealing off their borders to the guerrillas, both Iran and Turkey may be trying to intimidate Iraqi Kurds. The Iranians and Turks fear Kurdish success in creating an autonomous region in northern Iraq, and the prosperity of their enclave, could encourage their own Kurdish minorities.
“The Iranians and the Turks do not want a free Kurdistan there,” said Nazmi Gur, vice president of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party. “They are saying to the Kurds 'We are here.'”
Associated Press writer Yahya Barzanji in northern Iraq contributed to this report.
http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=12301
US Army Troop Build up on Iraq-Iran Borders
By Foreign News Desk, Istanbul
Published: Thursday, May 11, 2006
zaman.com
After the Tehran administration conducted operations against the terror network Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) by crossing the Iraqi border, the US Army in Iraq is claimed to have increased the military build up of US troops on the Iranian border.
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20060511&hn=33036
US should be aware of the risks of Bush's war talk
by Zafar Bangash
(Thursday May 11 2006)
"US foreign policy is currently dictated by the neocons, the same group that peddled blatant lies about Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction to hoodwink the American public into supporting the disastrous war. As long as Rumsfeld remains boss at the Pentagon, the pro-zionist neocons will continue to push their war agenda; they are widely believed to want Bush to attack Iran before he leaves office, not least because of the profits that wars make for the arms and military services industries. They do not care how many Americans are killed, much less how many Muslim lives are lost, provided their own interests are served."
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/30257
Iran and US: Nuclear Standoff or Realpolitik?
Ramzy Baroud
May 10, 2006
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice couldn't possibly have been more accurate when she accused Iran of "playing games" with the international community.
Rice was specifically referring to an announcement made April 30, by the deputy head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency Muhammad Saeedi, that his country is willing to allow "snap inspections" by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency on the condition that the U.N. Security Council is excluded from any involvement in inspecting Iran's nuclear-enrichment facilities.
Iran is playing games in the sense that it is repeatedly testing U.S. resolve to see how far the Bush administration is willing to go to escalate the conflict. Naturally, the outcomes of Iran's political experimentations help adjust -- escalate or downgrade -- the government's political attitude toward the issue.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m23226&hd=0&size=1&l=e
The Iranians are attempting to show the world that all of this "nukular" talk is simply an excuse to feign a plausible "justification" for an illegal Act of Aggression that was planned years ago.
Poll: Bush Lied About Iraq, Has No Right to Attack Iran
Tell A Friend
by David Swanson
http://www.opednews.com
By David Swanson, www.opednews.com
A new poll conducted in Pennsylvania by Zogby International and commissioned by OpEdNews.com asked some of the questions the corporate media has failed to ask. The answers are surprising. One revelation is this: the single greatest predictor of an American's political views is whether she or he watches Fox News.
One of the long neglected questions asked was this:
"Some people say that President Bush lied so that we would go to war with Iraq. Others say he was given faulty intelligence and did not intentionally mislead the nation."
51.8% told the pollsters that they agreed with "Those who say Bush lied."
44.8% agreed with "Those who say he did not intentionally mislead the nation."
Among those who said that they or a family member was a member of the military, 44.6% said Bush lied. Catholics, Protestants, and Born Agains leaned significantly toward trusting Bush, whereas Jews and atheists decidedly consider him a liar. Belief that Bush lied was highest among atheists, at 86.2%.
White people also are more likely to trust Bush, whereas all racial minority groups lean toward believing he lied. Hispanics lead the way at 88.2%.
By far the most dramatic determinant of belief that Bush lied was the respondent's most watched television network for news. Viewers of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC, ranged between 89.1% and 63.2% believing Bush lied. Among Fox viewers, a whopping 2.3% believe Bush lied. Those who listen to a lot of talk radio were also less likely to believe Bush lied than those who listen to little or none.
Zogby also asked "Do you agree or disagree that the president has the right to use military force against Iran without the support of Congress?"
62.5% disagreed
32.1% agreed
Among those in the armed forces or with military family members 53.8% disagreed, while 40.8% agreed. The only religious group in which a majority believe the president has the right to attack Iran is Born Agains, and only by a margin of 46.8% to 40.9%. Every racial group disagrees.
Viewers of the non-Fox television networks disagreed in percentages ranging from 96.9% to 68.8%. Among viewers of Fox, only 14.7% disagree that the president has the right to attack Iran without support from Congress.
The same poll asked three questions related to censure or impeachment.
45.9% of those surveyed said they were either "much more likely" or "somewhat more likely" to vote for a candidate who supports starting an investigation of Bush that could lead to impeachment. 45.2% said they were either "somewhat less likely" or "much less likely."
Among non-Fox viewers, support for pro-impeachment candidates ranges from 60.4% to 75.3%. Among Fox viewers, it's at 1.8%.
Asked simply whether they support or oppose starting a Congressional investigation into Vice President Dick Cheney that could lead to impeachment, 48.9% said they supported that, while 45.8% opposed.
Among non-Fox viewers, support for moving toward impeachment of Cheney ranges from 70.5% to 77.5%. Among Fox viewers, support is at 2.0%
Support was considerably lower for censure, with 28.2% supporting censure of Bush for NSA spying, 19.1% supporting censure of Bush for the war, and 45.7% opposing censure on both grounds. On this question, the gap between Fox viewers and others was much smaller.
The Zogby poll was conducted between May 9 and 10, 2006 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.8 percentage points.
http://www.davidswanson.org
DAVID SWANSON is a co-founder of After Downing Street, a writer and activist, and the Washington Director of Democrats.com. He is a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, and serves on the Executive Council of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, Media Coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as Communications Coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson obtained a Master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1997.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_david_sw_060511_poll_3a_bush_lied_abou.htm
US military, intelligence officials raise concern about possible preparations for Iran strike
Larisa Alexandrovna
Published: Thursday May 11, 2006
Use of Iraq terror group bypassed Congress, sources say
Concern is building among the military and the intelligence community that the US may be preparing for a military strike on Iran, as military assets in key positions are approaching readiness, RAW STORY has learned.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/US_military_seen_ready_for_Iran_0511.html
Thousands Of Sailors Deploying, Coming Home
May 2, 2006 10:27 AM
Tuesday, the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group heads out to support the War on Terrorism. About 7,500 sailors are on board the Enterprise, the guided-missile cruiser Leyte Gulf, the guided-missile destroyer McFaul,and the guided-missile frigate Nicholas.
Also heading out Tuesday, the guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams. Three hundred sailors will take that ship to the Persian Gulf for its maiden deployment. The James E. Williams will meet up with the Norfolk-based Trenton. Commanders in the Middle East requested "increased naval presence" there.
http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=4846185&nav=ZolHbyvj
Similar stories were noted right before the illegal war against Iraq began ...
5/11/2006 AP - By Louis Meixler
Kurdish men inspect a crater that villagers say
was caused by Iranian forces' shelling in the
village of Razaga on May 1, 2006 (Reuters)
ANKARA, Turkey – Hundreds of Kurds had to flee their homes in the mountain village of Razqa, Iraq, when artillery shells came whistling down from Iran early this month, blowing apart their homes and livestock.
In Turkey, meanwhile, armored personnel carriers and tanks rumble along its remote border with Iraq's Kurdish zone. Turkey has sent tens of thousands of fresh soldiers in the last few weeks to beef up an already formidable force there.
The Kurdish provinces of northern Iraq are the country's most stable and prosperous area. But to neighboring Iran and Turkey, both with large Kurdish minorities, they are something else: an inspiration and a support base for the Kurdish militants in their own countries.
So Iran and Turkey are sending troops, tanks and artillery to the frontier to seal off the borders and send a message: If the U.S.-backed Iraqi government doesn't clamp down on Kurdish guerrillas who use Iraq as a base, they could do it themselves.
That has left the United States in a quandary. If U.S. forces take action, they risk alienating Iraqi Kurds, the most pro-American group in the region. And if they don't, they risk increased tensions – and possibly worse – with two powerful rivals.
Just listen to Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
“We would not hesitate to take every kind of measures when our security is at stake,” Gul said when asked whether Turkish troops might cross into Iraq. “The United States best understands Turkey's position. Everybody knows what they can do when they feel their security is threatened.”
Iran's artillery barrages could be warning shots, a crackdown on Kurdish guerrillas now as a factor in the wrangling with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program.
Kurds, who make up 14 percent of Iran's population, have long complained of discrimination in Iran. Iraq's Kurds backed the U.S. invasion of their country. Would the Kurds of Iran take the American side if tensions escalated there?
“The Iranians are clearly very concerned over the mobilization of their own Kurdish minority,” said Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at Queen Mary College, University of London.
And Tehran may also be flexing its muscles to remind the United States that it shares a long border with Iraq, and could cause serious problems there for the United States.
The Iranians' policy is to warn that “we have the potential to run you out of Iraq if you don't give us some slack over the nuclear issue,” Dodge said.
The traditional Kurdish region spans Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria and the guerrillas are based in a mountain range of northern Iraq that stretches into Turkey and Iran. They seem determined to keep up their decades-long struggle.
Kurdish guerrillas of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, or PEJAK, have called on Kurds in western Iran to begin a campaign of civil disobedience. In clashes with Iranian security forces last year, dozens of PEJAK fighters and about a dozen Iranian soldiers were killed, according to official Iranian reports.
This year, more than a dozen members of Turkish security forces in southern Turkey have been killed fighting Kurdish guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which is closely allied with PEJAK.
After Iran shelled a village used by Kurdish guerrillas, the PKK warned that it was “capable of responding to these attacks with more strength then ever.”
The attacks, which heat up in the spring when snow-covered mountain passes clear, have led to the military buildups along the borders. Turkey and Iran have both rushed tens of thousands of troops to the area.
Iran has twice shelled Iraqi Kurdish villages believed to be harboring PKK militants.
As the Iranians bombarded Razqa on May 1, hundreds of people fled. The shelling killed some farm animals but there were no reports of human casualties. Several homes could be seen severely damaged and holes from shells cratered the streets.
Olla Hamad, a villager, said most of the guerrillas are hiding in the mountains.
“PKK militants do not care about the bombings,” he said, pointing toward the heights near the village. “They hide in safe rocky places in the mountains.”
A Western diplomat said Turkish officials have hinted to the United States that they are considering a large-scale military operation across the border.
In a visit to Turkey in late April, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned against any major strike.
“We want anything we do to contribute to stability in Iraq and not to threaten that stability or to make a difficult situation worse,” Rice said at a news conference with Gul.
The Western diplomat said Iranian troops on the border are not front-line combat troops and Washington does not believe there will be any Iranian cross-border operations. The diplomat agreed to discuss the situation only if granted anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity.
Some analysts say that besides sealing off their borders to the guerrillas, both Iran and Turkey may be trying to intimidate Iraqi Kurds. The Iranians and Turks fear Kurdish success in creating an autonomous region in northern Iraq, and the prosperity of their enclave, could encourage their own Kurdish minorities.
“The Iranians and the Turks do not want a free Kurdistan there,” said Nazmi Gur, vice president of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party. “They are saying to the Kurds 'We are here.'”
Associated Press writer Yahya Barzanji in northern Iraq contributed to this report.
http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=12301 US Army Troop Build up on Iraq-Iran Borders
By Foreign News Desk, Istanbul
Published: Thursday, May 11, 2006
zaman.com
After the Tehran administration conducted operations against the terror network Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) by crossing the Iraqi border, the US Army in Iraq is claimed to have increased the military build up of US troops on the Iranian border.
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20060511&hn=33036 US should be aware of the risks of Bush's war talk
by Zafar Bangash
(Thursday May 11 2006)
"US foreign policy is currently dictated by the neocons, the same group that peddled blatant lies about Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction to hoodwink the American public into supporting the disastrous war. As long as Rumsfeld remains boss at the Pentagon, the pro-zionist neocons will continue to push their war agenda; they are widely believed to want Bush to attack Iran before he leaves office, not least because of the profits that wars make for the arms and military services industries. They do not care how many Americans are killed, much less how many Muslim lives are lost, provided their own interests are served."
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/30257 Iran and US: Nuclear Standoff or Realpolitik?
Ramzy Baroud
May 10, 2006
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice couldn't possibly have been more accurate when she accused Iran of "playing games" with the international community.
Rice was specifically referring to an announcement made April 30, by the deputy head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency Muhammad Saeedi, that his country is willing to allow "snap inspections" by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency on the condition that the U.N. Security Council is excluded from any involvement in inspecting Iran's nuclear-enrichment facilities.
Iran is playing games in the sense that it is repeatedly testing U.S. resolve to see how far the Bush administration is willing to go to escalate the conflict. Naturally, the outcomes of Iran's political experimentations help adjust -- escalate or downgrade -- the government's political attitude toward the issue.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m23226&hd=0&size=1&l=e The Iranians are attempting to show the world that all of this "nukular" talk is simply an excuse to feign a plausible "justification" for an illegal Act of Aggression that was planned years ago.
Poll: Bush Lied About Iraq, Has No Right to Attack Iran
Tell A Friend
by David Swanson
http://www.opednews.com By David Swanson, www.opednews.com
A new poll conducted in Pennsylvania by Zogby International and commissioned by OpEdNews.com asked some of the questions the corporate media has failed to ask. The answers are surprising. One revelation is this: the single greatest predictor of an American's political views is whether she or he watches Fox News.
One of the long neglected questions asked was this:
"Some people say that President Bush lied so that we would go to war with Iraq. Others say he was given faulty intelligence and did not intentionally mislead the nation."
51.8% told the pollsters that they agreed with "Those who say Bush lied."
44.8% agreed with "Those who say he did not intentionally mislead the nation."
Among those who said that they or a family member was a member of the military, 44.6% said Bush lied. Catholics, Protestants, and Born Agains leaned significantly toward trusting Bush, whereas Jews and atheists decidedly consider him a liar. Belief that Bush lied was highest among atheists, at 86.2%.
White people also are more likely to trust Bush, whereas all racial minority groups lean toward believing he lied. Hispanics lead the way at 88.2%.
By far the most dramatic determinant of belief that Bush lied was the respondent's most watched television network for news. Viewers of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC, ranged between 89.1% and 63.2% believing Bush lied. Among Fox viewers, a whopping 2.3% believe Bush lied. Those who listen to a lot of talk radio were also less likely to believe Bush lied than those who listen to little or none.
Zogby also asked "Do you agree or disagree that the president has the right to use military force against Iran without the support of Congress?"
62.5% disagreed
32.1% agreed
Among those in the armed forces or with military family members 53.8% disagreed, while 40.8% agreed. The only religious group in which a majority believe the president has the right to attack Iran is Born Agains, and only by a margin of 46.8% to 40.9%. Every racial group disagrees.
Viewers of the non-Fox television networks disagreed in percentages ranging from 96.9% to 68.8%. Among viewers of Fox, only 14.7% disagree that the president has the right to attack Iran without support from Congress.
The same poll asked three questions related to censure or impeachment.
45.9% of those surveyed said they were either "much more likely" or "somewhat more likely" to vote for a candidate who supports starting an investigation of Bush that could lead to impeachment. 45.2% said they were either "somewhat less likely" or "much less likely."
Among non-Fox viewers, support for pro-impeachment candidates ranges from 60.4% to 75.3%. Among Fox viewers, it's at 1.8%.
Asked simply whether they support or oppose starting a Congressional investigation into Vice President Dick Cheney that could lead to impeachment, 48.9% said they supported that, while 45.8% opposed.
Among non-Fox viewers, support for moving toward impeachment of Cheney ranges from 70.5% to 77.5%. Among Fox viewers, support is at 2.0%
Support was considerably lower for censure, with 28.2% supporting censure of Bush for NSA spying, 19.1% supporting censure of Bush for the war, and 45.7% opposing censure on both grounds. On this question, the gap between Fox viewers and others was much smaller.
The Zogby poll was conducted between May 9 and 10, 2006 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.8 percentage points.
http://www.davidswanson.org DAVID SWANSON is a co-founder of After Downing Street, a writer and activist, and the Washington Director of Democrats.com. He is a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, and serves on the Executive Council of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, Media Coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as Communications Coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson obtained a Master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1997.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_david_sw_060511_poll_3a_bush_lied_abou.htm US military, intelligence officials raise concern about possible preparations for Iran strike
Larisa Alexandrovna
Published: Thursday May 11, 2006
Use of Iraq terror group bypassed Congress, sources say
Concern is building among the military and the intelligence community that the US may be preparing for a military strike on Iran, as military assets in key positions are approaching readiness, RAW STORY has learned.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/US_military_seen_ready_for_Iran_0511.html Thousands Of Sailors Deploying, Coming Home
May 2, 2006 10:27 AM
Tuesday, the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group heads out to support the War on Terrorism. About 7,500 sailors are on board the Enterprise, the guided-missile cruiser Leyte Gulf, the guided-missile destroyer McFaul,and the guided-missile frigate Nicholas.
Also heading out Tuesday, the guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams. Three hundred sailors will take that ship to the Persian Gulf for its maiden deployment. The James E. Williams will meet up with the Norfolk-based Trenton. Commanders in the Middle East requested "increased naval presence" there.
http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=4846185&nav=ZolHbyvj Similar stories were noted right before the illegal war against Iraq began ...
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