BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE

Watch out
You might get what you're after
Cool babies
Strange but not a stranger
I'm an ordinary guy
Burning down the house
~ Talking Heads, Burning Down the House.

Since June of this year, forest fires, set by Turkish security forces, have been burning in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan and a number of trees have been cut down for "security" reasons, as reported by Bianet. The fire from that report was started on Şirnêx's Cudî Mountain. In mid-August, Turkish security forces started another forest fire in Çewlik (Bingol) province. Again, the cutting down of trees was linked to the fires.

Lately, too, there has been a lot of news in the Turkish media about forest fires in Turkey proper. An article today from TDN gives some fairly good coverage of how busy Turkish forestry officials and firefighters have been in trying to maintain control over so many blazes, including efforts to evacuate panicked tourists from a shrine in Ephesus. Fires appear to be starting in a number of provinces, including Aydin, Izmir, Antalya, Duzce, Sakarya, Adana, and Konya.

The concern is that with higher temperatures and lower humidity, conditions become even more favorable for wildfires, from the TDN article:

Ünal said recent rainfall in Central Anatolia has somewhat decreased the risk of forest fire. The rainfall has brought up the humidity level to 50 percent from 20 percent. The risk of forest fires [significantly] increases when the humidity level falls below 25 percent and poses a more serious threat as humidity continues to fall. It's been announced that this week will see a new heat wave. This is of great concern to us, because the humidity level will fall below 20 percent, bringing the potential risk of forest fire to a maximum.

Ali Fuat Unal, the forestry official from Konya, reassures us that "firefighters in the area were alert and prepared for action at any time, with all training and leave canceled." According to Unal, even ordinary citizens have an extremely important role to play in the prevention of wildfires because with the upcoming weather conditions, "even the most miniscule spark" contains the potential to unleash a veritable conflagration.

The TDN article also brings us some important information from the Turkish Minister of Environment and Forestry, Osman Pepe:

Pepe said that carelessness was the principal cause of forest fires and that 95 percent of were caused by careless picnickers or villagers burning dried wood. The best method of fighting forest fires is prevention, he advised.

Uh, yeah, it's carelessness. Imagine the utter carelessness of those who destroy the forests! Imagine the utter carelessness of those Turkish security forces who destroy Kurdistan's forests! Wise words indeed! People should be more careful. Our Osman Pepe is a regular Turkish version of America's Smokey the Bear.

The Gulen Gang's ragsheet, Zaman, has something on the fires as well:

Turkey continues to burn as 19 of 23 forest fires raging around the country had been brought under control by Tuesday morning, while fires continue to rage near the town of Kas and Milas despite a massive firefighting effort.

Nearly 600 hectares of forest has been destroyed by the fire which started yesterday and was fanned by strong winds near the town of Milas in southwestern Turkey.

Some 500 firefighters backed by helicopters and firefighting vehicles are struggling to bring the fire under control.

The fire is moving toward residential areas and houses in the region were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Isn't that too bad? Even residential areas are threatened, and all due to carelessness. Or, maybe not:

The illegal Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has claimed responsibility for the current wave of forest fires across Turkey. A pro-PKK website has reported that the terror organization has claimed responsibility for the fires.

Unfortunately, the Islamists at Zaman are not too accurate about whom is responsible for Turkey's sudden rash of fires. There is no statement on any PKK website. However, one can find a claim of responsibility on TAK's website. TAK claims fires in the following regions: Istanbul, Antalya, Bodrum, Mugla, İzmir, Cankiri, Kastamonu, Karaman, Balikesir, Bolu, Amasya, Sakarya, Denizli, Karabuk, Manisa, Canakkale, Aydin.

As the fires in Kurdistan are not a result of carelessness, neither are the fires in Turkey the result of carelessness. TAK's operations are direct retaliations for the fascist Ankara regime's destruction of Kurdistan's forests. It should be very clear, then, what the price for carelessness will be, and what the only prevention is.

Remember, Turkey, only YOU can prevent forest fires.

In other hot news, Persian Journal has a little mention of HPG's spectacular Saturday-night fireworks display near Agri:

PKK Claims Saturday's Gas Pipeline Explosion in Agri

The PKK has also claimed responsibility for Saturday's explosion which hit a natural gas pipeline in the eastern Turkish province of Agri.

The pro-PKK Firat News Agency reported on Sunday that the PKK terrorist organization had claimed responsibility for the attack on the pipeline.

Late on Saturday, a major explosion had hit the natural gas transfer unit of the Turkish Natural Gas Pipeline Company (BOTAS), which carries natural gas from Iran to Turkey, near the village of Gecitalan. Firefighters fought for four hours to bring the fire that broke out following the blast under control. The sabotage came after the Iranian-Turkish gas aggreement. Some argues that the PKK attack targeted the Iranian-Turkish co-operation, not only the pipelines.

I'm so glad they got the message.

Saddam's trial over the chemical attacks against Kurds during the Anfal campaign is ongoing, and I came across some garbage on that subject. If you think Americans are bad, check out this freak in the UK, from the Daily Mail. Just take a look at it and you'll see what I mean.

The fact that the freak who wrote the Daily Mail article refers to Anfal as "alleged," should tell you a lot. The fact that the freak refers to Saddam Hussein as having a law degree from Cairo University, and therefore knows more about law than anyone else would normally have us all rolling on the floor in laughter, tears streaming down our faces, if the juxtaposition of Saddam's law degree with photos of the Helebçe dead didn't infuriate and disgust instead.

The best, and most telling line, has to be this one:

Of course, Saddam was a violent dictator, but every government in that region is some sort of dictatorship.

Shut up, Kurds! Everybody has a dictator. Get over it. But ask yourself this: If it wasn't a bunch of white boys like the freak author of the Daily Mail article who created the modern Middle East, with all its dictators, then who was it? I think the author is suffering from a severe case of "White Man's Burden."

In contrast, old Kurdish guys can be so cool. Check this out, from the AP, carried on Kurdish Aspect:

At Beshenki, some 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) northeast of Dohuk, the head of the village has made sure that the community generator was working.

"I don't want to miss a moment of this trial. I've waited for it forever," said Mohammed Hussein Suleiman, at 72 years one of the elders of this village of around 100 inhabitants.

"This trial is too merciful for him. The coalition are going to leave him his life but he should be dead. He does not merit still to be living.

"If you brought him here, you would see the sort of trial that we would give him," said Suleiman.

Oh, Suleiman, you go boyfriend! That's what I'm talking about, and it got me thinking: How hot would it be if pêşmerge stormed the court, whisked Saddam away to a secure, undisclosed location in South Kurdistan, and someone like Suleiman and company could arrange their own trial?

Saddam's lost a lot of weight while in prison, though. We'd have to fatten him up before turning him into fishbait . . . but just so that there'd be more of him to kill.