“There are people who observe the rules of honor as we observe the stars: from a distance”
~ Victor Hugo.
~ Victor Hugo.
There's an interview over at Balkanalysis.com by Christopher Deliso with Philip Giraldi, former CIA Deputy Chief of Base in Istanbul. Since this is a former CIA we're talking about, I'm putting this one in the For-What-It's-Worth file, but it does have a little tie-in with recent Rastî posts. Chris Deliso interviewed Sibel Edmonds in July, 2004, an interview that was originally carried on Balkanalysis.com. I guess that's because Chris Deliso is the director over there. For those who are interested, you can spend some time doing a search for "Sibel Edmonds" on the site's internal search engine.
The interview with the spook can be found here, but let me post some excerpts that are pertinent to the Rastî Deep State posts:
Thoughts on the Sibel Edmonds Case
CD: Let’s speak for a moment regarding the case of former FBI translator and whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. Your summary of the case in the American Conservative was rated the best such one so far by Sibel herself. How much of what she has disclosed can be verified independently?
PG: I have not attempted to corroborate Sibel’s story as I have no resources to do so. And it would appear that the government gag order she is under precludes the type of confirmation that would be desirable.
CD: Can you elaborate at all on the role of neocon and other actors mentioned in your article, who were allegedly involved with illegal arms sales and more, such as Doug Feith, Richard Perle, Eric Edelman, Steven Solarz and Marc Grossman?
PG: As my article stated, the preoccupation with Turkey of the key neocons named is curious indeed. It is plausibly explained by their interest in Israel and their connections to the weapons industry in the US, Turkey, and in Israel.
I can recall Solarz showing up in Turkey in 1986 after he left Congress, and the connection with Perle and Feith in particular is well documented. I don’t know if the illicit arms sales are still going on, but I would suspect they are. Weapons dealing is big business and there are many players in it.
CD: You also mention Turkey and false end user certificates in association with illegal proliferation to dangerous states. Was this something you were involved with monitoring when in the CIA? What about special teams like the Brewster Jennings outfit? Did they operate or have a predecessor working with you at the time?
PG: I have no inside information on CIA or US government monitoring of arms sales to third parties a la the work of Brewster Jennings. When I was in Turkey, I was not aware of any US government interest in such matters and there was no non-proliferation staff at headquarters.
CD: The exact period in which you were in Turkey, 1986-1989, was important for the Pakistani nuclear program. Did you have any awareness of the oft-attested Turkish-Pakistani cooperation in this regard?
PG: I don’t know anything about Turkey-Pakistan re. proliferation… I suspect the [CIA] station did not have any interest in it at that time.
There's also a little about the future of Turkish-American covert cooperation:
CD: Many observers, and most pointedly the neocons, have declared that there has been a breakdown in relations with Turkey since the invasion of Iraq and the Turkish refusal of a northern attack route for the US. How bad are things really?
PG: I certainly know that the relationship is regarded as cool and that the Turks are extremely mistrustful of the United States, primarily due to our failure to suppress PKK activity in northern Iraq. The neocons, of course, would like to see Turkey join in a new crusade against Syria and Iran, but that is not about to happen.
CD: So has the CIA’s intelligence-sharing cooperation with Turkey also suffered because of this chill?
PG: Intelligence cooperation with Turkey has always been so-so. They share information only when it is completely in their interest to do so, not otherwise.
CD: So is Turkey now being categorized at the policy-making level as more of a hostile power than a friend? If so, Will the US be able to win back Turkish trust?
PG: Turks really dislike the US because of the mess in Iraq and the impending mess that our unquestioning support of Israel means for the region. And the Turkish government has reflected that antipathy. If you want to change the perception, you have to change the policy. Not likely to happen, is it?
Since Giraldi says that he was almost exclusively involved with monitoring Iranian terrorists (you know, the state of Iran), he has some information in the interview that might be of interest to our Rojhelatî friends. The entire interview is a pretty interesting read, so spend a little time to look the whole thing over.
There's a mention of a column Girardi did for The American Conservative on the Sibel Edmonds case, and that can be found on another blog that has closely followed this subject, Wot Is It Good 4.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I'm offering this interview for what it's worth. One thing should be kept in mind while reading it. The CIA works for the State Department. State Department goals are CIA goals. Girardi is ex-CIA, so he's going to present everything from the CIA-State Department frame of reference. The CIA-State gang clashes with the Neocon-Deep State gang, and anyone who followed the previous posts on the Deep State, may have noticed this rift. The Plame Affair is one of the explosions in these clashes. For Kurds, all of this means that neither side is "friendly." Wariness is the watchword of the day.
Another subject that needs to be engaged with a high level of wariness is Deep State investments in South Kurdistan, as represented by the pashas' personal ambassador to Hewlêr, Ilnur Cevik. He makes Turkish investment sound like such a sweet deal for everyone, doesn't he?
Turkish businessmen are the leading players in the commercial activities of the region. Turkish contractors are again the key players leading all others by a wide margin. We now feel that Turkey should examine the huge prospects that are being brought to it on a golden plate.
There are very lucrative areas for investment in the Kurdish region, ranging from tourism to energy production. Turkish companies are already involved in many projects in the education, energy and tourism sectors, even without the foreign investment law. Now Turkish companies will be able to conduct all these investments while fully owning their operations.
Excellent! Now if only Talabanî will do the same for the evil mullahs, there will be so much economic incentive for both of these terror states to continue their military cooperation and invade. After all, aren't economic interests always national interests? Why hasn't anyone woken up to the fact that unbridled foreign investment, especially by the neighbors, is a very dangerous thing? Does everyone think that this investment is going to "save" Kurdistan? Think again:
On Sunday the Kurdish regional government unveiled a landmark Foreign Investment and Incentives Law that allows foreigners 100 percent ownership, full transfer of profits and a minimum of 10 year's tax relief. They will also provide free land for investment.
It's a free-for-all! It's exploitation! Just open the borders and let in the Turkish General Staff (Think: OYAK). Don't build your own energy infrastructure; let Turkey expand theirs into your land so that when they want to, they can shut the whole grid down. Don't refine your own oil, let Turkey do it for you. Let Iran do the same. Just keep building those 5-star resorts, because when TSK does invade to protect its national interests, they'll have a place to relax with their collaborator friends. Everyone can mingle with the fat Gulf Arabs who stop by.
Let Turkey and Iran be your sole food source, too, so that they can cut you off and starve you when it strikes their fancy to do so.
Ambassador Cevik sums it up best:
Turkey is best situated to make maximum gains from the new law. Let us not miss this golden opportunity.
That's right, folks, don't miss this golden opportunity to put an end to "Iraqi" Kurdistan. Looking on the bright side, though, it will mean an expansion of Turkish- and Iranian-occupied Kurdistan.
Yeah, the free-for-all investment law, that's the way to do it! That's the way to dishonor all the blood of the şehîds.
4 comments:
i understand that any enagegement, commercial or otherwise, with the fascist turks must be well refined and defined and still does not fail to cause legitimate wory for most of us, yet i think the new investment law with its favourable terms for foreingn investors may be necessary to build a robust kurdistani infrastructure from vertual scrath.
a limited turkish and iranian investment (but with an adequate filtering process and with proper kurdistani intelligent surveilance of possible mit and ittilaat infiltration), may at least in the sphere of world diplomacy and foreign relations be of some benefit.
such investment policy may also bring kurdish investors from bakur and rojhelat to bashur which may be beneficial to crystalising a modern nationalist kurdish identity all over kurdistan.
that is said i do share the worries of heval mizgin and xelef-botan and call for extereme caution.
You should look to the investment law in Turkey. Very different with Kurdistan.
I do have the feeling that the KRG wants more investors from other countries then Iran and Turkey. But I agree with you that this can be very dangerous.
Here's a thought. Is Iraq ready to break into 3 parts; Kurdistan- Shi'teville and Sunnyville?
Kurds should make up a 'citizenship' or nationality law to protect themselves and their Kurdish interest. Possibly along the lines of the Israeli one. Only take investment from Turkish or Iranian Kurds, not from the countries themselves. Thus the resources must be funneled through other Kurds as opposed to direct investment in the infrastructure and resources.
Look at the Palestinian territories for example. They are dependent on an enemy entity for important things such as 'power.' That is not a strong position.
This law is a very poor one, IMHO and shows lack of self respect. Tax them at the very least, with self-protection clauses... Try a smart Jewish-Kurdish lawyer!
The investment law is a disaster, Juanita. Not only is it encouraging vultures from the north (like Ilnur's ilk), but it returns virtually nothing to the Kurdish people in the form of tax revenues that could help with improving infrastructure.
Water and sanitation, for example, is critical. Kurdish electrical production is critical. Housing--affordable housing, not dream cities for the elites--is critical.
And I've been told by Bashurî that Bashurî are reluctant to purchase Kurdish products. Let's say that someone with a brain began construction of food processing facilities so that produce could be prepared for market (i.e. flash freezing, bottling, canning, etc.), I have been told that Kurds would not be likely to purchase these goods because they are Kurdish, with an air of inferiority about them. People will purchase imported stuff because they think it's "better."
There's an easy answer to that: Import tariffs. Make imported goods so prohibitively expensive that people are forced to choose domestically produced products. Then Kurdish food processors can afford to stay in business. After a while, people will learn that Kurdish products are just as good as imports. . . especially if producers maintain standards.
Then we have the example of the Egyptian-owned cement factory outside of Silêmanî, at which Kurdish workers are being horribly exploited by foreigners, and when they ask to discuss the problem with the general manager, they are shot by hired, private mercenaries.
THAT is exactly what is going to happen with these foreign investors. They are only there to exploit Kurdistan and her people, with the outright blessing of the KRG and the two main parties. What should happen instead is that the Egyptians should be taken out and shot for attempting to enslave Kurds in their filthy little cement sweatshop.
As others have mentioned here, these foreign investors are going to have to be carefully watched, but I fear that no one is doing that and I suspect that while Kurdistan suffers from a lack of tax revenue, certain special people and their cronies are going to grow even fatter than they are now, a fact that is obscene in the extreme given the fact that so many go deprived.
Remeber Helebçe back in March? Same thing. For years it has been neglected unless the elites wanted to squeeze their international friends with pity for fat donations, not a dime of which any person from Helebçe ever saw.
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