"If you live among wolves, you have to act like a wolf."
~ Nikita Krushchev.
~ Nikita Krushchev.
If anybody out there has any doubts about the undying "friendship" of the US toward Kurdistan, I have something that should be a serious wake-up call for you. In fact, if you don't get it from this, then you probably wouldn't get it if I whacked you on the side of the head a few times with a baseball bat.
From the hevals at KurdishInfo, we have information about what one of the leading neocons at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Rubin, has to say about South Kurdistan:
In his fax to me, Rubin explained that he had given this interview by email. He said: "I never said such things. In fact, I said the complete opposite. Here is precisely what I said concerning Turkey and Iraq's other neighboring countries: Whenever I go to Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurds tell me that they are our best allies, and that this friendship needs to be reciprocal. I am sorry, but this is wrong on many levels. First of all, it is great that the Kurds say that they are our allies, but if we think about the fact that Kurdish politicians change their policies along with the direction the wind is blowing, there is no reason to believe American politicians are going to have any more confidence in Kurdish politicians than they have in themselves. There are many political leaders who put trade before principles in terms of importance. There are now documents which have come out which show that some top Kurdish leaders were doing serious business with Saddam's sons, Uday and Kusay. Also, Turkey is an important enough ally for Washington that it is not going to be ignored.
The Iraqi Kurds can believe what they want about Turkey, but the fact remains that for as long as Iraqi Kurdistan is a home to terrorists, Washington will always be on the side of Ankara, and not Erbil or Suleymaniye. My belief is that Turkish-American relations are very important, and despite current administrations in both Washington and Ankara, they will remain so. Most Iraqi Kurdish newspapers print exactly what they think Mesut Barzani and Jelal Talabani want to hear.
Talabani and Barzani have spent thousands of dollars getting former US ambassadors to say good things about them. I thought that since the Iraqi Kurds have not been able to learn what Washington really thinks about them, it would be a good idea to say it directly to their newspapers. Iraqi Kurds must understand that Washington will absolutely not forget about Ankara, and that for as long as the PKK exists in Northern Iraq, the region will be seen as a terror supporting one.
In the end, the Northern Iraq leadership is responsible for whatever happens in their region. And if the situation continues, Northern Iraq is not looking at a good future. Turkey has just as much a right as the US, Israel, and other countries to struggle against terror coming from across the border to it.
I hope that my explanation has cleared up the incorrect report carried in your newspaper."
And I hope Rubin's explanation has cleared up all doubts in every Kurdish mind about the alleged "friendship" of the United States, a country which has had a direct hand in the genocide of the Kurdish people for many decades.
Interesting, too, that Rubin mentions how "many political leaders" put "trade before principles in terms of importance." Is Rubin referring to the American administration? After all, it was the Americans who appointed Joseph Ralston to coordinate the PKK "issue" for Turkey, and Joseph Ralston is not only a director of Lockheed Martin, but also a registered lobbyist for Lockheed, as well as an "advisor" to the ATC. Is that what Rubin was referring to, the corporate whores that Washington appoints to "take care of America's business?"
[For more on American whores, see Sibel Edmonds' new article, "The Hijacking of a Nation".]
Everyone should be aware of the propaganda that the two-faced Rubin spun back in 2001, when the US was desperate to make a case for the invasion of Iraq. At the time, Rubin presented the Başûrî in an extremely positive light, especially for Israel, but everything he has written since the war has been designed specifically to maintain the status quo of the state terrorism of the US and its fascist client state, Turkey.
Now it appears that Rubin, along with Howard Dean and the DNC, prefer to spin the lie that Kurds are responsible for all the "terrorism" of the Middle East. Odd, isn't it that an "expert" like Rubin has never written a single word about Turkey's long history of gross human rights abuses against the Kurdish people? Or maybe not, considering that Rubin is one of America's premier versions of Joseph Goebbels.
It's long past time that Başûr ended all cooperation with that notorious state-sponsor of terror, the United States, while the Başûrî leadership must begin to think solely of the interests of Greater Kurdistan. And if the Başûrî leadership cannot, or will not, do that, it's time for the Kurdish people to take matters into their own hands.
7 comments:
So who is your friend? Iran? Syria? Arab Iraqis? Why don't you focus a little more on the reality on the ground - de facto autonomy in Iraqi Kurdistan - instead of statements by thinktank types. I don't really understand what your agenda is. Do you want Kurdistan to join the war against the West? Or do you want the Kurds to be more like the Palestinians? I mean, they've been SO successful in gaining independence by being rejectionist and anti-American.
There are no "friends" in politics, Amos, and that's my whole point, and statements by your neoconservative think tanks tell us exactly what's going on with US policy for those who are too blind to see it everywhere else.
Do you know where Kurdistan is? Do you know what the population is? Do you know what America's allies, with America's backing, have done to the Kurdish people? Do you know how much genocide you are responsible for?
Do you want to be more like the Nazis or like the Soviets?
I want you to stop your hypocrisy, like the hypocrisy called Operation Northern Watch, in which you permitted your best ally, Turkey, to drop tons of ordnance on civilian Kurds in South Kurdistan, the same Kurds that you were supposedly protecting . . . or at least that's what your propaganda organs and think tanks like AEI were saying. You were really protecting the Başûrî so that you could allow your best ally in to murder them.
I want you to stop your hypocrisy in which you declare Turkey to be a "model democracy," yet the entire regime is one established by Turkish generals, with American support. Are democracies supposed to have constitutions written by generals in order to protect the state from its citizens, because that's the way it is in Turkey and that's the democracy you're so hot to defend.
Here's a reading list to get you started on your education because, after all, a mind is a terrible thing to waste:
Turkey's US-Backed War on Terror
Weapons Transfers and Violations of the Laws of War in Turkey
Nurturing Turkey's War Machine
You didn't really answer any of my questions. Instead, you 1) assumed that I am American (bad assumption), 2) criticized me for calling Turkey a model democracy (huh?), and 3) implied that I was somehow anti-Kurd. In short, you are barking up the wrong tree. Please save your rage and insults for other people. And also, please don't conflate the views of (non-American) individuals with American policy. If you are truly serious about accomplishing something, you might also try being a little less arrogant and rude to those who visit your blog.
It doesn't matter whether you are American or not, the entire international community has supported all of America's efforts at denying the existence of Kurds under Turkish occupation, have maintained a consistent silence over the gross human rights abuses that have been perpetrated against the Kurdish people by the US, the UK, Germany, and Turkey, and the entire international community conspired together to ensure that Serok Apo's attempt to have the Kurdish case tried in an international court (thereby putting the Kurdish cause in the face of the oppressors) did not happen.
Now the international community has rejected the current PKK ceasefire, so that their defense industries can keep the blood money rolling in and maintain instability in the region. That way, they can control and exploit Kurdistan's two main resources: oil and water. I mean, where do you think all that water comes from anyway? It doesn't come from Turkey. It comes from Armenia and Kurdistan.
According to Serok Apo, you have until May to come to your senses. If you don't, you will see what real Kurdish arrogance is like, because HPG will come down from the mountains again. HPG wants peace, but it is ready for war and the recruits continue to arrive.
Oh, yeah . . . I almost forgot . . . you have your little Islamist problem, don't you? Even among all of Turkey's ruling elite--the generals. But then, you've never heard of Turkish-Islamic synthesis, have you? Yet the one organization in the ME that is truly secular and oriented toward Western ideas is the one that you have labeled as "terrorist."
If you were truly serious about the questions you ask, you wouldn't come to Rastî and make smart-assed comments, would you?
Calm down Mizgin, you know it better that you don’t go anywhere by throwing accusations and insults like confetti to anyone who dares to criticise you. In this way you may do more harm than good to the just cause you and many of us in different ways eager to promote. Your response to Amos I must say is not rational.
You may rightly call Michael Rubin’s comments sick, fascist, opportunistic, hypocritical etc. but to me is neither shocking nor surprising: the man simply sucking up to Turkish fascist generals. Take his bullshit on its merits: it does not represent the official US foreign policy in the region, especially the policy on the ground.
Hypothetically a U-turn in US policy towards the Bashuri Kurdish leaders should not come as surprise as there is no lasting friendship in politics; however, such change of direction would not happen unless there are objective factors on the ground necessitate it or put simply when there is a more attractive alternative.
In the short run there does not seem any better option for the Americans than not antagonising the Bashuri Kurds. Turkish-US r elations are not getting any better and the Joseph Ralston appointment can be interpreted as an appeasement gesture at difficult time for US in the region rather than any serious US commitment to Turkey. The Turks know that and they are barking mad about it.
[[[[[[[[[[It's long past time that Başûr ended all cooperation with that notorious state-sponsor of terror, the United States.]]]]]]]]
I do understand your point but you have drawn wrong conclusion: if you look at details, is not that what exactly the fascist Turks dream of?
srusht.
Amos, why do Kurds have to declare who their friends are? The reality is not that black and white and the Kurdish issue is complicated.
Take PKK as an example. They are fighting Turkey and Iran (and are conducting political work in Syria since their is no ground for waging a war there). We are well aware of who are not our friends, but if we take US as an example they have a somewhat schitzofrenich approach to Kurds. The US has decided that Kurds in southern Kurdistan are fighting for legitimate reason, whereas the Kurds in north are fighting a illigimate war.
It is not the Kurds who sided with a country against US, it was the US who sided with Turkey against the Kurds in northern Kurdistan.
Everyone supporting the Kurds are their friends, anyone supporting countries that are oppressing the Kurds are not their friends.
Mizgin: Thanks for another interesting post on your blog. Keep up the good work heval.
Heval Srusht, Amos is not serious in his questions so he got the answer from me that he deserves.
As for a change of direction not happening unless there were objective factors on the ground, you are overlooking the fact that both the American and Turkish regimes create their own propaganda to fit their needs and then behave as if the propaganda were the actual factors on the ground. Rubin's remarks, as a member of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) are reflective of the American regime's policies, and if he is saying these things, Başûrî had better pay attention. From Sourcewatch on AEI:
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) is an extremely influential, pro-business right-wing think tank founded in 1943 by Lewis H. Brown. It promotes the advancement of free enterprise capitalism, and succeeds in placing its people in influential governmental positions. It is the center base for many neo-conservatives.
[ . . . ]
More recently, it has emerged as one of the leading architects of the Bush administration's foreign policy. AEI rents office space to the Project for the New American Century, one of the leading voices that pushed the Bush administration's plan for "regime change" through war in Iraq. AEI reps have also aggressively denied that the war has anything to do with oil.
Check the list of personnel and current scholars and fellows. AEI is a Who's Who of US policy makers and not one of them gives a damn about Kurds, whether they are Başûrî, Bakûrî, Rojhelatî, or Rojavayî. Check the section on "NGO Watch." Does AEI evaluate NGO's for the practical good that NGO's do on the ground for the people they serve? If not, why? What does that tell you?
These AEI people operate just like the Nazis. Think about the invasion of Poland, for example. There were no provocations by Poland against Germany. The "provocations" were fictions created by the Nazis and played over their media as truth to justify their invasion. And that is exactly what AEI and similar creatures are setting up now, for a Turkish invasion of Kurdistan. They are creating a lie that an invasion is justified as part of the global War on Terror®, when it is not. It's all about control of oil, in this case Mûsil, Kerkuk, and all those newly discovered deposits in Behdinan.
The only way to fight this coming betrayal is to forget about the US, Turkey, everyone else, and all Kurds stand together to prepare for the coming dangers. As Serok Apo said in the week or so before the ceasefire, we are entering dangerous times. But don't just listen to Serokê me, simply look at what is being said and understand what it means.
No one on this earth can prevail against Kurds united, because no one is a warrior like a Kurd is a warrior. NO ONE. The enemies have forced this because they have rejected peace, they have rejected the ceasefire. And that is the brilliance of the ceasefire because it proves who the warmongers/terrorists really are.
Anonymous, you are correct in pointing out the "good" Kurd/"bad" Kurd dichotomy, and by extension, "legitimate" and "illegitimate" resistance. Noam Chomsky also described it as "worthy" and "unworthy" victims. This labeling has nothing to do with basic morality and ethics.
Serkeftin!
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