WHAT'S IT REALLY ALL ABOUT?

“The global importance of the Middle East is that it keeps the Far East and the Near East from encroaching on each other.”
~ Dan Quayle, Vice President under George H.W. Bush.

Seymour Hersh has another speculative article out, in which he mentions Kurds, from The New Yorker:

In the past six months, Israel and the United States have also been working together in support of a Kurdish resistance group known as the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan. The group has been conducting clandestine cross-border forays into Iran, I was told by a government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon civilian leadership, as “part of an effort to explore alternative means of applying pressure on Iran.” (The Pentagon has established covert relationships with Kurdish, Azeri, and Baluchi tribesmen, and has encouraged their efforts to undermine the regime’s authority in northern and southeastern Iran.) The government consultant said that Israel is giving the Kurdish group “equipment and training.” The group has also been given “a list of targets inside Iran of interest to the U.S.” (An Israeli government spokesman denied that Israel was involved.)

I love the part about PJAK being "Kurdish tribesmen," especially since there is nothing as anti-tribal or anti-feudal as PKK, of which PJAK is a part.

How can PJAK be conducting "clandestine" raids into "Iran" when everyone knows PJAK is killing Ahmedinejad's flying monkeys?

I wonder how a "government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon civilian leadership" would know anything about PKK? Has the "government consultant" been to Qandîl? Does he/she/it know where Qandîl is? Has Hersh been to Qandîl, or is he still getting his tips through the Turkish Foreign Ministry?

Let's note that Hersh quotes his "government consultant" saying this working together is "part of an effort to explore alternative means" of putting the screws to Teheran. Let's also note that Hersh plays fast and loose with the term "Israel." He's done this before, leading readers to believe that the Israeli government was training Kurds (Başûrî Kurds) when in reality it seems more likely that it was private Israeli companies that were conducting the training. Who is really doing the alleged training? Who is really paying for the alleged equipment? Whose agenda is Hersh paid to propagandize?

That's what it's really all about, isn't it?

I wrote something about this way back when . . . in July, to be exact. It was Canada's MacLeans that scooped Hersh on this news, doing a much better job of it in the process. Since then, there have been no indications of any agreements, deals, relationships or any similar arrangements between CIA and PKK, Israel and PKK, the Boy Scouts and PKK, or, well, you get what I'm saying. I stand by what I said in July:

Is the CIA really talking to PKK? Are they really trying to use the back door to take down the evil Teheran regime? Who really knows? Only one thing is important: Any deals cut with the Americans (and anyone else, for that matter) must be cut, first and foremost, with Kurdish interests at heart.

Other interests are unacceptable.

Figure it this way: Just as the US has been totally unconcerned with Kurdish interests vis-a-vis South Kurdistan and Iraq, so it will be totally unconcerned with Kurdish interests vis-a-vis Iran. The US has always been hostile to any Kurdish interests vis-a-vis Turkey. In the last week we have seen extreme right-wing American blogs calling for the beheading of gerîlas (although given that the US considers expressions of Kurdish culture as signs of "terrorism," we can go ahead and interpret these calls as applying to all Kurds); the Democratic National Convention leader falling into line with Turkish propaganda; and neocon whore Michael Rubin telling it like it is by saying that the US will never abandon Turkey for Kurds, feudal or otherwise.

More on the Hersh thing from TDN.

In the last week we have also heard rumblings of the Kissingerians returning to power through the Bush 41 crowd (think: James Baker and Iraq study group), and they, along with Mr. Tony "Acquiescence" Blair, are getting louder in the insistence that everyone sit down and engage in some kind of group therapy, together with Iran and Syria, so that they can all cooperate in healing Iraq. To get the ball rolling on the application of the revival of realpolitick in the region, Talabanî will run off to Teheran this weekend, while Iraq and Syria are new best buddies.

Speaking of Syria, it appears to have murdered another member of the Lebanese government today. Don't be fooled. Syria is the satellite of Iran, and this was another show of strength by the evil mullahs. Wouldn't it be interesting to know how much Kissinger's recent comments had to do with emboldening the Iranian-sponsored murderers of Gemayel?

The entire international community has screwed Lebanon and the next ones to get it will be Kurds unless there is immediate non-cooperation with any state, organization, idea, or policy that does not serve Kurdish interests. Does the international community think the Middle East is miserable for them already? They haven't seen anything yet. Let them get a load of the intransigence of 40 million uncooperative, restive Kurds.

Journalists love to use "restive" in describing Kurds, yet they never bother to find out WHY Kurds are restive.

Meanwhile, watch for Lockheed Martin's "special envoy to counter the PKK," Joseph Ralston, to visit Turkey sometime soon. Looks like there's gonna be a bunch of paperwork to sign on that F-35 deal in the next few weeks. Everyone should remember that Ralston was pushing this deal back in mid-October during his last visit as "special envoy."

That's what it's really all about, isn't it?