Monday, August 31, 2009

INTERIOR MINISTER CLAIMS HUGE SUCCESS; DTP CLAIMS HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT

"[T]o solve the Kurdish question, Öcalan must be contacted, must be talked with. There is no one in Turkey, with the exception of him [Öcalan] to solve this problem. There is no one with the exception of him that can contribute as much as him to solve this problem."
~ Avni Özgürel.


If you stayed up until almost 0300 hours Pacific Daylight Time to listen to the comments of Turkish Interior Minister Beşir Atalay's news conference on the Kurdish "initiative", you were probably as angry as I was. Or as Ahmet Türk was, from Hürriyet:


DTP leader Türk, accompanied by DTP deputies Selahattin Demirtaş, Osman Özçelik, Hasip Kaplan, Gültan Kışanak, Akın Birdal, İbrahim Binici, Nezir Karabaş and Nuri Yaman, watched the minister’s remarks on TV carefully, with often taking notes. Türk was reluctant to comment on Atalay”s words, citing the rally on Tuesday organized by his party in Diyarbakır.

“The minister did not announce any solid plans, and we will tell the public our thoughts at [Tuesday’s] rally,” Türk told reporters, but he was hopeful about the current situation.

“The people expect the Kurdish issue to be solved in a peaceful, democratic way,” he said. “As politicians, we must carry hope. We must lead the people; it is our duty to do so.”

[ . . . ]

Later in the day, DTP leader and deputies joined hundreds of party members in Diyarbakır”s Sümer Park, who were to spend the night at the park for the “Sept. 1 Peace Watch.”

Having spent some time to think over the minister’s remarks, and buoyed by the support at the park, the DTP leader was much harsher.

The remarks of the minister have created surprise and despair,” Türk told his audience. “The remarks did not include the democratic initiative and completely ignored the Kurds.”

According to Türk, the government did not take the opinions of the NGOs and Kurds into account, but instead “valued the opinions of those it could not even meet.”

Everybody should know that this is not the way to solve the Kurdish issue,” he said.


One of the Kurdish demands mentioned specifically was a rewriting of the Turkish constitution, something which Atalay said is "not currently on the table". This is a point on which the DTP has insisted. Neither has there been any indication that Öcalan's perspective for a political solution have been included in this Kurdish "initiative".

Last week, Öcalan conveyed his long-awaited road map to the Ankara regime through prison officials. Over the weekend, not a word was spoken or written about the contents of Öcalan's road map. Perhaps that's because the Ankara regime nixed the road map even before it had been given to the regime.

During Atalay's press conference, not a word was mentioned about the contents of Öcalan's statement. Another Hürriyet article referenced "abundant common points" and declared the government initiative a huge success:


After meeting with political leaders, NGOs and vocational groups, Interior Minister Atalay says the government’s “Kurdish move” is a success. ‘The common points we heard were abundant, which shows that we have reached our goal. Everybody wants to put a stop to the terror. Everybody wants better democratic standards. No one is against these points," Atalay says.

The government’s Kurdish move has proved to be a success with clear public support and a will for a resolution to the country’s terror problem, Interior Minister Beşir Atalay said Monday. Atalay also called on the opposition to get passed their fear that the move might divide the country.


Well, perhaps some day, Sayın Atalay will be so kind as to let the Kurdish people know exactly what those abundant "common points" are now that the regime has achieved an incomparably stunning success in solving the Kurdish question.

Meanwhile, Ahmet Türk and the rest of DTP, and I are not the only ones awaiting the details of the stunning success of AKP's Kurdish "initiative"; Avni Özgürel, featured last October on Rastî, is also waiting:


What do you think is not going to happen according to the messages coming from the top level?

We understand from these messages that the official language of Turkey, which is Turkish, cannot be changed, and the unitary structure of Turkey cannot be changed. The opposition's reactions have mellowed since these points have been clearly voiced. But we still do not know the content of the project which will be prepared by the end of the year, as the prime minister said.

What do you think it will consist of?

It will probably consist of granting cultural rights -- like establishing Kurdology departments at universities, expanding opportunities for Kurdish broadcasting, providing Kurdish translations at courts and official places if there is a need -- also demanded by international agreements approved by Turkey. There is also another issue, which is addressing the terrorism dimension of the problem.


Özgürel knows that cultural rights are not enough, but a discussion of establishing Kurdology departments or increasing Kurdish broadcasts a la TRT 6 are already failed attempts and, after the results of the 29 March elections, have been rejected by the Kurdish people.

But here's a talking point from Özgürel that ought to be all over the Turkish media:


What do you see when you look at the issue from Turkey's point of view? Why is Turkey at the end of the road to solve the Kurdish problem?

Turkey has seen that terrorism will never end. Several chiefs of general staff said several times that the terrorism problem in Turkey was finished. However, it never ended, and it does not seem likely to end. Each dead person is a loss for Turkey even if they are from the PKK. They are citizens of Turkey. And they are people who should normally be carrying the hopes for their future on Turkey.


It's too bad no one in the AKP has half the brains of this guy.

We shall see what DTP's official response is tomorrow, at the Peace Day rally in Amed, at which one million Kurds are expected to gather. Hürriyet seems to believe that this is going to be a rally by the Kurdish people to thank the regime. But, given Ahmet Türk's reaction--and I completely empathize with him because the Atalay press conference was so . . . lame--I think there's going to be a lot more said tomorrow than a nice, meek "Thank you".

Expect a statement from HPG tomorrow, too, since it will be the expiration date of the current ceasefire.

LOW MORALE FOR THE TORTURE BOYS

"Demotivation - Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all of the unhappy people."
~ Larry Kersten.


I just started listening to the new podcast at Sibel Edmonds place, an interview with investigative journalist Joe Trento, and I almost choked on my pastırma from laughing so hard at Trento's description of what happened after Jimmy Carter tried to rein in the CIA back in 1977.

Apparently, Carter wanted to clean up the CIA and link US foreign policy to human rights. In 1977 there was a purge of the "clandestine services" which Trento characterized as the "old boy club" of the CIA. Trento also referenced the investigation by the Church Committee, which was a congressional investigation into illegal activities of the CIA and FBI, and took place shortly before the 1977 purge. From that point on, the CIA became very political and came up with what has become it's usual response to any investigation into it's failures or wrongdoing: "It'll ruin our morale!"

Why is that so funny? Because I had just come across this earlier:


Morale has sagged at the CIA following the release of additional portions of an inspector general's review of the agency's interrogation program and the announcement that the Justice Department would investigate possible abuses by interrogators, according to former intelligence officials, especially those associated with the program.

A. B. "Buzzy" Krongard, the third-ranking CIA official at the time of the use of harsh interrogation practices, said that although vigorous oversight is crucial, the public airing of once-classified internal assessments and the prospect of further investigation are damaging the agency. "Morale at the agency is down to minus 50," he said.


BOOO-HOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Does that become even more hilarious if I mention that the author of the piece, Walter Pincus, was one of those journalists who helped to expose Valerie Plame in the old "Saddam has yellowcake from Niger" scam?

But wait, there's more! The son of Walter Pincus, Andrew Pincus, is one of the lawyers defending Blackwater's (now Xe's) Erik Prince in at least one of the lawsuits brought against Blackwater for murder of Iraqi nationals? Thanks to the little bird who dropped that in my email inbox.

Whoever has problems understanding why CIA morale is so low right now, let me direct you to Glenn Greenwald's blog:


To those blithely dismissing all of this as things that don't seem particularly bothersome, I'd say two things:

(1) The fact that we are not really bothered any more by taking helpless detainees in our custody and (a) threatening to blow their brains out, torture them with drills, rape their mothers, and murder their children; (b) choking them until they pass out; (c) pouring water down their throats to drown them; (d) hanging them by their arms until their shoulders are dislocated; (e) blowing smoke in their face until they vomit; (f) putting them in diapers, dousing them with cold water, and leaving them on a concrete floor to induce hypothermia; and (g) beating them with the butt of a rifle -- all things that we have always condemend as "torture" and which our laws explicitly criminalize as felonies ("torture means. . . the threat of imminent death; or the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering . . .") -- reveals better than all the words in the world could how degraded, barbaric and depraved a society becomes when it lifts the taboo on torturing captives.

(2) As I wrote rather clearly, numerous detainees died in U.S. custody, often as a direct result of our "interrogation methods." Those who doubt that can read the details here and here. Those claiming there was no physical harm are simply lying -- death qualifies as "physical harm" -- and those who oppose prosecutions are advocating that the people responsible literally be allowed to get away with murder.

Finally, as for the title of this post: it was just a way of expressing the view that Americans who want to justify or endorse the torture we engaged in should be required to know what was actually done -- not hide behind the comforting myth that "all we did was pour some water down the noses of 3 bad guys"; I wasn't trying to propose a new law compelling that every citizen read the IG Report.

UPDATE III: Torture defenders: please see here.


Anyway, go listen to the Trento interview. It sounds like it's got a lot of good information.

Monday, August 24, 2009

TURKISH ESPIONAGE OPERATIONS IN THE US: THE DEPOSITION

"There is no place where espionage is not possible."
~ Sun Tzu.


The video of Sibel Edmonds' deposition has been released and can be viewed here. The entire deposition is broken down into a series of five videos of about 10 minutes each.

A transcript of the deposition is available here in .pdf.

There's some information on the Krikorian-Schmidt case from a local Ohio newspaper, which is carrying links to the video and transcript, as well as an explanation of Sibel's role in the deposition:


In preparation for the Sept. 3 hearing, Krikorian's lawyer requested a subpoena for well known whistleblower and former interpreter for the FBI, Sibel Edmonds. The OEC declined to enforce the subpoena, however Edmonds agreed to speak to Krikorian and Schmidt's lawyers on a voluntary basis.

The video deposition was brought forward by Krikorian's counsel to provide background on the alleged involvement of the Turkish government in Congressional affairs through blackmail, bribery, and campaign contributions filtered through various organizations. Edmonds also describes Turkish infiltration of the Pentagon and Air Force.

Edmonds' deposition is significant because she has twice been "gagged" by a State Secrets exemption from testifying for a 9/11 investigation and a Congressional hearing.

By various Internet bloggers she has been called the most gagged woman in the U.S.

[ . . . ]

Edmonds (who is Turkish-American) called as a witness for Krikorian (who is Armenian-American) testified to infiltration, bribery, corruption, and blackmail within the U.S. Government, by current and former members of the U.S. House and other high ranking officials, on behalf of Turkish interests.


Take a look at the Ohio paper link and note the comments. There you'll see one by the ATAA's president-elect, Ergün Kirlikovalı, whose racism was mentioned previously on Rastî.

For more on the deposition, see the links at "Turkish Espionage Operations Target Congress".

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

THE MARMARIS INCIDENT

"I don’t know why I did it."
~ Thomas Strong.


Uh-oh:


Thomas Strong, 19, from Carlisle in Cumbria, approached the quayside statue while on holiday in Marmaris on Sunday and dropped his shorts, before launching into a tirade of abuse.

Local boat men were so furious at the insult that they called the police to arrest Strong.

The offence of insulting Ataturk, the former Army Officer who led the Turkish national movement and established the Republic of Turkey in 1923, is punishable by imprisonment for Turks.

Ayhan Hatay, who watched Strong’s actions in horror, said: “We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. Lots of tourists come and look at the Ataturk statue and take pictures. But this lad was something else – he stripped his clothes off and started waving his manhood and swearing at Ataturk.


I'm trying to keep a straight face. Really . . . I'm trying.

Hehehe . . .

Sunday, August 16, 2009

SOUR GRAPES FOR THE TURKISH LOBBY

"I am sure the grapes are sour."
~ Aesop.


There's an update on the Krikorian-Schmidt case, for which Sibel Edmonds was deposed last weekend, at The Bradblog. First of all, a number of charges against David Krikorian have been dropped by Jean Schmidt (OH-R) and her legal counsel, the Turkish American Defense Legal Fund (TALDF) in the wake of Sibel's deposition.

Secondly, the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) issued a rant against Sibel Edmonds. Brad Friedman of The Bradblog, has all the news on that and does a fine job of rebutting TCA hysterics. As a result, I don't have anything to add, except to note something with which Kurds are well acquainted and that is that the moment the Turks begin to shriek any form of the word "DESPERATE", it means that they've stepped on their own weinies big time and are, themselves, "DESPERATE".

Enough said.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

GERİLLALARIMIZA SELAMLAR




PKK'nin 25. yıl dönümü dolayısıyla Kürdistan'ın siz kutsal ruhu olan koruyucu cesaret abidesi gerillalarımızı kutlar ve Kürdistan'ın özgürlüğü uğruna bedel ödemiş herkesi saygı ve hürmetle anıyorum.



(On the 25th anniversary of the PKK's emergence as the defender of Kurdistan's sacred honor, I greet all our courageous guerrillas and remember all those who have made the greatest sacrifice for Kurdistan's freedom.)


15 Ağustos Kutlu Olsun!

Friday, August 14, 2009

THE FETHULLAHÇI AND SOUTH KURDISTAN

"These schools are like shop windows. Recruitment and Islamization activities are carried out through night classes ... Children whom we educated in Turkey are now in the highest positions. There are governors, judges, military officers. There are ministers in the government. They consult Gülen before doing anything."
~ Nurettin Veren.


A little over a week ago, I wrote about the activities of the Gülen movement in Central Asia--among other regional actors. In order to "infect" a region, the Fethullahçı take over education, particularly the education of the children of a society's elites. Cadres of Fethullahçı businessmen permeate the economy, spreading Gülen's version of Islam, which is inseparably intwined with Turkish nationalism, and serve as conduits to funnel money into the movement.

Now it would appear that the same tactics are being used in South Kurdistan, from Özgür Gündem:


The Federal Region of Kurdistan Wrapped Up in the Movement

Since the beginning of the 1990s, universities, associations, foundations, hospitals, and language centers, which belong to the Fethullah Gülen movement, have been opened in Central Asia. Such schools must fall under the National Education Ministry and must be evaluated by it. Instead, they are being evaluated by the National Security Council (MGK) and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). In addition, MİT is one of the primary organizations that supports this movement.

Additionally, it is very well known by everyone that the Gülen movement's schools in Uzbekistan were shut down in 1999-2000. The reason for the shutting down of these schools was that the people who were working in them became directly involved with the assassination attempt against Uzbekistan's president, Islam Kerimov.

The Russian Security Service revealed the relationship of the movement, which founded schools and foundations in this country, with MİT. They [the movement] were implementing ideological work as well as trying to form a Turkish lobby in the regions in which they were located. Thus the movement's schools, foundations, associations, and business in Russia were shut down and their employees were deported by the Russian Security Service.

The Gülen movement started to open "education" associations in the Federal Kurdistan Region since 1994, and it is still conducting its activities there. It is obvious that these foundations and associations ideologically conduct Turanism and Pan-Turkism in the Federal Kurdistan Region. Despite the fact that the movement's racial, imperialist, and invasive activities were banned by several states, who are allowing it to conduct its activities in the Federal Kurdistan Region? Who is turning a blind eye? Again, additionally, who is getting an advantage out of it and of what kind, are the questions that must be answered.

Teaching in English language in Gülen's schools causes an increase their demand. In addition, there are increasing demands for lessons to be taught in Arabic and Kurdish Sorani dialect in elementary and middle schools. However, the reality of these schools is different. Although in the schools' records English is indicated as the official language, in reality lessons are being conducted in Turkish. To see this reality, it is enough to check the weekly lesson schedules. Turkish, Turkish grammar, and Turkish history lessons make up the greatest amount of the existing lessons in high schools, in addition to elementary and middle schools.

The movement finalized work to open a school in Kerkuk in 2006. However, the movement's members met PUK's high administrators and the Federal Kurdistan Region Vice*President, Kosrat Rasul, to open new schools in the city. After conveying their thanks to each other, the representatıve of Gülen's schools (responsible for all Gulen schools), Muammer Turk, and [Kurdish] officials agreed on the new projects for Kerkuk.

The Gülen Movement's Schools Opened in the Federal Kurdistan Region:

Hewler:

1- Fezalar Eğitim Kurumu
2- Işık Dil Merkezi
3- Işık İlköğretim Okulu
4- Nilüfer Kız Koleji
5- Işık Erkek Koleji
6- Işık Üniversitesi

Süleymaniye:

1- Süleymaniye Kız Koleji
2- Selahattin Eyyubi Erkek Koleji
3- Selahattin Eyyubi Dil Merkezi

In Kerkuk also there is one school and one language center.

In the movement's schools, [there are] celebrations like 23 April (Children's Day and Republic Day) and 19 May (Youth and Sport Day), and the [Turkish] national anthem is memorized. Celebrations are held in the schools' yards and the students' guardians are also invited. However, neither the Kurdish national anthem "Ey Reqib" is sung nor are official holidays of federal Kurdistan celebrated.

Meanwhile Atatürk's pictures are put in the schools. It disturbs Kurdish students and their guardians to make students memorize Turkish history and Atatürk's life. However, the students' guardians want the regional government to take precautions about these issues.

These schools also have activities about Turkey. Some of the students of these schools are taken to Turkey for sightseeing once a year wıth the goal of "introducing Turkey and improving sympathy for Turkey"; however the real goal is known by the students' guardians. The chosen students are taken to vacation resorts and camps. It is not a secret that ideological education is given to them under the name of "vacation".

The movement's activities are not limited to these, of course. Every Thursday, "reading" and "regional conversations" are held with some students and their guardians. Through such activities, that aim to form a mass movement, the Fethullahçıs made a remarkable improvement. Despite all these activities, the turning of a blind eye by the KRG creates several questions.

Hewler is one of the cities on which the Fethullahçıs are most focused. In addition to school activities, an important improvement is just as much the case in the field of health. For this goal, Sema Hospital was opened in "Doctors' Street" in Hewler in 2006. This hospital, in addition to being a laser eye center, treats people with internal diseases. The hospital has a 50% off promotion for people who are close to Gülen's movement. For teachers, officials, and students who are working in the movement's associations, treatment is free.

Another movement "organization" in Hewler is Atasay Jewelry. Opened late due to not getting permission from the government, it was officially opened in recent months. The function of Atasay Jewelry for the Gülen movement is to conduct money transfers between Iraq and Turkey. It transfers the revenue received by the movement, specifically from the federal Kurdistan area, to Turkey or to other countries.

The majority of the students who attend Gülen movement schools are either Turkmen children and the children of high-level KRG officials. Some of the students who graduate from these schools are sent to Turkey to "continue their education". These students are placed in the universities under the quota such universities dedicate to the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) [i.e these students are counted in TSK's quota]. They [the students] are admitted to universities especially in Ankara and Kayseri. The number of the TSK quota that is being spared for Gülen's movement changes every year. Students sent from the Federal Kurdistan Region receive "other education" in addition to their university education. Students receive their education through TSK's and MİT's scholarships; whenever they finish their university education and go back to federal Kurdistan, they start working in the Iraqi Turkmen Front, Turkmen TV, radio, or cultural associations.

Another group of students who attend such schools are the children of high officials of the KRG. The existence of these students is important for the movement in order to get their [official] work done more easily.

Another group that is used by the movement is businessmen from Turkey. Gülen's schools are the first schools applied for by some of these businessmen, for their children's educations. In their internal discussions, officials in the movement consult with businessmen coming from Turkey for implementing their new projects. That is, having their children in Gülen's schools for their education is not the only reason to make contact with the movement. For getting their children's education in these schools, these businessmen contribute great help both in the Federal Kurdistan Region and in Turkey.


What kind of money are we talking about, with regard to Turkish businessmen who support the movement? Ten to seventy percent:


We asked the group of a dozen businessmen in Ankara whether each of them contributes financially to Gülen-inspired projects and, if so, approximately how much they give each year. Each of the 12 men said that they contribute as they can to the movement projects. Amounts of contributions varied from 10%-70% of their annual income, ranging from $20,000-$300,000 per year. One man, in particular, said he gives 40% of his income every year which is about $100,000; however, he said he would like to give 95% but is not able to do so and still maintain himself and his family.

[ . . . ]

Another very successful businessman in Istanbul whom we interviewed provided insight into the sums of money being contributed by the supporters of the Gülen Movement to local projects. He is 48 years old and is in the textile business. He contributes 20% of his 4-5 million dollar yearly income to movement-related projects. 80% of his good friends are also members of the movement and contribute as they can to projects.


We're talking some serious coin here, and this is in addition to the problematic issue of spreading Turkish nationalist ideology.

The questions that Goran Akreyi raises in the article most definitely need answers. Sooner rather than later.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

INTERVIEW WITH MURAT KARAYILAN

"An approach like 'I will not recognize your will, I will solve it my way, I will even talk to some sections of the society but I will not speak to you' will not bring complete solution. Kurdish question and the PKK problem are like nail and tissue, bound together. Separating them will not develop a solution."
~ Murat Karayılan.


Zerkesorg has just finished posting a three-part interview with the leader of the KCK Executive Council, Murat Karayılan. It's fitting that this interview comes now, just a few days before the twenty-fifth anniversary of PKK's first armed attacks against the Ankara regime, and right before we are due to hear from Öcalan.

You can find the interview here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Let's do a little comparison and contrast between Murat Karayılan and the Chief of the Turkish General Staff, İlker Başbuğ.

From Part 1 of the interview, compare:


Stopping the operations is at the top of requests made by various factions. In fact, stopping the operations [against the PKK] is seen as the first and important condition toward solution [to the Kurdish Question]. We ask about operations and he [Murat Karayilan] says 'there are still operations conducted but not as much as before'. He adds, "which means the state can stop the operations completely and turn the no-attack [from the PKK] period into no-conflict phase. Together we can develop a phase for complete cease fire where everyone stays put at their locations. We demonstrate, with all our might, our will for developing this phase". Then he says environment for dialogue can be created.


Contrast:


The Turkish Army is determined to wipe out the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the military’s Chief of General Staff, Ilker Basbug, said on Monday.

“This problem can only be solved with the collective efforts of all nations and in particular allied nations,” said Basbug at the start of the two-day Silk Road 2009 General/Admiral seminar. “We believe that countries need to merge their positions and politics and adopt a common stance,”

Our aim while fighting terrorism is to end all hopes of the terrorists and their supporters. We believe that alongside the fight against terrorism, state actions in the economic, socio-cultural, security, propaganda and international relations fields form a whole and complement each other,” said Basbug.


From Part 2 of the interview with Murat Karayılan, compare:


He reminds us the decision to pull outside Turkey in 1999. He himself announced to the PKK forces the decision to mocve them outside the borders of Turkey. He spoke to the forces for one hour. We ask him about his emotions during that talk. "If I put it honestly, I wasn't very hopeful. But our leader had asked. I was seeing it as a risky move but I was thinking it needed to be done. I remember it as a sad speech."

He tells about over 300 guerrillas were ambushed and killed while retreating to outside Turkey's borders. He talks about the traps, mass executions and massacres on the road [committed by the Turkish forces]. "But we still didn't change our mind and stood by our decision" he says.

He he asks a question and answers himself: "We didn't move for five years. Was any step taken? No! Was this period utilized? No! Now a lot people say that period was not utilized properly. We acted responsibly but the [Turkish] authorities of the time didn't act responsibly. The importance of our decision to retreat to outside Turkey's borders is being understood better today."


Contrast:


Gen. İlker Başbuğ said in Washington that Turkey's fight against the PKK will continue until the terrorist group is eliminated.

Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ vowed on Monday to continue the ongoing fight against terrorist attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) until the organization is completely eliminated, while also underlining the need for “winning hearts and minds,” along with the fight against the terrorist organization.


From Part 3, compare:


[Karayılan] stresses that they [the PKK] have been acting extremely responsibly and they would try their best to open the doors for any positive development. He wants to make sure what he says is not misunderstood: "Why am I saying these? We have to be realistic. If we are really going to discuss the solution, we have to consider these facts."

He says that wrong information is being distributed about their situation. Their persistence on solution [to Kurdish question] is being interpreted differently and that it's not realistic to interpret their persistence as they are losing strength. "We are not desperate. But we are saying now that let's stop the violence. This is a societal problem and it can be solved with dialogue, with modern methods. The role of violence in solving societal problems is over now. Now the problem is in a form that can be solved through dialogue and democratic means. This is our strategy."


Contrast:


Basbug said: "We would say that in 2009 we are having a chance with which we could achieve more concrete results in the fight against the terror organisation. What is this chance? You may call it the elimination of the terrorist organisation... or destruction... or weakening... we have now a chance. And we say, let's use this chance..We have seized the opportunity. The terror organisation is in a very difficult situation. We must profit from this opportunity." Basbug gave the following answer concerning the search for a dialogue: "The state won't establish a relation with a terror organisation, it won't have any discussions and there will be no dialogue. Sometimes it is being misunderstood, as if the state will have a meeting with the terror organisation, this is not true. This would be the biggest mistake in the struggle against the terror. The state does neither respect the terror organisation nor have any relation to it."


Thus it remains crystal clear where the violence is coming from. As Karayılan remarked in Part 1, "[The] Kurdish question is not a problem that formed yesterday. It's not a problem created by the birth of the PKK either. [The] Existence of this problem has given birth to the PKK." Additionally, PKK is not a separate issue from that of the Kurdish question.

A few other of Karayılan's points should be noted: First, Karayılan recalls the massacres of guerrillas by TSK when PKK moved outside of Turkey's borders in 1999. That's some history to learn, if you don't know it.

Secondly, there is no trust of the state on the part of PKK, so there need to be concrete steps taken toward a peaceful solution and no one should insist on immediate disarmament or movement of PKK outside of the region it inhabits now. Either insistence would be seen by the PKK as a first step toward Başbuğ's much recently touted annihilation.

Thirdly, everyone should remember that after the retreat from the borders in 1999, the KDP, PUK, and "international forces" worked as the proxies of the Ankara regime and also attempted the annihilation of the PKK. This point reinforces my belief that neither the US nor the KRG need to have any part in "solving" the Kurdish situation in Turkey. As Karayılan notes in Part 3, Kurds in Turkey have elected representatives so there's no need for two-timing outside meddlers.

Fourthly, for all the retards who still don't get it on the phony "separatism" charge, Karayılan says that even if independence were offered, PKK would not want it and he explains why.

I highly recommend a read of all three parts of the interview in preparation for Öcalan's Road Map.

On another subject, please check out the new podcast at Sibel Edmonds' place. This one features the CIA's former chief of base in Istanbul, Philip Giraldi. There's a lot of interesting stuff there about Turkish spies, Israeli spies, espionage tactics, the police state, and much more.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

SIBEL EDMONDS ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND THE KURDS

"But with what's going on with the Kurdish population today in Turkey and what they're doing to the Kurdish population, you can see that it's not a matter of history, that it's being repeated."
~ Sibel Edmonds.


Here's a longer video from Deposition Day on 8 August with Sibel Edmonds, the lawyers involved, and David Krikorian. Run time is almost 25 minutes and, again, thanks to the friend who passed this little nugget along.

Pay attention to what Sibel says when she is asked about her personal ideas on the Armenian Genocide (about 11:50 minutes):


"As a person, I have never denied it [the Armenian Genocide]. . . I accept it and I think it's even twice, three times more important because people . . . they think of it as something that happened a hundred years ago and should be forgotten or shouldn't matter today . . . But with what's going on with the Kurdish population today in Turkey and what they're doing to the Kurdish population, you can see that it's not a matter of history, that it's being repeated. And as they did a hundred years ago and they're doing with the Armenian Genocide. Especially the United States is turning a blind eye on the Kurdish issue, which is a big, major human rights issue in Turkey. So it hasn't gone away and it's not something that happened only a hundred years ago. We see the effects of it today and unless the international community, including the United States, really takes a strong and firm position on this, they're going to get away with it and they'll never respect human rights."


Çok yaşa Sibel! Bijî Sibel! Getztzeh Sibel!

Monday, August 10, 2009

VIDEO TAKEN AT SIBEL EDMONDS' DEPOSITION

"From my opinion, if I'm some of the current members of Congress, I'd be very very worried about the information that's going to come out of this."
~ David Krikorian.


Here's a short video taken at Sibel Edmonds' deposition on Saturday, 8 August, 2009, at the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition offices:







See yesterday's post for more on Saturday's struggle between the Turkish lobby and those devoted to truth and justice.

Sunday, August 09, 2009

TURKISH ESPIONAGE OPERATIONS TARGET CONGRESS

"Sex and espionage certainly go together - that's an old tradition."
~ Markus Wolf.


Yesterday's deposition of Sibel Edmonds in the Schmidt-Krikorian legal battle seems to have gone off without a hitch. The day was live-blogged by Brad Friedman and you can read all about it at The Bradblog. Luke Ryland also has numerous posts at his place.

Here's some backgrounder on the legal battle between Schmidt and Krikorian:


Nationally renowned lawyer Mark Geragos will lead a legal team of attorneys from across the nation to represent Democratic Congressional Candidate David Krikorian in connection with a complaint initiated by Ohio Representative Jean Schmidt before the Ohio Elections Commission.

[ . . . ]

Schmidt has brought charges against her likely Democratic opponent in the 2010 election for what she claims are false statements made by Krikorian in connection with her vocal opposition to Congressional measures to commemorate the Armenian Genocide.

During the last election cycle, Schmidt received more than $30,000 in contributions from individuals and political action committees advancing the Turkish government’s position to deny the fact of the Armenian Genocide and oppose Congressional measures to commemorate what is widely acknowledged as the first genocide of the 20th century. The trial on Schmidt’s charges is scheduled for Aug. 13 before the Ohio Elections Commission.

Since her election to Congress, Jean Schmidt has become an active and vocal apologist for the Turkish government’s position on the Armenian Genocide, and has solicited and received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Turkish Americans and affiliated political action committees. David Krikorian has been working to expose the connection between Schmidt’s actions as a Member of Congress and her political contributions.


It would appear to be the same old story: Turkish lobby goes over the top to cultivate assets that will stymie any Armenian Genocide resolution in Congress. But there is something much darker going on here. Check out these bombshells that David Krikorian dropped yesterday at the deposition, via The Bradblog:


[Dan] Burton (R-IN), described as basically accepting bribes and involved in espionage for the Turkish government...she could not discuss the extremely illegal activities that Mr. Burton committed against U.S. interests, as she put it.

Also, a current female Democratic [ed note: I misheard, he later said he didn't know if she was Dem or Rep] member of Congress who has been blackmailed by the Turkish Government...called a 'hooking exercise'...she's apparently bi-sexual and they bugged her apartment, she's married with children, and they set up a relationship with another female who went in and had sexual relationships with her. And they had all the episodes bugged within this current Representative's home and they blackmailed her. ... She wouldn't give her name, but her photograph [is the one with the question mark on it in the "Sibel Edmonds Rogue Gallery." ]


Later, Friedman asked Sibel for a clarification on the congresswoman mentioned by Krikorian:


First, I asked if she specified whether the sitting bi-sexual, married Congresswoman who had been taped sleeping with a woman, without knowing, and then bribed by Turkish interests with the tape, to vote against the Armenian Genocide resolution had been a Democrat or a Republican. She said she is a Democrat, and that she testified to that during her deposition.


Friedman characterizes the blackmail tactic used against the bi-sexual Democratic congresswoman as a "hooking exercise"; however, there is a more widely known term for this tactic in espionage circles. It's called a "honeytrap" or "honeypot" operation:


In espionage, a honeypot or honeytrap is a trap set to capture, kill or compromise an enemy agent using sex as the lure.

[ . . . ]

The most common employment of this technique is by women, either female intelligence agents or (if the purpose is simply to obtain material for blackmail) prostitutes. Some intelligence agencies, particularly in the Soviet bloc, are alleged to have specially cultivated agents for this purpose. Not all traps are carried out by women, however — sometimes, women are ensnared by male agents, and sometimes, same-sex traps are used. (The latter were particularly effective eras or countries where homosexuality was frowned on, and the very fact that an agent was homosexual was material suitable for blackmail). . .


Obviously, a honeypot was set up for the congresswoman, according to the description by Krikorian:


. . . [S]he's apparently bi-sexual and they bugged her apartment, she's married with children, and they set up a relationship with another female who went in and had sexual relationships with her.


"[T]hey set up a relationship . . . " Who is "they"? The Turkish lobby. But this is an espionage operation, which leads me to believe that those old Cold Warriors of the MİT were the ones who really set out this honeypot. Isn't this the very reason why USAF officer Douglas Dickerson and his wife, Melek Can, tried to recruit Sibel, so that she could help them shield Turkish espionage activities in the US?

According to The Bradblog, a reporter for Horizon Armenian TV, Elizabeth Chouldjian, freelanced the deposition and managed to question Jean Schmidt's lawyer, Bruce Fein:


The reporter, Elizabeth Chouldjian, freelancing coverage today for Armenian Horizons TV, is also with Armenian National Committee of America, and she continue to press her points, and asked Fein if he didn't have a conflict of interest in this case. She had earlier told me that Fein was a Board member of the Turkish Coalition of America, Turkish American Legal Defense Fund and legal counsel for Assembly of Turkish American Associations. She wondered if it was appropriate for Fein to represent Schmidt, since he himself could be called to testify, as a witness on behalf of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations.

Chouldjian had told me that he's been flying around the country, essentially trying to deny that the genocide ever occurred, has sued the state of Massachusetts to put Armenian genocide "denialist" material in text books, is suing the Southern Poverty Law Center for putting out an article last year called "State of Denial" which, she says, focused on Turkish interests trying to block Armenian Genocide resolution from being passed.


Conveniently for Schmidt, Bruce Fein is one of two attorneys listed on the contact page for the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF).

[Note: The other attorney listed at TALDF is David Saltzman, who has a law partnership with Günay Övünç, who happens to be the current president of the ATAA and would-be mercenary-advisor for Blackhawk Security, Inc. A "consultant" for Blackhawk is Şenkal Atasagun, a former MİT undersecretary. Interestingly enough, the domain name for the Saltzman-Övünç partnership is turklaw.net.]


According to a press release by the TALDF that features an interview with TALDF attorney David Saltzman, and posted by the ATAA's racist president-elect, Ergun Kirlikovalı, we learn that it's common knowledge that the TALDF's Bruce Fein is representing Jean Schmidt:


Recently, the TALDF has been retained to represent Representative Jean Schmidt (R-OH) in her case before the Ohio Elections Commission in which she alleges that one of her opponents in her last re-election, David Krikorian, violated Ohio election law by lying about her campaign funding (that it was derived from the Turkish government) and that she has in effect been bribed to not favor Congressional resolutions on the Armenian allegation of genocide. This case will go to trial before the end of the summer. This is a particularly important case because the TALDF feels strongly that Members of Congress should not have to yield to intimidation by Armenian activists who claim, without foundation, that the Turkish government is behind any Member's studied decision that the Armenian case constitutes a genuine historical controversy, one which is best studied by historians and not opined upon by Congress.


But the question is, Mr. Saltzman, should members of Congress be the targets of honeypot operations by the Ankara regime?

Saltzman goes on to explain TALDF's funding:


The TALDF is supported by the Turkish Coalition of America, a 505(c)(3) public charitable organization. Donations to the TCA that will benefit the work of the TALDF can be made by check and are tax-deductible. Please see the TCA website for contact information.


The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) is actually a 501(c)(3) and, as such, is required to make its tax returns public. TCA's 2007 filing can be viewed here [Many thanks to the friend who passed this along].

On page 1 of the return, one can see that the total revenue, including assets, of the TCA is some $30 million. On page 4, one can see that the TCA has $29,706,000 in investments. Page 18 explains where the investments lie: in 600,000 shares of Hittite [Microwave] stock. Furthermore, on page 5 of the return, one can see that Yalçın Ayaslı is listed as the director of the TCA. Coincidentally, Yalçın Ayaslı is the founder of Hittite Microwave and, in 2008, his family donated more than $300,000 to political candidates of both parties, "and particularly to candidates supporting Turkey." And there's more:


Yalcin Ayasli, whose family hails from Turkey and now lives in Nashua, founded Hittite Microwave, a manufacturer of high-performance integrated circuits for communications systems, in 1985. He built it into a company that reported $45.5 million in revenue, with a profit of $13.7 million, in the last quarter.

In 2007, about half of its revenue came from government contracts, primarily the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force and NASA.

Although Ayasli resigned as chief executive in 2004 and as board chairman in 2005, his family still controls about a third of the company's stock according to latest filings with the SEC.

Ayasli and other family members gave more than $330,000 during the last election cycle, and for the most part did not give locally. The two top recipients were the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ($74,000) and the National Republic Congressional Committee ($72,000).

Nearly $39,000 went to the Turkish Coalition PAC, which at one point gave Hittite's address as its own, along with that of the Turkish Cultural Foundation.

The groups support Turkey in its various disputes, including the conflict in Iraq, supporting occasional Turkish military operations against Kurdish groups that cross back and forth over the Iraqi border. The groups also disputed the Armenian claim--and a U.S. congressional resolution--that the Turks engaged in genocide against the Armenians in 1915.

The Ayaslis spent nearly $14,000 to back Katrina Swett's aborted attempt to win the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination in New Hampshire. Swett is the daughter of the late Congressman Tom Lantos, who condemned Kurdish attacks in Turkey, though he also supported the congressional resolution against the Armenian genocide. Swett bowed out of the race after Shaheen declared her candidacy.

Nearly $11,000 of the Ayaslis' money went to Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who sponsored a resolution congratulating Turkey for celebrating Republic Day. Foxx's son-in-law is a Turkish businessman and Foxx herself is a member of the congressional Caucus on U.S.-Turkish Relations. She has been a leader against the Armenian genocide resolution.


In his spare time, Yalçın Ayaslı also enjoys escorting congressional staffers around Turkey on the American Turkish Council's (ATC) annual trips.

Members of the Ayaslı family have donated to Jean Schmidt. In the 2008 cycle, the Ayaslı's donated $2300 to Schmidt and $2300 to Dan Burton, accoding to OpenSecrets. They're still working on the 2010 cycle. The Ayaslı family seems to continually funnel the money into the TCA, an organization which, for all intents and purposes, the Ayaslı's own.

Strangely enough, Yalçın Ayaslı is not mentioned as the director of the Turkish Coalition of America's website, although both Bruce Fein and David Saltzman, also of the TALDF, are listed.

At yesterday's deposition, when reporter Elizabeth Chouldjian questioned Bruce Fein about having a conflict of interest with regard to the Schmidt-Krikorian legal battle, she was absolutely on target. No wonder Fein "became very defensive". The question that needs to be asked next is whether or not the TALDF is working pro bono for Schmidt? If so, that means that the TCA is funding Schmidt's side of the legal battle. Isn't that also a conflict of interest for Schmidt, given that she's been accused of taking Turkish "blood money" and using her congressional seat for the interests of the Ankara regime?

And why is it that the worthless American media is not reporting on the very obvious Turkish espionage operations that are targeting members of the US Congress? Or why isn't the worthless American media doing some deep digging to trace the financing of the multi-headed Hydra known as the Turkish lobby?

Why is the worthless American media helping to hide this information?




UPDATE: I just came across a blog that refers to a Wayne Madsen Report that has named the bi-sexual Democratic congresswoman mentioned above. I don't know if this information is correct and I don't know where the WMR got the name, but I know it wasn't from Sibel Edmonds. However, it comes as no surprise to me to learn that congresswoman named is from Illinois. Once again, here's what Sibel had to say about Chicago, from the Vanity Fair article:


. . . in December 2001, Joel Robertz, an F.B.I. special agent in Chicago, contacted Sibel and asked her to review some wiretaps. Some were several years old, others more recent; all had been generated by a counter-intelligence that had its start in 1997. “It began in D.C.,” says an F.B.I. counter-intelligence official who is familiar with the case file. “It became apparent that Chicago was actually the center of what was going on.”


Mehmet Çelebi was based in Chicago and helped fundraise for Rahm Emanuel back in 2002. The ATAA's president, Günay Övünç (mentioned above) is also from Chicago. Susurluk's Abdullah Çatlı spent ten years in Chicago, from the mid-1980s until right before the Susurluk scandal in 1996, as I mentioned recently in a post on Sibel Edmonds' blog last week. While he was living in Chicago--with a US green card--Çatlı went by the name Mehmet Özbay (later Özbey). Oh, yeah, Çatlı was also wanted by Interpol at the time.

The Seminal, which is carrying the WMR information, has more about the honeypot operation:


Perhaps the most explosive part of the deposition involved the Turkish government being engaged in a sexual blackmail operation against a sitting member of the House of Representative [sic]. In what the FBI termed a "hooking process," an ATC female operative enticed a female member of the House into a lesbian sexual encounter at a Washington, DC townhouse. A Turkish intelligence surveillance team had placed surveillance bugs throughout the townhouse, including the bedroom and captured the lesbian tryst on tape, according to Edmonds's testimony. To ensure the surveillance team successfully completed its technical surveillance operation, another Turkish operational team was present outside the townhouse to make sure the surveillance team carried out its task.

After the surveillance recordings were made known to the House member, she changed her support for the Armenian genocide resolution and announced her opposition to it.

[ . . . ]

The first sexual encounter between [the congresswoman] and the Turkish lesbian prostitute reportedly occurred at a vulnerable time for [the congresswoman], just after her mother's death. The first sexual encounter was followed by numerous others, according to U.S. law enforcement sources.


Let me translate for you: "Turkish intelligence surveillance team" and "another Turkish operational team" both mean "MİT".

Then what do we make of the "ATC female operative" and the "Turkish lesbian prostitute"? Does this mean the ATC is engaged in human-trafficking operations in the US? Or is this something the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is running through it's embassies and consulates, kind of a side industry to go along with Turkish embassy heroin trafficking?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Stay tuned.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

GOOGLE BLOCKS SIBEL EDMONDS

Google has blocked Sibel Edmonds' blog:







My Blog Site http://123realchange.blogspot.com/" is now blocked by Google’s Blogger. They will not let me post during this most sensitive period, when I am about to provide deposition on Foreign US government illegal operations in the United States!



A few weeks ago I started receiving ‘Google & Blogger warnings’ from my technologically savvy friends and well-wishers, who encouraged me to have a mirror site as a back up and or cease using Google’s Blogger all together. I did take these warnings seriously and started looking at alternatives and other options. Well, this is what I got from Blogger yesterday:



From: Blogger
Date: Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 8:19 AM
Subject: http://123realchange.blogspot.com/ - ACTION REQUIRED
To: sibeldenizalt@gmail.com



Hello,

Your blog at: http://123realchange.blogspot.com/ has been identified as a potential spam blog. To correct this, please request a review by filling out the form at http://www.blogger.com/unlock-blog.g?lockedBlogID=6542765284440328864

Your blog will be deleted in 20 days if it isn't reviewed, and your readers will see a warning page during this time. After we receive your request, we'll review your blog and unlock it within two business days. Once we have reviewed and determined your blog is not spam, the blog will be unlocked and the message in your Blogger dashboard will no longer be displayed. If this blog doesn't belong to you, you don't have to do anything, and any other blogs you may have won't be affected.

We find spam by using an automated classifier. Automatic spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and occasionally a blog like yours is flagged incorrectly. We sincerely apologize for this error. By using this kind of system, however, we can dedicate more storage, bandwidth, and engineering resources to bloggers like you instead of to spammers. For more information, please see Blogger Help: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42577

Thank you for your understanding and for your help with our spam-fighting efforts.

Sincerely,

The Blogger Team

P.S. Just one more reminder: Unless you request a review, your blog will be deleted in 20 days. Click this link to request the review: http://www.blogger.com/unlock-blog.g?lockedBlogID=6542765284440328864



I am still looking into it and will be corresponding with them to find out what the heck is going on, but I must say the timing of this is extremely troubling:



Is it coincidence that this comes up when I am subpoenaed to provide sworn deposition on matters that have sent our government scrambling and certain high-level criminal entities sweating big time?



Is this due to my latest interviews for my Boiling Frogs Show on explosive issues such as AIPAC, Iran, Central Asia, and Pakistan? We know big brother NSA has been listening, and my guests have really been talking. We just wrapped up our phone interviews with Phil Giraldi (on AIPAC & Israel and more), Richard Barlow (on Pakistan and what our government didn’t want its people to know), Joe Trento (on Iran, Brzezinski, and more), Sandalio Gonzalez (on our phony War on Drugs, House of Death, Kent Memo, and more)…You see what I am getting at here?



Or is it the fact that this blog is becoming more popular, the visitors’ number has been going up rapidly, and its content getting picked up by many, nationally and internationally? And I am talking about content and topics that are blacklisted by the US Mainstream Media.



I don’t know the answer. I may never know. However, what I know is this: I better find a different or multiple different, blog sites and keep this forum alive. I also want to warn others who may become subject to this kind of notice, or maybe get terminated without any notice!



Please help me, thus all of us, resolve this blockage immediately, since in the next few days this blog may prove to be extremely crucial to report developing news and cases which will not be covered by MSM.



Thank you,

Sibel Edmonds


Sibel is due to be deposed by the lawyers for David Krikorian in his case against Turkish-funded Congressvermin Jean Schmidt of Ohio. Sibel's press release on the deposition can be found here.

There are a lot of people who would want to see Sibel Edmonds silenced over the Turkish lobby in the US. The same people would like to see her silenced on a lot of other issues as well.

You see, Truth is the greatest weapon against these terrorists and that's why they strive to enforce Silence.

"Fascism Anyone?".

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

AT THE HEART OF THE MATTER: CENTRAL ASIA


"This started more than a decade-long illegal, covert operation in Central Asia by a small group in the US intent on furthering the oil industry and the Military Industrial Complex, using Turkish operatives, Saudi partners and Pakistani allies, furthering this objective in the name of Islam."

~ Sibel Edmonds.


Luke Ryland has done it again:


Former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds dropped a bombshell on the Mike Malloy radio show, guest-hosted by Brad Friedman (audio, partial transcript).

In the interview, Sibel says that the US maintained 'intimate relations' with Bin Laden, and the Taliban, "all the way until that day of September 11."

These 'intimate relations' included using Bin Laden for 'operations' in Central Asia, including Xinjiang, China. These 'operations' involved using al Qaeda and the Taliban in the same manner "as we did during the Afghan and Soviet conflict," that is, fighting 'enemies' via proxies.

As Sibel has previously described, and as she reiterates in this latest interview, this process involved using Turkey (with assistance from 'actors from Pakistan, and Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia') as a proxy, which in turn used Bin Laden and the Taliban and others as a proxy terrorist army.

Control of Central Asia

The goals of the American 'statesmen' directing these activities included control of Central Asia's vast energy supplies and new markets for military products.

The Americans had a problem, though. They needed to keep their fingerprints off these operations to avoid a) popular revolt in Central Asia ( Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan), and b) serious repercussions from China and Russia. They found an ingenious solution: Use their puppet-state Turkey as a proxy, and appeal to both pan-Turkic and pan-Islam sensibilities.

Turkey, a NATO ally, has a lot more credibility in the region than the US and, with the history of the Ottoman Empire, could appeal to pan-Turkic dreams of a wider sphere of influence. The majority of the Central Asian population shares the same heritage, language and religion as the Turks.

In turn, the Turks used the Taliban and al Qaeda, appealing to their dreams of a pan-Islamic caliphate (Presumably. Or maybe the Turks/US just paid very well.)

According to Sibel:

This started more than a decade-long illegal, covert operation in Central Asia by a small group in the US intent on furthering the oil industry and the Military Industrial Complex, using Turkish operatives, Saudi partners and Pakistani allies, furthering this objective in the name of Islam.

Uighurs

Sibel was recently asked to write about the recent situation with the Uighurs in Xinjiang, but she declined, apart from saying that "our fingerprint is all over it."

Of course, Sibel isn't the first or only person to recognize any of this. Eric Margolis, one of the best reporters in the West on matters of Central Asia, stated that the Uighurs in the training camps in Afghanistan up to 2001:

"were being trained by Bin Laden to go and fight the communist Chinese in Xinjiang, and this was not only with the knowledge, but with the support of the CIA, because they thought they might use them if war ever broke out with China."

And also that:

"Afghanistan was not a hotbed of terrorism, these were commando groups, guerrilla groups, being trained for specific purposes in Central Asia."

In a separate interview, Margolis said:

"That illustrates Henry Kissinger's bon mot that the only thing more dangerous than being America's enemy is being an ally, because these people were paid by the CIA, they were armed by the US, these Chinese Muslims from Xinjiang, the most-Western province.

The CIA was going to use them in the event of a war with China, or just to raise hell there, and they were trained and supported out of Afghanistan, some of them with Osama Bin Laden's collaboration. The Americans were up to their ears with this."



Read the whole piece at Against All Enemies.

The comment I have is to urge everyone to read The Grand Chessboard by Zbigniew Brzezinski. The entire book is available for download here.

Brzezinski's thesis in the book would appear to be:

"For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia... Now a non-Eurasian power is preeminent in Eurasia - and America's global primacy is directly dependent on how long and how effectively its preponderance on the Eurasian continent is sustained."--p. 38 of the online version.


Here's some reinforcement:


"It follows that America's primary interest is to help ensure that no single power comes to control this geopolitical space and that the global community has unhindered financial and economic access to it." --p. 148.


"Global community" means the corporate world and vermin like those at Goldman Sachs, naturally.

Then there are these interesting items:


"Moreover, they [the Central Asian Republics] are of importance from the standpoint of security and historical ambitions to at least three of their most immediate and more powerful neighbors, namely Russia, Turkey and Iran, with China also signaling an increasing political interest in the region. But the Eurasian Balkans are infinitely more important as a potential economic prize: an enormous concentration of natural gas and oil reserves is located in the region, in addition to important minerals, including gold."--p. 124.

"The world's energy consumption is bound to vastly increase over the next two or three decades. Estimates by the U.S. Department of energy anticipate that world demand will rise by more than 50 percent between 1993 and 2015, with the most significant increase in consumption occurring in the Far East. The momentum of Asia's economic development is already generating massive pressures for the exploration and exploitation of new sources of energy and the Central Asian region and the Caspian Sea basin are known to contain reserves of natural gas and oil that dwarf those of Kuwait, the Gulf of Mexico, or the North Sea." --p. 125.


Or how about this:


"In fact, an Islamic revival - already abetted from the outside not only by Iran but also by Saudi Arabia - is likely to become the mobilizing impulse for the increasingly pervasive new nationalisms, determined to oppose any reintegration under Russian - and hence infidel - control." -- p. 133.


And abetted from the outside by the US, too. Instead of "infidel control", simply put a Turkish proxy in there like, say, Gülen schools, to educate the children of the upper classes so that they'll be good Muslims sufficiently under the control of the US.


Brzezinski's ideas about Uzbekistan are interesting:


"Uzbekistan is, in fact, the prime candidate for regional leadership in Central Asia." --p. 130.


Why?


"Uzbekistan, nationally the most vital and the most populous of the central Asian states, represents the major obstacle to any renewed Russian control over the region. Its independence is critical to the survival of the other Central Asian states, and it is the least vulnerable to Russian pressures." --p. 121.


Could control over Uzbekistan have been the reason for linking the Fethullahçı to the assassination attempt of Uzbekistan's Islam Karimov in 1999?

I wonder, too, if, at the time of writing this book, Brzezinski was anticipating the next "Pearl Harbor" in order to make an outright move to control an area he obviously believes is crucial to maintain US hegemony:


"The attitude of the American public toward the external projection of American power has been much more ambivalent. The public supported America's engagement in World War II largely because of the shock effect of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. -- p. 24-25.


In light of the shock effect of the attacks of September 11, 2001, is this statement merely a coincidence?

Is it also coincidence that Brzezinski so glowingly endorsed Obama and that Obama now continues the war in Afghanistan and expands it to Pakistan?

And why did Obama lie about his relationship with Brzezinski?





Change you can believe in, all the way back to the Carter administration:


The CIA’s proposal [to "slow down Soviet progress in Afghanistan but also help deflect some of the energy of Middle Eastern Muslims, inspired by the Iranian revolution"] found a sponsor in Carter’s National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, a Polish émigré and fierce anticommunist hawk. Brzezinski, an academic who had done work for the CIA, believed the Afghan situation offered the United States a rare opportunity to frustrate the Soviet’s expansionist goals in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He recommended covert assistance to the Islamic fighters. On July 3, 1979, President Carter signed a directive authorizing nonlethal support. On that same day, Brzezinski said he sent a note the president saying his actions would result in direct military intervention by the Soviets.


And it did.

Another thing . . . it's not just the Turks in Central Asia who are helping to achieve US domination of that vast region. Check the activities of MASHAV, including Israeli military activity, in Central Asia and you will see that the Iron Triangle--the US, Turkey, and Israel--is alive and well in the heart of the Eurasian landmass.



On a separate note, I'm happy to announce that I have been invited by Sibel Edmonds to contribute from time to time at her blog. But Sibel has the details on that and there should be something coming up fairly soon. I'll keep you posted.