MID-WEEK KURDISH NEWS ROUNDUP

“One should rather die than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though ... betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope.”
~ Steven Deitz.

Lemme see . . . I meant to point something out the other day but forgot to do so. Hiwacan at Hiwakan has a post about a new Gulen hospital in Hewlêr. That's Gulen as in Fethullah Gulen, Hodjaefendi, as in the Turkish Islamist who's living fat, dumb, and happy here in the US. The pashas were looking for this guy so why is the US protecting him? I thought the US was allergic to Islamists? They probably think they can control Turkish-Islam, just like the pashas thought they could control Turkish-Islam, but as long as the main targets of Turkish-Islamists are Kurds, what the hell?

I have to agree with Hiwa. Why does KRG allow Gulen hospitals and Gulen schools (the most poisonous of all) to soil Kurdistan with their presence? The KRG is certainly aware of Fethullahci political leanings and their inherent racism against Kurds, so why does it permit the Gulen Gang to run South Kurdistan, unless it is preparing South Kurdistan to become the next Turkish colony. These Fethullahci vermin should be driven from the land. . . with extreme prejudice. Let them come to America and set up schools and hospitals and convert the Americans to Turkish-Islam. I mean, I would pay to see that.

In other news, the US has suddenly discovered that Moqtada al-Sadr is more dangerous than al-Qaeda in Iraq. No, really?

Fatih Tas, two editors of Aram Publishers, and one translator for the same, have been acquitted of "insulting Turkishness" for translating and publishing Noam Chomsky's book Manufacturing Consent. It appears that Fatih Tas and more Aram Publishers' translators are still charged with the translation and publication of John Tirman's Spoils of War, a far more dangerous work because it specifically discusses US arms sales to Turkey and the use of those arms against the Kurdish population under Turkish occupation. For more on that, and other problems that translators face in the Turkish "Model of Democracy," see an item from Bianet, carried courtesy of the hevals at KurdishInfo.

The US Department of Agriculture has banned AWB from participating in American government programs and from contracting with the American government, from ABC News. AWB was involved with kickbacks to Saddam under the UN Oil-For-Food scam. Rastî readers will remember that the former US Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, his infamous The Cohen Group, and their partners, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, were involved with the AWB cover-up in Washington, so the question to ask is when will the US government investigate the slimeballs from TCG and DLA PRGC?

Don't hold your breath on that because, after all, American agriculture also benefited from business with Saddam. American denial of chemical weapons usage against Kurds was a direct result of American rice and wheat growers pressure on Congress to keep business ties with Iraq well-oiled. It takes a big fool to imagine that Kurds will get justice from the US.

Speaking of which, a statement by Masrour Barzanî in the Washington Post, carried on KurdishMedia has created a few waves in the blogosphere. Masrour even indirectly mentions the American friendly fire incident in 2003 which killed a number of pêşmerge and left Wajee Barzanî permanently and severely incapacitated. This is the first mention I've seen of that incident in public by the Barzanîs. In August, I posted the BBC video of that friendly fire incident, which you can see here.

Guess what? It must be pretty freaken' serious when one senior Barzanî mentions an incident carried out by Americans which left another senior Barzanî a vegetable. And what kind of gratitude does the US show for these kinds of Kurdish sacrifices? The ISG. If nothing else, the Başûrî should see clearly, at this point, that the Americans can never be trusted.

On the other hand . . . come on, Kak Masrour, don't be so insensitive, man. You know it's a tragedy only if Americans are blown up. And don't go around beggin, man. You sound like a Turk.

One right-wing blogger refers to Masrour's statement as commenting on the "lack of credibility of the ISG" and says that Masrour is correct in being suspicous of the ISG. It doesn't read that way to me; I hear Masrour commenting on the lack of American credibility and his suspicions of the US.

There is also a reference made there to the fact that, in complete opposition to the will of 98% of the Kurdish population of Iraqi-occupied Kurdistan, the Southern Kurdish leadership caved in to the demands of the US so that Kurds could be given what? The ISG. It's clear that in disregarding the will of the Southern Kurdish people, the US has no interest in bringing democracy to the region. The ISG merely adds weight to the fact.

Naturally any alleged American concern for Turkish invasion of South Kurdistan, and "setting up yet another genocide," is another smelly red herring. The Americans purposely ignored the attempted genocides of the past and continue to ignore the ongoing genocide in North Kurdistan, one in which the Americans have been directly complicit. The Americans have ignored the atrocities committed against Kurds under Syrian- and Iranian-occupation. The current American desperation which will lead to "dialog" with both Syria and Iran will include a continued disregard of the severe repression of Kurds by the Syrian and Iranian regimes.

The conclusion of this blogger is just as absurd as the rest of the post:

We need new directions in Iraq, but reverse shouldn't be one of them. We have responsibilities to the people who believed in us and in our mission, and a second betrayal in two decades would devastate our ability to win allies anywhere in the world. It could also convince the Kurds to act pre-emptively in their own defense by declaring their independence, which could touch off a war with the Turks. An American withdrawal without establishing Iraq's sovereignty and internal security will result in death and destruction on a far greater scale than anything we have seen from Iraq to this point, on top of the exposure of American will as non-existent.

Do you see it? The Americans continue to oppose the will of the people of South Kurdistan--independence. Why? Because it will start a war with the US-backed Turkish regime. Funny that there's no mention here of how the US stood by while its client state, Turkey, bombed South Kurdistan numerous times during Operation Northern Watch, and these bombings resulted in the deaths of innocent Kurdish civilians and the destruction of their villages. But this is connected to the genocide red herring. The real issue for those Americans who oppose the ISG is that implementation of the ISG will make the US look bad. It will create a credibility issue. It will expose "American will as non-existent."

Image isn't everything; it's the only thing.

More of the same can be read here. Pay attention to the last paragraph. Another is here.

How many times have I said it? No more cooperation.

In the meantime, Talabanî rescinded permission for a demonstration against the ISG report in Silêmanî. 2006 should go down in Kurdish history as the year in which the PUK worked like demons to repress free expression rights of Kurds.