COUNTDOWN TO ANOTHER INEFFECTIVE INVASION?

"For many Turkish intellectuals, freedom of speech has become a struggle in North America as well as in our native country. What is happening to me now could happen to any scholar who dissents from the official state version of history."
~Taner Akcam.

Dogu Ergil has some information on possible upcoming Turkish operations in South Kurdistan, at Zaman:

After a meeting of retired Gen. Joseph Ralston, US special envoy on countering the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) -- a title that the Turkish press has transformed into “special envoy for counterterrorism” -- held on Jan. 29 with Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan regional government, and his vice president, Kosrat Rasul, Turkey has reportedly been given a green light from the US to attack PKK positions on the Kandil Mountain.

The same sources say that the military invasion will start in the beginning of April 2007. This was critical news that both the Turkish establishment and a part of the public have long been anticipating.

Will it bring relief as expected? Or will the operations get rid of the gangrene that is referred to as the “Kurdish problem”? That remains to be seen. However both the Americans and the Turkish establishment must be quite relieved to have convinced the Kurdish leaders of Iraq to give the green light to a Turkish military operation on Kandil, where the PKK contingency camps are and from which it conducts armed forays into Turkish soil.

Getting "rid of the gangrene that is referred to as the 'Kurdish problem'" will only happen when Turkey finally genocides the last Kurd from Turkish-occupied Kurdistan; however he does question the effectiveness of yet another Turkish invasion of South Kurdistan. He is correct that Qandil is far from the border with Turkish-occupied Kurdistan and that it's not likely that the TSK will engage in infantry operations in the mountains against PKK. This leaves only air operations as an option, something that is not likely to have much effect on the gerîlas but will certainly result in casualties in the civilian population, as happened during Turkish bombing of South Kurdistan during the so-called "safe haven" of Operation Northern Watch.

Ergil mentions the cooperation that Barzanî and Talabanî have given to the Ankara regime during its military operations in South Kurdistan against the Kurdish gerîlas. What he does not mention is that the Southern leadership's cooperation with the Ankara regime against Northern Kurds began long before the 1990s or even the founding of the PKK in 1978. That cooperation goes back at least to 1971.

Referencing a survey of the Turkish population, it appears that the majority of over 300,000 respondents do not want a military engagement. Given that the Ankara regime has never been successful in its 20-odd military pacifications of Northern Kurds, and given that military engagements will never solve what is essentially a political problem, it looks very much like the Ankara regime, with US backing, is setting itself up for failure yet again.

Ergil recognizes that "[t]he US infatuation with dealing with terrorism through military means has reinforced the traditional Turkish attitude and allows no other option than organizing cross-border operations as if the root cause of the problem lies in Iraq." The fact that one of Lockheed Martin's directors is the "PKK coordinator" for Turkey and it should be brilliantly clear exactly what it is that fuels the American "infatuation." It is none other than the worship of the Dollar, as discussed by former CIA Istanbul base deputy chief, Philip Giraldi, last week:

Companies that make armaments need war to be profitable. Constant war is even better, producing an unending flow of money. President George W. Bush's 2002 National Security Strategy is best of all – with its embrace of a vaguely defined preemptive war doctrine and the promise of a series of unilateral wars.

[ . . . ]

The military industrial complex also sustains and feeds off the Bush administration's so-called "global war on terror," or GWOT. Most experts on terrorism would agree that the GWOT is largely a fiction created to simplify a multifaceted problem and heighten fear so that the flow of taxpayer money will continue unabated. Fighting terrorism worldwide, even where it does not exist, isn't cheap, particularly as the increasing reliance on contractors is much more expensive per man-hour than using full-time government employees.

Giraldi estimates that the War on Terror, Inc. has cost the American taxpayer approximately $200 billion since 2001, a figure which does not include military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He figures that if there are 5,000 "terrorists" worldwide, the American taxpayer forks over an amazing $40 million per "terrorist." To reiterate, that figure does not include Iraq and Afghanistan. Giraldi adds the following observation:

No other country attacks terrorism in such a disproportionate fashion, and many of America's allies have successfully combated it using police and intelligence resources. . . . That's using an elephant to squash a fly. Considering that the fly can move a lot faster than the elephant, no victory is likely to happen soon, apart from the odd "Mission Accomplished" banner here and there.

Having lived and worked in Turkey, Giraldi might appreciate the irony of his remarks if they were spoken with Turkey as the subject instead of the US. According to Ergil, some 40,000 Mehmetciks will be involved in TSK operations in South Kurdistan in order to fight less than 4,000 Kurdish gerîlas which Turkey claims are resident in the South. I recommend a good long read of both articles. Giraldi in particular names names of think-tanks, corporations, and individuals associated with this for-profit orgy instigated by the military-industrial complex--along with Eisenhower's prophetic quote from 1961.

Over at ZNet, Taner Akcam has a recent article in which he explains the situation surrounding his detention by Canadian customs officials in February and the harassment he's undergone from Turkish fascists located in the US. He goes into detail about the efforts of three Gray Wolf organizations against him--the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, Tall Armenian Tale, and Turkish Forum--especially regarding their efforts to paint him as a "terrorist" by posting manufactured and photoshopped propaganda against him on sites like Wikipedia. They even tried to pass Taner Akcam off as a PKK gerîla.

But what does anyone expect of the same type of scum who murdered Hrant Dink?

Theoretically, it's always an honor to be passed off as a gerîla, but it's not so bad to be labeled a "terrorist-communist" either, especially when the labeling is done by the likes of the fascists at ATAA, Tall Armenian Tale, and Turkish Forum, but I understand the practical problems that such a label causes Akcam when dealing with Americans--especially the idiots working at American customs. After all, if it's not on American Idol, Americans don't know anything about it.

A last item also from ZNet, comes from Professor Edward Herman. Compare his piece on mass-murderer Richard Holbrooke with something posted recently on Rastî, about Holbrooke's visit to Maxmur. Keep in mind that Lockheed Martin's Joseph Ralston recently lied in his testimony to Congress regarding Kurds in general and Maxmur in particular. We also have Danny Fried's big lies about Maxmur during the recent US/Turkish attacks against Kurds in Europe.

It's clear that the US policy toward the refugees at Maxmur is to adopt the Ankara regime's lies about the camp being inhabited by "terrorists" and never mind the facts of the situation. The intention of the US is to forcibly repatriate the 11,000 refugees to Turkey as "terrorists."

We all know what that means, don't we?

INTIMIDATIONS, HALLUCINATIONS, AND A CALL FOR BOYCOTT

"The Argument from Intimidation is a confession of intellectual impotence."
~ Ayn Rand.

Well, what do you know? It looks like Taner Akcam, a specialist on the Armenian Genocide who also happens to be of Turkish ethnicity, was detained by Canadian customs officials because persons unknown had contacted them and told them that Professor Akcam was a "terrorist." Here's the story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune:

What's new: Taner Akçam, an expert on the Armenian genocide and a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, was detained in Montreal by Canadian customs officials Friday. He was held for more than four hours while officials investigated a charge of terrorism leveled against him by unknown persons.

What happened: Akçam had been invited to speak at a human-rights symposium at McGill University Law School. A Canadian customs officer showed him copies of reviews of his new book on the Armenian tragedy, "A Shameful Act," from Wikipedia.com and Amazon.com that said Akçam was a member of a terrorist organization.

The outcome: While being questioned, Akçam was contacted on his cell phone by his host, McGill professor Payam Akhavan, when he failed to pass customs. Akhavan called the office of Jason Kenney, secretary of state for multiculturalism, and Stockwell Day, the minister of public safety. Akçam's release followed almost immediately.

Not the first time: Akçam, who is a Turk, believes this was part of "a campaign against me by the Turkish authorities" for speaking out on the Armenian genocide. "When I was at New York University recently as part of my book tour, the autograph session was broken up by Turkish nationalists. They distributed a flier labeling me a terrorist and claiming that I was responsible for the deaths of Americans in Turkey."

The same thing happened in December at the Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School in New York, but with a twist. When e-mails suggested the same group was going to break up a conference on genocide and law, the sponsors called the Turkish Consulate in Manhattan to complain. The next day, Akçam said, a consular official called Cardozo to say there would be no demonstration. There wasn't.

The fallout: Akçam said that because of the campaign of intimidation against him he is fearful for his life when he travels outside the United States. "I have been forced to cancel five international appearances at academic conferences," he said. "Under the guise of freedom of speech, certain groups are causing me great physical and material harm. It is very difficult to do my work."

Okay, let's think real hard . . . who could possibly be the "certain groups" behind all this, hmmm?? Could these "certain groups" be anyway related to the murderers of Hrant Dink? Could the sudden and bogus designation of Taner Akcam as "terrorist" be related to Abdullah Gul's and Yasar Buyukanit's recent visits to the US? Could the campaign of intimidation be related to the current US-Turkish joint campaign of intimidation against Kurds?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Let's say that the anonymous tipsters were notifying Canadian authorities about the extremely dangerous "terrorist" Akcam because of Akcam's past affiliation with Dev-Yol, parent organization of Dev-Sol, which eventually became DHKP/C. I find it highly ironic that the anonymous tipsters can clearly recall Dev-Yol, an organization that existed back in the mid-1970's, but they can't recall the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

Well, hooray for long-term memory loss!

The best thing that Taner Akcam could do was to go public with this news because now, if something happens to him, we'll know who did it. You can see some video interviews with Akcam here. Better hurry, though, before YouTube suffers a campaign of intimidation and yanks 'em.

Akcam isn't alone in suffering from intimidation campaigns by the Deep State over the Armenian Genocide. Congress is also under intimidation for the Armenian Genocide resolution, according to Congressman Frank Pallone:

"Madam Speaker, I rise this morning to share my concerns regarding the Turkish government's threats to retaliate against our country if the U.S. Congress adopts a resolution affirming the Armenian Genocide."

"These shocking threats have been issued in response to the recent introduction of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H.Res.106. This measure seeks to affirm the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide, by recognizing it as a historical fact. It also praises the American record of opposition to this tragedy, which is marked by courageous diplomatic protests and unprecedented American relief efforts for the survivors of this crime."

"Senior Turkish government officials have warned that, if Congress even considers this resolution, they will cut off supply access for our forces serving in Iraq. In fact, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told Vice President Dick Cheney that the U.S. must (quote) "calculate the costs of losing Turkey."

"Such a brazen threat to interfere in U.S. military operations is absolutely unacceptable. I am outraged that the Turkish government would put the lives of soldiers at risk in the pursuit of its desperate campaign to deny the systematic slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians. This extremist behavior is known as blackmail in my book and it should be publicly and forcefully rejected as such. Clearly, Turkey is no friend of the U.S."

"As an American, I am deeply offended that another country is seeking to dictate where our nation stands on core moral issues. Especially a country that claims to embrace democracy yet has a long-standing history of abusing minorities, intellectuals and the principle of freedom of expression."

"As a Member of Congress, it is extremely troubling that a foreign government is meddling in our nation's legislative process through threats and intimidation. This is the most dramatic intervention of a foreign government in U.S. congressional affairs and it has been going on for much too long."

Read more at the link.

So you see, the US if fully aware of Turkish intimidation campaigns, even in the hallowed halls of Congress. I'd have more sympathy for them if they didn't cooperate with the majority of those intimidation campaigns as well as undermine human rights legislation to turn a buck for the war industry and their lobbyists (hence providing much of those coveted campaign dollars) or to score a few political brownie points.

In other news, in one item from Hurriyet, Abdullah Gul still thinks that Mam Celal has cooties, so he passes information to him through Iraqi Deputy President Adil Abdulmehdi. It sounds to me like Gul thinks that PKK is using television stations in South Kurdistan to "relay their messages." You know, it sounds very ineffient to me to use a television broadcast station to "relay [ ] messages." Besides, cell phones are much cheaper and are easier to carry. In conclusion, Abdulmehdi basically tells Gul to "butt out."

In a second--and even funnier--item, the Ankara regime has just discovered that it was American weapons that were used to murder a priest in Trabzon last year, in the Council of State attack, and in other alleged attacks against "police force members." What this has to do with the availability of American weapons for PKK, I have yet to figure out. Maybe Hurriyet is suggesting that it was PKK instead of the Deep State that murdered the priest in Trabzon or carried out the Council of State attack? More likely the weapons were acquired by MIT and JITEM from their allies, the Sunni insurgents, and that's how they easily made their way over the border and into Deep State's hands in Turkey. It's kind of odd that now, a year after the priest's murder, the Ankara regime has finally figured out where the weapon came from. How's that for police efficiency?

On the other hand, both of these news items may simply indicate that Hurriyet staff is hallucinating again. Good try, guys. Now go take your meds.

Time for boycott! TDN reported today that Turkish organic fruit juices will be making their way to the refrigerated sections of Whole Foods Market, Inc.

Earlier in the week, Whole Foods made the news in reports that it would acquire Wild Oats Markets. Whole Foods is already the world's largest organic food retailer, so the new acquisition will be icing on the cake. More on Whole Foods from the Austin Business Journal:

Whole Foods Market Inc., the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods, is sowing its wild oats.

The Austin-based company, founded in 1980, currently has 91 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire competitor Wild Oats Markets (NASDAQ: OATS).

[ . . . ]

According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, all of Whole Foods' 11 operating regions will gain stores, with three of its smallest regions gaining critical mass. Additionally, Whole Foods will gain immediate entry into a significant number of new markets.

With annual sales of about $1.2 billion, Wild Oats Markets is one of the leading natural and organic foods retailers in North America. Wild Oats was founded in Boulder, Colo., in 1987 and listed on the NASDAQ National Market in 1996.

The company currently operates 110 stores in 24 states and British Columbia, Canada, under four banners: Wild Oats Marketplace, Henry's Farmers Market, Sun Harvest and Capers Community Market.

We can expect to see the Turkish import, Organic Juice USA, in all of the retail food chains mentioned above. The first order of business is to make Whole Foods Market, Inc. aware of Turkey's human rights record with regard to the Kurdish people.

For that, I'm gonna need a little help from my friends.

COMING TO TERMS WITH THE PAST

"I explicitly showed in my book that the attitude of the founder of Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal, on the events of 1915 is just the opposite of the denialist attitudes of current Turkish politics. His viewpoint toward the Armenian genocide has now been deliberately forgotten and deleted from Turkish collective memory."
~ Taner Akçam, The Minnesota Daily.


Dr. Taner Akçam on Turkey and the Armenian Genocide, Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V