DEMOCRATIC EXPRESSION IN SOUTH KURDISTAN

"Our tradition is one of protest and revolt, and it is stultifying to celebrate the rebels of the past while we silence the rebels of the present."
~ Henry Steel Commager.

More on protests against Öcalan's capture, from Özgür Gündem:

"Peşmerge raided us for several minutes"

Selahattin University students said peşmerge raided them for several minutes and beat them to death when the students wanted to protest the tenth anniversary of the capture of the Kurdish people's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, by Turkey in the KRG's capital city Hewlêr on 13 February.

Among the Selahattin University students, Esmer Ahmet said they wanted to conduct a democratic protest for the condemnation of the tenth anniversary of the Kurdish people's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, by Turkey. However, peşmerge forces tried to stop them. During their intervention, Ahmet said peşmerge cursed the students horribly, "They hit us with the butt of their weapons. Then the sound of gun shots came from all around. They raided us for ten minutes. Because of blows by weapon butts, several of our friends were wounded on various parts of their bodies and I was wounded on my hand" said Ahmet.

A student named Nalin Tunç also said, "February is a black month for any honorable Kurd" and that is why they came together to protest the tenth anniversary of Öcalan's capture and were stopped by the peşmerge. She said "We told them that our protest was not against them but it was to condemn the international conspiracy forces by a democratic protest". But then peşmerge intervened and Tunç was wounded on her head by a blow from a weapon butt. "During the intervention, we were exposed to horrible cursing. They started beating us as if they were beating their enemies, with weapon butts, kicking, stoning, whatever they could find. They told us 'What are you guys doing here? Go to the mountains!" said Tunç.

Refused treatment by hospital for having attended the protest

Xezal İke also mentioned that they were attacked by the security forces, by whom they were hoping to be protected. "Almost fifteen women were wounded from blows by weapon butts to their waists, heads, and chests. They didn't stop at this point but also they raided us for more than ten minutes. All of us went on the floor," said İke. Pointing out the refusal of five hospitals [to treat] the student named Hüsne, who was wounded during the peşmerge intervention, because she attended the protest, İke said, "The hospitals said "We are not going to start treatment unless you get a permission paper from peşmerge forces.' The doctor, rather than treating her, started questioning her like a police."

Mesut Ali said that the peşmerge wanted to take the flyers and Öcalan posters that the students had in their hands and the attack was due to that. "The thing I hated most was that they were hitting women and they wanted to take away Öcalan's posters from us."

"They beat to death"

Mentioning that the peşmerge attacked them as if they were the enemies of the peşmerge, Bedretin Ok said, "However, they are also Kurds. I think this is a game of the enemy and a continuation of the conspiracy. They were particularly going after the person who was carrying the leadership's poster in the march. They were shooting, not hitting us with nightsticks. There is a remarkable thing as well here, [that] they especially attacked the women and hit them more." Because of the blows he received on his body, Ok passed out and he said, "They beat me to death."

So much for democratic expression. But at least we can say that security forces in South Kurdistan are becoming more and more like security forces in North Kurdistan.

AKP'S KURDISH POLICY

"Some might not agree with the things I say but the time will show the truth."
~ Murat Karayılan.

Last month, the hevals at KurdishInfo ran an interview with Murat Karayılan, who has a lot of interesting things to say about a number of issues affecting Kurdistan. Karayılan's explanation of the AKP's approach to the Kurdish situation is enlightening, especially after we have witnessed the intensification of military operations against the Kurdish freedom movement since Abdullah Gül's visit to military installations in The Southeast in September, and the recent Ankara regime massacre in Beytüşşebap.

Politically, the war has also been intensified by the Ankara regime, with DTP parliamentarians, mayors, and politicians continue to be harassed, rounded up, arrested, and fired upon with weapons since the July elections. Threats are made to lift parliamentary immunity so that bogus accusations of "separatism" can be tried in kangaroo courts. Once again, the regime is engaging in its usual policy toward Kurdish political participation, one that will lead to the banning of yet another Kurdish party, as Büyükanıt has begun the call for:

The military, in parallel with their intervention on the ground, have also become more strident. Last week, before members of the military academy, General Büyükanit suggested it would be necessary to ban the DTP, whose members "call 'terrorists' brothers."

The full interview can be read at KurdishInfo but this post contains that portion in which Karayılan speaks about the AKP's policy toward the Kurdish people [Note: Paragraphs have been created that do not exist in the original, in order to make the replies easier to read--Mizgîn]:

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Question: In the context of Abdullah Gul's becoming president, Iran and Turkish military attacks, the deferral of the Kirkuk referendum, we have Iraq's head of state and PUK leader Jalal Talabani's statement that the struggle in North Kurdistan is against democracy. How do you see this statement?


Murat Karayılan: Certainly any politician from Kurdistan can make comments about Kurdistan. But making empty statements is wrong. It is important to respect the people's situation in each part, taking in account that the people are living under pressure of colonialist powers. I think they should be careful when make their views public. Also we should consider Turkey's past history and the Kurdish people's struggle in Turkey. The Kurdish people's struggle opens the door for Turkey's democratic process. It was the Kurdish nation that resisted the 12 September military regime. It was again the Kurdish nation under the leadership of the PKK in its struggle for democracy on the 12 September fascist incidents. Since that time, the Kurdish struggle has helped Turkey to become democratic. It is the same today.

It is wrong to see the Kurdish nation's struggle as against democracy. The Kurdish struggle is a democratic struggle. In all parts of Kurdistan, the Kurdish nation has only one flag. With this, the Kurdish nation is reaching to its freedom. Whether in Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq, the Kurdish nation should be democracy's main dynamic and voice. The Kurdish nation's struggle is against flag-waving nationalism and anti-democratic oppression. When considering this, it should be assessed accurately. It is not right to make empty political statements about these issues.


Question: Talabani in his statement mentioned the voting in Kurdistan and stated how the AKP have proved that they are not racist. How true is this assertion do you think?


Murat Karayılan: The nature of the AKP should be understood. Generally, the AKP government is not well known by South Kurdistan politicians and individuals. They are misled by the AKP's false moderate political approach. Truly there are no huge differences between the AKP's and the military's strategic politics. The military's aim is to destroy the Kurdish people and their movement physically. They believe they can achieve this exclusively by using violence. The AKP uses not just military means, they are also doing it in a political way. Their political aim is to destroy the Kurds politically, militarily and culturally. The military's attitude is shared by the CHP and MHP.

In the AKP' s view all cannot be destroyed by violence alone, a more subtle approach should be used to destroy them. The AKP is saying to the military "you always say we will destroy, weakening them culturally, finishing them politically, but you cannot do it. Together with this you should use a policy of gradual erosion". Approach the Kurds softly, give them a hand, feed the poor, meet them; they think if they approach them from Islamic perspective, they can shift them from the national movement. Under developing Islam, they think they can hold Kurds under a colonist power, like Ottoman Empire's holding many nations under the umbrella of Islam, because the Turkish republic is the continuance of the Ottoman regime, which is why they are following this policy.

The AKP's policy is an Ottoman type of policy. They believe that by following this policy they can control and include the Kurds in their system. This is what they stand for. They do not recognize the Kurds as a power, they are aiming to include the Kurds in the system. Consequently, the strategic aim is the same, but the method is different. Apart from violence they also follow a devious policy. This means they defending a policy light force while the military is only defending use of force. The AKP says "No, we should give them sweets and hit them with a whip".

The Southern powers are developing and analyzing this policy. There is a trust and belief in some of Abdullah Gul's political statements that are sent from religious orders via the AKP party. This is definitely a trick; on the other side AKP is working to activate former collaborators. Again supporting the Islamic groups and trying to damage the federal state's national politic organizations in the South. In my point of view, Southern politicians cannot understand the Turkish republic's political views. Thus they cannot analyse the AKP correctly.

Some might not agree with the things I say but the time will show the truth. The AKP's policy is to pressure and weaken the Kurdish nation. The AKP has come together with the state and military on the Kurdistan problem. As a result of this cooperation, it was agreed about Abdullah Gul's becoming president. If this cooperation had never taken place, they would not have agreed to it. This is a certainty. All the Kurds should know this. The AKP agreed on using the military, from military side and AKP's political side to destroy the Kurdish nation. The AKP is an extremely ambitious political structure. To gain full power, they said "yes" to destroy Kurdish nation. This will be revealed even more when the time comes. This is why all the Kurdistan powers should see the true side of the AKP party.

Last year when Turkish chief of general staff Yasar Buyukanit started his duty, he gave a speech, which he repeated later at a press conference at different dates in the USA and Turkey, where he declared what was the strategy of the Turkish policy towards Kurdish problem. That strategy was not just to destroy the PKK, but at the same time destroying the regional government in South Kurdistan. "Clarifying the PKK is not enough, Kurdistan strategy should be elimination". Clearly these terms were used. Also the AKP held the same perspective. From now on, the Kurdish people's freedom is is to be fought militarily, politically, socially and culturally. This is the policy of colonisation and weakening of the AKP and the government which are one and the same. There is no other power.

Mr Talabani has said that "the DTP have four MPs from Diyarbakir, and the AKP has eight, this shows that the AKP is in the future of this area". He has also said things like it has been proved that the AKP is not a racist party. There is a mistake in numbers, but it is Turkey's anti-democratic approach which discriminates against Kurdish people, and puts a barrier which stops the true representation of the people's choice in parliament, with a 10% threshold, that led the DTP not to go to the elections with all its candidates in Diyarbakir.

The anti-democratic practice is clear here and cannot be ignored. DTP could not get more than four MPs. If there were more, this would have caused confusion and would have been a barrier for others to be elected. It is for this reason the DTP could have not have had all of Diyarbakir's seats, due to the 10% threshold. Wrongly evaluating Turkey's anti-democratic practices could lead someone to wrong decisions. In respect of this, the oppressive policies of the Republic of Turkey against the Kurdish people must be seen in every aspect.

A group of Kurdish MPs have gained seats in the parliament. This is a victory of the Kurdish freedom movement. This was achieved through a lot of hard work. Many obstacles were put in the way to stop this popular power reaching parliament. They went there by overcoming these obstacles. For this reason at the present this group is under attack. Many cases have been opened against this group to take them out and make them ineffective. These MPs are encircled and are under psychological pressure. If Kurds on the outside "carry water to the well" of the Turkish government, this will not help the Kurdish case. For this reason, they must support a national politics and support the democratic struggle of the Kurdish nation in Kurdistan.

Considering the struggle in Northern Kurdistan as a struggle against democracy will not be stating reality. The struggle of the Kurdish nation is a legitimate struggle. Its use of weapons for self-defense is legitimate. Young Kurdish people are being killed with chemical weapons and shot down every day. Without doubt, these young people are going to defend themselves, against tanks, cannon balls and chemical weapons. What can they do other than defend themselves against a situation like this?

Despite this, in October 2006 a ceasefire was declared.

People from Kurdistan and international forces were aware of this, but no one stopped the attacks of the Turkish military. None of the democratic forces in the US, Iraq or Turkey tried to stop the assassination of the Kurdish youth by the Turkish military. The present situation aims to eradicate the will power of the Kurdish people, this is evident, and a right politics cannot be carried out without seeing this.

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According to Firat News, thousands of peşmêrge forces equipped with heavy guns have been sent to the border (to Karavole, Çiyaye Bexer, Sinava, and Beçika in Zaxo) by the KRG.

In an attempt to impose an information blackout within North Kurdistan, the Ankara regime has shut down Özgür Gündem for another 30 days. This is the fifth time ÖG has been shut down and is not permitted to publish inside Turkey, and it will make 60 consecutive days of censorship against the paper.

Northern Kurds are in mourning today for the loss of Kurdish author, Mehmed Uzun, who lost his battle with stomach cancer this morning in Amed. The Canadian Press carries the announcement in English. Özgür Gündem has an announcement in Turkish and Azadiya Welat in Kurdish.

RALSTON, IRAN, PJAK

"The PJAK has proved to the people that it can successfully organize itself and fight for its rights based on its own strength."
~ Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi, President of PJAK.

First of all, I want to point out an excellent new article on the Ralston-Lockheed Martin conflict of interest vis-a-vis the PKK. First carried at Voices of Tomorrow, I noticed that the hevals at KurdishInfo have also picked it up. After noting Turkey's atrocious human rights record against the population of its internal Kurdish colony, and mentioning the assistance (military and otherwise) that the Southern Kurds have given the US in Iraq, Heval Goran comes to the point:

Despite these facts, the U.S. Administration remains curiously quiet in regards to their Turkish NATO ally and is only further arming an ever-growing conflict. The threats coming from Turkey have become a major cause of concern for Iraqi Kurds who have more to lose when considering their political achievements in Iraq.

With the PKK ceasefire, a chance for a political settlement between Turkey and the Kurds has never been so close. The U.S. could play a pivotal role in finding a peaceful solution. However, with current U.S. foreign policy, Iraqi Kurds may soon be forced to abandon the significant help they are providing the U.S. and the Iraqi army to engage in a long conflict of their own.

Very well done, so I urge a careful perusal of the entire article.

Britain's Independent had an article this morning citing the US raid on Hewlêr as the reason for Iran's seizing of some British sailors. Later in the day, the NYTimes reports that one of the Iranians, that "persons unknown" had seized, has suddenly been freed. Will the Americans now have to cough up the Iranians they took in Hewlêr, after totally disregarding their Kurdish "allies" and trespassing in Kurdish territory?

The NYTimes explains that the American activity in Iraq with regard to Iranian officials, who are in the country with the knowledge and permission of either the Kurds or the Baghdad government, has made life even more difficult for Baghdad in its dealings with the neighbors. The US is purposely making the situation worse for the Iraqis.

About those "persons unknown," the NYTimes reports that those involved with the investigation believe the "persons unknown" to be affiliated with the CIA:

The Iraqi police stopped a car with four passengers that was following the car in which the kidnappers had placed Mr. Sharafi. The four men were taken to the police station. They said they worked for an Iraqi security service, but when pressed, the security services denied that the men worked for them in any official capacity, Mr. Zebari said.

“We went to our security services and said, ‘Do they work for you, do you have him?’ They denied it,” Mr. Zebari said. “We went to the American military, the intelligence services — they all denied they had him. But my advice to my government was to keep the four in detention, until the diplomat was released,” Mr. Zebari said.

The four men remain detained in a Ministry of Interior facility, Mr. Zebari said. Although Mr. Zebari was uncertain who kidnapped the man, others familiar with the case said they believe those responsible work for the Iraqi Intelligence Service, which is affiliated with the Central Intelligence Agency.

IraqSlogger reports that Kurdish pêşmerge have clashed with the Mahdi Army in Baghdad:

On Saturday, Kurdish forces clashed with member of the Mahdi Army, in the al-Amin area of Baghdad, Slogger sources report. The clashes reportedly resulted in a number of civilian deaths.

Kurdish forces, known as the Pesh Merga, operating under the aegis of the security plan, captured captured a hig-ranking Sadrist, and three of his assistants in the area near Baghdad al-Jadida, eyewitnesses say. In response, Mahdi Army forces attacked the Pesh Merga, sources relate, and the Pesh Merga responded harshly.

Eyewitnesses report that the Pesh Merga are also reported to be deploying in the Western areas of Baghdad (Karkh) within Sunni areas like Ghazaliya and Saidiya.

The Pesh Merga are operating under orders to act only on two conditions: if they are ordered to raid certain houses, or if they were attacked. Eyewitnesses report that when Iraqis approach them with a tip about militant activity, the Kurdish forces decline to act, saying that they do not have any orders to do so.

With little experience in the kind of warfare practiced under the security plan, and orders not to act unless attacked, another source reports that the Pesh Merga are the brunt of many jokes in the capital, and that some residents taunt them directly. A month ago, Slogger sources reported that residents of the Karrada district pelted Kurdish forces with rocks.

Here's something I've been wanting to get to . . . Last week, Democracy Now interviewed another Seymour Hersh-wannabe about PJAK. Although this wannabe, Reese Erlich, admits that PJAK and PKK are parts of the same organization. Anyone who knows anything about PKK already knows that. In fact HRK, the armed wing of PJAK, is commanded by many Kurds from Turkish-occupied Kurdistan who are long-time veterans of the liberation struggle. However, Erlich is at a loss to explain the US relationship with PJAK. The reason for that would be that there isn't one, much less is there any relationship between PJAK and Israel, as Erlich asserts. Remember what Heval Cuma said late last year:

American authorities want to have contact with PJAK, and as a matter of fact they do have contact with PJAK. But to say that the United States is supporting the PJAK is not right. PJAK is until now continuing their struggle just with the support of the Kurdish people and the PKK. If the US is interested in PJAK, then it has to be interested in the PKK as well. The PKK is the one who formed PJAK, who established PJAK and supports PJAK.

Translation: If the US is interested in supporting PJAK, it must be interested in supporting PKK. If the US is interested in assisting the Kurdish cause under Iranian occupation, it must be interested in assisting the Kurdish cause under Turkish occupation. The fact is, the US does neither.

It's interesting that Erlich notes, after a discussion of PKK/PJAK, that KDP-I and Komala "have Peshmurga guerrilla groups, but they are not engaged in armed activity against the United States." The implication that Mr. Wannabe makes is that PKK/PJAK are engaged in armed activity against the US. I challenge anyone to find an incident in which either PKK or PJAK has ever "engaged in armed activity against the US." There is no such incident, unlike other organizations such as, oh, I don't know. . . . MEK?

Of course, we can never forget who it is that has armed and trained the fascist Turkish regime in its genocide against the Kurdish people, can we?

Erlich tries to gloss over the support for PKK by Kurds under Turkish occupation:

There have been horrendous crimes committed by the Turkish government against the Kurdish population and for some, the P.K.K. is seen as a legitimate resistance organization.

Some? Try "most," pal. Nice try too, with the "cult" accusation plucked straight out of Turkish and American propaganda.

Basically, what Erlich, Hersh, and every other American "progressive" is trying to do is use the Kurdish people and their legitimate political and armed resistance for their own anti-Bush, anti-American agenda. These so-called people care as much for the Kurdish people as the US-backed fascist Turkish regime, the fascist mullah regime, the formerly US-backed Iraqi Ba'athist regime, or the current Syrian Ba'athist regime.

(Speaking of the Syrian Ba'athi, Erlich sounds more like a Ba'athi Syrian apologist on the Paşas' payroll--sort of like Sami Moubayed--than anything else.)

The bottom line is, for those who are too dense to figure it out, that these "progressives" don't give a damn at all about the Kurdish people. The same goes for right-winger propagandist Michael Totten and his ilk, who consistently push the KDC and DC view of South Kurdistan with never a mention of the very serious problems the ordinary people of South Kurdistan face. Serious problems like severely limited basic services, corruption, nepotism, destruction of the agricultural sector, lack of housing, lack of jobs--and all of this in the face of "Dream Cities," malls that no one but the elites can afford to shop in, and predatory foreign "investment" that is more accurately described by the term "exploitation."

Erlich's propaganda totally disregards the statement of PJAK's President, Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi, published one week before the Democracy Now interview:

The people of Kurdistan deserve a fair settlement, which allows all of them to live together on a basis of freedom and equality. As it seems now, however, there is a contradiction in the policies of the USA and its allies towards Kurdish movements in the respective parts of Kurdistan; the Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan are regarded as allies in the war on terror, whereas the political demands of the Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan are being ignored. And there is, furthermore, the attempt to de-legitimize the Kurdish movement in Turkey.

Nowhere in the world is peace more necessary than in our region. In particular, the Kurds in Turkey, Syria and Iran want, finally, a basic resolution of the Kurdish conflict. Democratic rights for the Kurds could positively effect the peace process in the Middle East. Military aggression against the Kurds however would intensify the already unstable political and social situation.

There you have it from Heval Abdul Rahman Haji: US policies are opposed to legitimate political demands of the Kurdish people still under occupation. Note that he mentions that not all Kurds "want the intervention of outside powers." This brings us back to Goran Sadjadi's article, the point of which also highlights US opposition to a political solution for the Kurdish people--at least those under Turkish occupation--through the Ralston/Lockheed Martin conflict of interest and the continued rejection of the PKK's democratic solution and its fifth unilateral ceasefire by the US and its regional lapdog, Turkey.

Good try, but not good enough.

ANFAL, PÊŞMERGE, AND THE NEOCON PLAN FOR THE NEW IRAQ

"I will kill them all with chemical weapons! Who is going to say anything? The international community? Fuck them! The international community and those who listen to them."
~ Ali Hassan al-Majid.

Mmm, mmm, mmm . . . word is leaking out in the Iraqi media that the Southern leaders have indeed agreed to deploy Kurdish pêşmerge to Baghdad:

Kurdish leaders have decided to deploy their own militias in the current fighting in Baghdad where government troops aided by U.S. forces have launched yet another campaign to secure the restive city.

[ . . . ]

Kurdish militias have not yet arrived in Baghdad but sources said their deployment was expected to coincide with the stationing of at least 20,000 more U.S. troops in the city.

[ . . . ]

Mahmoud Othman, a prominent member of the Iraqi Kurdish Coalition, grouping the region’s two main factions of Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, said he was against sending Kurdish militias to fight against Arabs anywhere in Iraq.

“There are fears that a fight like this pitting Kurds against the Arabs is bound to add an ethnic touch to the conflict,” Othman said.

Othman added,”The deployment of Kurdish forces in Arab areas is wrong and will create sensitivities and accusations that Kurds are killing the Arabs.

“I am against the move … and there are many in the Iraqi parliament who are against it, too.”

But Dr. Othman, we've already had that "ethnic touch" at Saddam's execution. What's a little more gasoline on the fire, eh?

A report in Arab media (though Informed Comment) indicates that Dr. Othman admits that both Southern leaders have approved the plan:

Kurdish politician Mahmud Osman objected to the planned use of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters who are in Iraqi army units, saying he worried that it might provoke fighting between Arabs and Kurds. He admitted that the plan had been approved by President Jalal Talabani and the leader of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masoud Barzani. Three Iraqi army brigades are expected to head down from northern Iraq to the capital, two of them Kurdish. MP al-Faluji also said that the use of the Peshmerga should be presented to parliament for its approval.

This news is consistent with that reported at the end of December on the Kurdish Globe.

Is Mahmud Othman the only politician in South Kurdistan or Iraq with a brain? Not only might a move of pêşmerge to Baghdad "provoke fighting between Arabs and Kurds," it will certainly result in Kurdish deaths for the sake of the Arab nation. Why doesn't the Southern leadership put a premium on the Kurdish nation instead? Let's recall Othman's comments on the infamous meeting in Amman, back in December, when this plan was cooked up by the American-Shi'a alliance:

Dr Mahmud Othman stated in an interview with Kurdistan TV that the absence of the Kurds in these meetings in Amman is a negative phenomenon. He thought that these meetings were not normal and there are solutions being cooked in the political restaurant of the region and a new menu is being prepared. He called upon Kurdish leaders to play their role in this respect.

Obviously, Dr. Othman's calls fall on deaf ears. More, on whose interests are being pushed at whose expense:

It seems that the Americans are not satisfied with the Kurdish role in bringing about political reconciliation in Iraq and they have asked the Kurdish leadership to play a more active role in this respect. [ . . . ] The American interests, in relation to the other constituents of Iraq, are under threat now.

Therefore they view the Kurds from this perspective and not from the perspective of what is happening in Kurdistan.

In other words, the Americans are not satisfied with South Kurdistan's political efforts, but on this matter they are consistent. The Americans have also rejected PKK's political efforts and ignore other political efforts in North Kurdistan. Why? Simply because the Americans prefer to turn a buck over their preference for anything else. Otherwise, why would they have gotten Lockheed Martin involved with "coordinating" the PKK for Turkey? I suspect there is something similar going on in South Kurdistan and Iraq, but instead of the American defense industry turning a buck, it's going to be the American oil pashas turning a buck. See yesterday's post for more on how that dirty business is turning out.

With the Americans, Kurds don't rate at all. See how neocon Reuel Marc Gerecht, of the Bush administration's policy-making American Enterprise Institute, characterizes Iraq:

Post-Saddam Iraq has become for us and the Iraqis an act of tenacity. It is overwhelmingly the story of one community, the Shia, endeavoring to adopt a democratic political arrangement while being bombarded by Sunni Arab insurgents and holy warriors, and dismissed as disloyal Arab Muslims by the Middle East's Sunni Arab intellectual and religious classes. The Arabic satellite channel Al Jazeera has its virtues--watching Arab religious fundamentalists and pan-Arab nationalists scream at each other is an unalloyed good in the Middle East--but its coverage and commentary on the Iraqi Shia have been on the whole disgraceful, a nonstop apologia for murderous anti-Shiite bigotry.

Funny, isn't it, how the neocons bend over backwards to defend Shi'a Islam, but have absolutely no regard for secular Kurds or a secular South Kurdistan. By the way, does anyone remember the neocons' love affair with Chalabi? Neocon Michael Ledeen was hot for Chalabi. See how neocon Gerecht proposes the problem of Baghdad be resolved:

Breaking the back of the Sunni insurgency has always meant denying the rejectionist Sunni Arab camp (possibly a pretty large slice of the city's Sunni population) any hope of dominating Baghdad and thus the country. If the Americans undertake this task, the Sunni Arab population, especially those who don't back the insurgents and the holy warriors, will sustain relatively little damage. We know how to clear Sunni neighborhoods in the capital--we've just never had the American manpower to hold what we've cleared. However, if the Shiites end up doing this (and it will be the Shiite militias that do it, not the Iraqi army, which would likely fall apart pretty quickly once U.S. military forces started withdrawing from the capital), the Sunni Arab population of Baghdad is going to get pulverized. The Sunni and Shiite migration we've so far seen from Baghdad is just a trickle compared with the exodus when these two communities battle en masse for the city and the country's new identity.

Did you see the word "Kurd" in there? How about the word "pêşmerge"? No, neither did I. In fact, according to Neocon Gerecht, only the Shi'a militas are going to take care of the problem. Yet we already know that Kurdish pêşmerge will be going to Baghdad to help "break[ ] the back of the Sunni insurgency" but this neocon makes no mention of it. Why is that? Hold on to your seats--it gets even better:

If we leave Iraq any time soon, the battle for Baghdad will probably lead to a conflagration that consumes all of Arab Iraq, and quite possibly Kurdistan, too. Once the Shia become both badly bloodied and victorious, raw nationalist and religious passions will grow. A horrific fight with the Sunni Arabs will inevitably draw in support from the ferociously anti-Shiite Sunni religious establishments in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and on the Shiite side from Iran. It will probably destroy most of central Iraq and whet the appetite of Shiite Arab warlords, who will by then dominate their community, for a conflict with the Kurds. If the Americans stabilize Arab Iraq, which means occupying the Sunni triangle, this won't happen.

Since when have the neocons ever given a damn about Kurds? These are the same people who, through silence and weapons sales, support Turkey and all its atrocities against Kurds. I mean, when have you ever heard of someone like Gerecht or Rubin write a single word about Turkey's genocide of Kurds? These were the same people who remained silent while their government approved of Saddam's use of chemicals against Kurds. Who was it that worked to get justice for Kurds in that situation? It was Peter Galbraith. But these neocons, they can never be trusted. Never. You have been warned.

Let's not forget that the neocons are the same people who are going to lead the cheerleading squad for Turkey when it invades South Kurdistan in the spring . . . while the pêşmerge are in Baghdad defending the neocons' Shi'a government.

In other news, charges have been dropped against Saddam Hussein for his guilt in the Anfal Campaign, thus relieving his memory of the burden of having murdered 182,000 Kurds. This also, conveniently, removes the same burden from all of those "civilized" nations who were involved with the murders, as I said over a week ago, just a few hours before the Sadr government made the bastard from Tikrit swing.

That was just the first order of business as the Anfal trial resumed today, while during the trial, the tapes of chemical weapons use against Kurds was heard. Naturally, Reuters provided a sanitized version of Chemical Ali's words:

Saddam Hussein and his cousin "Chemical Ali" discussed how chemical weapons would exterminate thousands before unleashing them on Kurds in 1988, according to tapes played on Monday in a trial of former Iraqi officials.

"I will strike them with chemical weapons and kill them all and damn anyone who is going to say anything," a voice identified by prosecutors as "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majeed is heard saying.

Let's recall what he really said, from Human Rights Watch:

I will kill them all with chemical weapons! Who is going to say anything? The international community? Fuck them! The international community and those who listen to them.

What else did Chemical Ali have to say, in reminiscing about Anfal?

… So we started to show these senior commanders on TV that [the saboteurs] had surrendered. Am I supposed to keep them in good shape? What am I supposed to do with them, these goats? Then a message reaches me from that great man, the father [i.e. Saddam Hussein], saying take good care of the families of the saboteurs and this and that. The general command brings it to me. I put his message to my head. [The sense conveyed in the Arabic phrase is that Saddam Hussein's wish is always al-Majid's command--but not, he goes on to say defensively, in this instance.]

But take good care of them? No, I will bury them with bulldozers. Then they ask me for the names of all the prisoners in order to publish them. I said, "Weren't you satisfied by what you saw on television and read in the newspaper?" Where am I supposed to put all this enormous number of people? I started to distribute them among the governorates. I had to send bulldozers hither and thither… [ The tape is cut off in mid-sentence at this point.]

Where are all those now who were shrieking with glee over a week ago when Saddam was hanged for the murder of of a mere 148 Shi'a?

Imagine, if these Kurds, of whom Chemical Ali speaks, or those suffering Turkish brutality in the North, had been Jews . . .