ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 25, 2007
Turkey: U.S. Won't Stop Iraq Invasion
Prime Minister Says American Objections Will Not Deter Fight Against Kurdish Rebels
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A pro-government Kurdish village guard takes position during a patrol with a Turkish Army platoon in Yuksekova, in the Hakkari province, near the Turkish-Iraqi-Iranian border, southeastern Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007. (AP Photo/Ibrahim Usta)
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A Turkish soldier holds his machine gun as patrols the area near Turkey-Iraq border, atop of an armored vehicle, in the province of Sirnak, Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
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U.S. Army troops guard a checkpoint in the Mansour district in western Baghdad. The death toll for U.S. soldiers, as well as Iraqi civilians, is on pace to decline for a second straight month in October. (AP Photo/Wisam Sami)
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures during a brief press conference at the Victoria Palace in Bucharest Romania Thursday Oct. 25 2007. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
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Kurdish Leader Seeks Agreement
"Only On The Web": Elizabeth Palmer speaks with Massoud Barzani, leader of Iraq's Kurds, about the escalating tension between Turkey, and the possibly of an American intervention.
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Turkey Wants Action
Turkey is calling for action from Iraq to stop attacks by the Kurdish PKK rebels, but to do that Iraq would need help from U.S. troops, which are already stretched too thin. Charlie D'Agata reports.
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Growing Tensions In Turkey
Up to the Minute Contriubutor Frank Ucciardo examines the growing tensions between the Kurds and Turkey after the PTT attacks Turkish border troops.
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The Kurds And Northern Iraq
Learn about the Kurdish people and their leaders, key cities in Northern Iraq and the potential for conflict with Turkey.
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Battle For Iraq
The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
President Abdullah Gul said Turkey is running out of patience with the Kurdish separatist attacks. A steady stream of U.S.-made Turkish fighter jets roared into the skies near the Iraqi border, loaded with bombs.
The Turkish military said it had spotted a "group of terrorists" near a military outpost in the province of Semdinli close to the border with Iraq on Tuesday and fired on them with tanks, artillery and other heavy weaponry. It said the group had been preparing for an attack.
In a statement posted on its Web site, the military said the troops kept firing on the group as they escaped toward the Iraqi territory. The report increased the official number of alleged rebels killed since Sunday to at least 64.
The Bush administration is urging Turkey not to launch an incursion that would destabilize Iraq's autonomous Kurdish north, the country's most stable region. But Erdogan said the U.S. desire to protect the north would not hinder Turkey's fight against the rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, who use mountain bases to rest, train and get supplies in relative safety before returning to Turkey to carry out attacks against government forces in the heavily Kurdish southeast.
"They (the Bush administration) might wish that we do not carry out a cross-border offensive, but we make the decision on what we have to do," Erdogan said during a visit to Romania. "We have taken necessary steps in this struggle so far, and now we are forced to take this step and we will take it."
He said that the U.S. should repay Turkish assistance for the invasion of Afghanistan with support for Turkey's struggle against the Kurdish rebels, who want autonomy in the southeast.
"Right now, as a strategic ally, the USA is in a position to support us. We have supported them in Afghanistan," he said.
The leader of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, used as a base by the PKK, spoke recently to CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer about the rapidly-building tension along the border with Turkey.
(AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed)
Barzani told Palmer that during the past three months, as Turkey stepped up its attacks on the rebels using artillery and airstrikes, "they haven't wounded any of the PKK fighters". The claim contradicted the Turkish military's purported count of 64 militants killed.
"If Turkey comes up with a peaceful solution, and the PKK refuses it, we are ready to do anything against the PKK. But if Turkey is using the PKK as an excuse to fight with us, we are ready to defend ourselves," Barzani said.Elizabeth Palmer writes on her interview with Massoud Barzani, the leader of Iraq's Kurds
Watch Palmer's Interview With Barzani
His comments revealed the deeply-rooted mistrust between Kurds and Turks that drives the simmering conflict in Kurdish Iraq. The stability of the region, which remains a bastion of relative peace and tranquility in Iraq, would be destroyed by an all-out battle between Turkish forces and the PKK. (Special Report)
Asked whether he would support U.S. military action to crackdown on the PKK, he again said it would bring no positive results. The border region is rugged and mountainous, and the militants know the area well.
"Even if all the U.S. Army goes in, they won't find one PKK guerilla," Barzani said.
An AP Television News cameraman saw two F-4 fighter jets flying low along the Iraqi border on an apparent reconnaissance mission, a day after warplanes reportedly pounded rebel positions along the border. Separately, at least five F-16 warplanes loaded with bombs were seen taking off from a base in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, local reporters said. A batch of F-16s had took off from the same base earlier Thursday as well.
"We are totally determined to take all the necessary steps to end this threat," Gul said in Ankara before a visit by a delegation of high-level Iraqi officials.
Turkey is "expecting them to come with concrete proposals - otherwise, the visit will have no meaning," Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said.
The delegation is headed by Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi and will include Minister of State for National Security Sherwan al-Waili, said Yassin Majid, an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
"The political choice will be the first solution to solve the crisis. The Iraqi government insists on dialogue and cooperation to solve the crisis," Majid said.
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Iraq has promised to shut down offices used by rebel bases. But Turkey wants Iraq and U.S. forces to destroy the bases and extradite the rebel leadership to Turkey.We are totally determined to take all the necessary steps to end this threat.
Turkish President Abdullah GulTurkey's top leadership has called for both an incursion and economic measures against northern Iraq if Turkey's demands are not met. The self-ruling Kurdish administration in Iraq's landlocked north relies heavily on Turkish investment and fuel imports.
Turkish troops have killed hundreds of Kurdish rebels since Jan. 1, the state-run Anatolia news agency said, citing military sources. It did not say how many Turkish soldiers have died, but about 30 troops have been killed this month alone.
On Sunday, a rebel ambush near the border killed 12 soldiers. Eight soldiers have been missing since then; the rebels say they are holding them hostage and have distributed photographs and video.
U.S., Turkish and Iraqi officials are working to free the hostages, Matthew Bryza, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said at a meeting in Ankara of officials from Black Sea nations. He also said Washington has increased the level of cooperation in intelligence sharing with Turkey.
In other developments:
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See all 98 Comments"Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
forward into battle see his banners go!
Attention all:
Don''t miss an opportunity to join countless others in denouncing the illegal, disgraceful, and self-defeating Bush wars of choice, and criminal behavior.
A nationwide regional demonstration is coming to a city near you this Saturday, October 27.
Please join in support of this effort!
www.oct27.org
Dear CBS,
You forgot to mention anything in this article about the dubious and imaginary "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq" hoax.
Is this fictional group still "defeated"?
.. CBO Director Peter Orszag met with members of the House Budget committee on Wednesday and told them, "It''s clear under analysis that the nation is on an unstable fiscal path ... with the higher debt and interest costs."
,, Although the "Surge" has slowed sectarian violence -- Iraq''s leaders even the ones supported by Bush say "Iraq has no government" -- Militias are increasing in power & control over gas stations, real estate, trade & services...
So the Turks will roll in and Bushit won''t say a f**king word! Don''t like it? Too bad! That''s our President in action!
All any nation has to do to invade another soveriegn nation is to claim that they harbor terrorists.
And since any nation can use us as a precedent, nobody even has to have any conclusive proof.
I wish Cheney and the neocons were as smart as they are avaricious and power-hungry.
Thanks George, Thanks ***. Thats Thanks Mr. *** Cheney See what you have done with your unilateral approach to war? One of the biggest - if not the biggest - mistake our country has ever made. We are the example for the world, can''''t you two and your "people" see this? God help us all - now.
Plus, the US is in a sticky situation not because WE are negotiating with the terrorists, but because some of our Iraqi allies do not consider the PKK terrorists. So it creates a divide in an already unstable country.
Thanks George, Thanks ***. Thats Thanks Richard Bruce Cheney See what you have done with your unilateral approach to war? One of the biggest - if not the biggest - mistake our country has ever made. We are the example for the world, can''''''''t you two and your "people" see this? God help us all - now.
Posted by incog-nito at 04:51 PM : Oct 25, 2007
Send Nancy Pelosi she started this one with her big fat yap, trying to turn everything into politics and votes for the Demoncratic Party in 08. Even Jack Murtha told her she was wrong on this one.
Absolutely silly. Repubbers and Bush made this mess by wrongly invading Iraq base on the fake intelligence and made it worse by horribly exectuing the war.
more dead soldiers. No, repubbers, you cannot blame democrats.
More blood on republican hands, but you don''t care. You just want to try to throw blame where it does not belong. If more US soliders die becuase of you, it''s too bad you will just find a way to pass the blame rather than try to HELP the troups.
Posted by redhoffer at 05:05 PM : Oct 25, 2007
Make all the excuses you want, squirm all you want but this one is Pelosi''s screw up 100 percent.
jowand,
Re: "Make all the excuses you want, squirm all you want but this one is Pelosi''s screw up 100 percent."
What about homosexuals, Mexicans, George Soros, and the ACLU?
Are you trying to say that these infidels are blame-free on this issue?
I heard one of you say that the war was going great so Pelosi made this happen.
Pathetic. You are the killers of troups. The war never should have happenned but despite that it would be nearly settled if Bush and you agev our troups the resources they needed at the beginning.
Pathetic. No spin here. These people, our troups dead because of Bush and you. No way to "spin" that any other way.
The region is not more stable now, and that''s your fault.
Stop killing our Soldiers, jowand!
Those words should apear right above "In God We Trust"
What kind of Deal was made?
Now We need to fix this .....LMAO
Attention MOM Don''''t abort that baby we need it to serve in W W Three ....Hitler is Back and He is US.
Posted by beecuster
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beecuster, are you doing anything to make a positive impact on the world you live in or do you just name call, place blame, offer advice from behind your computer?
Blackwater would not help Turkey. Remember the 190,000 small arms that were lost in Iraq? Blackwater guys sold them to PKK
Posted by fumay at 05:43 PM : Oct 25, 2007
you are right on ...
You are probably in favor of beating up contentious women "when they deserve it" huh?
Gross. Go back to the 1930''s, you woman-hater.
Anwyay, this is all Bush and your fault. YOU are causing and continuing the deaths of our soldiers in the middle east.
So tell me why Hillary is so strong in your opinion? Why is she so qualified ? What has she done that makes her top notch ? Go ahead, sell me. Just WHY do you have so much faith in this person ?
Don''t rant about Bush - he''s not running - tell me about Hillary; or, could it be you REALLY don''t have a good reason yet, other than she is a woman ?
Yeah - I thought so.
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And why should it? The US didn''t ask Turkey''s permission to invade Iraq and slaughter Muslims; why should Turkey ask the US''s permission to invade Iraq and slaughter Kurds? Wouldn''t make much sense if they did, would it?
The great thing is, Bush and Cheney has shown the world how it''s done.
First cook up some fake intel.
Get a popular General to present all this phony evidence to the UN.
Terrorize the citizens of how the next attack could be in the form of a mushroom cloud!
And voila!
You have free licence to invade any country you wish, with complete impunity!!
How brilliant is that!!
The president''s warmongering remarks on the Iranian threat suggest he is psychotic. Really.
October 25, 2007
Forget impeachment.
Liberals, put it behind you. George W. Bush and *** Cheney shouldn''t be treated like criminals who deserve punishment. They should be treated like psychotics who need treatment.
Because they''ve clearly gone mad.
Exhibit A: We''re in the middle of a disastrous war in Iraq, the military and political situation in Afghanistan is steadily worsening, and the administration''s interrogation and detention tactics have inflamed anti-Americanism and fueled extremist movements around the globe. Sane people, confronting such a situation, do their best to tamp down tensions, rebuild shattered alliances, find common ground with hostile parties and give our military a little breathing space. But crazy people? They look around and decide it''s a great time to start another war.
That would be with Iran, and you''d have to be deaf not to hear the war drums.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-brooks24oct25%2C0%2C7749742.column?coll=la-util-opinion-commentary
Huh? Iran is now a major threat to Europe? The Iranians are going to launch a nuclear missile (that they don''t yet possess)
Writing in Newsweek on Oct. 20, Fareed Zakaria, a solid centrist and former editor of Foreign Affairs, put it best. Citing Bush''s invocation of "the specter of World War III if Iran gained even the knowledge needed to make a nuclear weapon," Zakaria concluded that "the American discussion about Iran has lost all connection to reality. . . . Iran has an economy the size of Finland''s. . . . It has not invaded a country since the late 18th century. The United States has a GDP that is 68 times larger and defense expenditures that are 110 times greater. Israel and every Arab country (except Syria and Iraq) are . . . allied against Iran. And yet we are to believe that Tehran is about to overturn the international system and replace it with an Islamo-fascist order? What planet are we on?"
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/25/iraq/main3408593.shtml
The consequences will be disasterous for everyone involved. If Chimp does attack Iran, he, Cheney and all the rest of Chimp''s henchmen should be IMMEDIATELY arrested and put behind bars.
went black.
with the conquest of the universe in the name
of freedom. zillions of planets have people
just dying for us to arrive and liberate them.
we''ve go verk to do people. get it up. head ''em
up and move ''em on out. even heaven itself needs
our way of life. and then we also must liberate
hell. and then liberate purgatory. vee ave our
mission. forward ho!
Lets see here, Saddam was lynched for WMDs that didn''t exist, then because he invaded Kuwait (after getting the green light from April Gillespie, then because he gassed the Kurds, (with chemicals he got from the CIA.
Now another country is going to invade Iraq while "macho boy" occupies it, having announced their intention beforehand, and Bush doesn''t have the courage to protect the civilians of a country under his occupation.
Bush is proving that he is a punk, letting itty bitty Turkey take what he is supposedly controlling.
So much for all of the reasons Bush originally cited for his illegal invasion, and so much for any of his supporters'' reasons also. He is, as of now, Turkey''s beeyitch.
I''m glad somebody mentioned it. I was wondering this myself. I thought that Saddam was bad guy because one of the reasons was that he was murdering the Kurds. So then I thought the Kurds were the good guys because they were on the side of the US helping to defeat Saddam. Now, the Kurds are the bad guys because...????????? I''m just so confused with who is a bad guy and who is a good guy. At any rate, I don''t think the EU is ever going to admit Turkey.
Posted by rudy654
objective reality suggests that Bush is the bad guy, everyone else is defending themselves from him. So this means that if you''re a Bushbot, everyone else is the bad guy, depending on the day of the week.
You see, Bush majored in "23 man squamish" in college.
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