The Turkish raid into Iraq
By on Jun 6th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
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And so it goes…
June 6th, 2007 at 8:10 pmYeah, we assumed that everything you report is false.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:10 pmOops, this came out too early. Next week will be the time.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:10 pmWell it depends on what “raid” means. Apparently Turkish forces DID cross the border, but then left without engaging anyone according to the Kurdish military deputy minister.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:11 pmWe not ready yet. Kurds will be ours soon! Dont want to anger Cheney or his puppy, Bush.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:12 pmSo FOX news jumped the gun when they first reported this? Another FOX news blunder!
June 6th, 2007 at 8:13 pmThis is why you find at least two independent sources before you run with a story. TP just pulled a Drudge.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:13 pmPeter Galbraith is a pretty reliable source on Kurdish news. It’s good to see that he was available.
I don’t think that Turkey is particularly interested in a serious confrontation with the Kurds right now, given the clear connection with US troops and given the fact that they control one of the few stable regions of Iraq. More likely a bit of d!ck waving to let the Kurds know the Turks haven’t gone anywhere.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:16 pmhttp://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1116589853
Hardly a Drudge.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:19 pmHardly a Drudge.
Comment by Namtillaku — June 6, 2007 @ 8:19 pm
Yeah, hardly… look at all the different articles I found that mention “Turkey” and “Iraq.”
I’m so cool.
I mean, why would a headline use the words “Turkey” and “Iraq” if there were not a surge, I mean, its not like the Turks could have been pushing Kurds into Iraq.
I’m so cool.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:23 pmComment by Namtillaku — June 6, 2007 @ 8:19 pm
Sheesh! I did the same search earlier today when the TP story was first posted, and found only the AP story. Looks like everyone pulled a Drudge on this one…
The downside of instant information: instant misinformation.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:25 pmThe ‘Kurds’ being discussed is the PKK, which is NOT supported by the PUK of Iraqi President Talabani (a Kurd).
As Peter Galbraith details, Turkish policy toward Iraqi Kurdistan changed markedly in 2003, as Turkey came to recognize that Iraqi Kurdistan served as a buffer from the chaos in Arab-Iraq.
Turkey has been investing heavily in I. Kurdistan, since.
Also: “From 1984 to 1999, the Turkish Army battled PKK guerillas in southeast Turkey in a conflict that took 30,000 lives. At most, the PKK had 5,000 fighters at any one time. In northern Iraq, Turkey would face a seasoned peshmerga army of more than 100,000 operating in its own terrain.” — (’The End of Iraq,’ p. 217)
June 6th, 2007 at 8:25 pmI’m so cool.
Comment by Mr. President — June 6, 2007 @ 8:23 pm
Congratulations! You’ve managed to get your whole foot in your mouth, nasty.
Yeah, we assumed that everything you report is false.
Comment by Mr. President — June 6, 2007 @ 8:10 pm
I directed you to 622 articles about this very subject, TP doesn’t have reporters on the Turkish border with Iraq, so they have to rely on other new sources.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:30 pmSave the thread TP. When it does happen let’s start from there…
June 6th, 2007 at 8:30 pmMake sure that gallows’ crow Terry gets his war fix.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:33 pm#12 Yet the spokesmen stating the helicopters landed in the village on the Iraqi side of the border IS part of the PUK government, not the PKK (group Turkey is seeing as a threat).
June 6th, 2007 at 8:36 pmThis whole episode lends a lot of creedence to the prognostications of the false flag attack afficionados who postulate here….
(Translation for Mr. Pizzlevent as follows):
June 6th, 2007 at 8:47 pmNeeyyownnnngaallllogggnnnnnnddddeeeeeeezoooooooosh
And by Friday O’Reilly will be complaining that it wasn’t on the front page of the New York Times.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:48 pmYeah, we assumed that everything you report is false.
Comment by Mr. President
Yeah well, all the major news agency’s reported the same story, and some of them have yet to retract it…
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,278558,00.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/06/turkey.iraq.ap/index.html
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3250644
Idiot!
June 6th, 2007 at 9:00 pmThey are setting Fred up to carry on the current administration, starting with George P. Bush, a nephew of President Bush, who is running the pre-announcement email campaign to solicit donations.
Then there’s Mary “Fitz scarred my children” Matalin. No one is more devoted to Bushist policies than Mary, and perhaps her weasel of a husband.
Lawrence B. Lindsey, who was President Bush’s first economic policy adviser and an architect of his tax cuts, will head up the campaign’s economic policy. Larry was a consultant to Enron back in the day.
David M. McIntosh, a lawyer and former congressman from Indiana, will head up the domestic policy team. McIntosh is a co-founder of the Federalist Society.
Thomas J. Collamore will act as COO. Collamore is a former VP of Corporate Affairs Admin-Policy at Philip Morris.
Michael Turk, former eCampaign Director of the Republican National Committee, will handle the website for Thompson. Wonder if he’ll set up email accounts for Rove and the DOJ over there.
And now Griffin, who we have to assume will lend his caging talents to the campaign, since that’s apparently all he can do.
If Scooter gets pardoned, I’m sure Fred can find room for him on the campaign, too. Fred loves Scooter.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:09 pmWrong message thread Candyce.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:14 pmSorry, guys, I posted the above in the wrong thread. Just pretend along with me that I know what I’m doing.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:14 pmTP reported from a legitimate press report that Turkish troops crossed into Iraq. The White House earlier today did not dispute it, nor did they say much of anything about it. Apparently it might have occurred, but Bush Regime forced Turkey to withdraw by threats, then desired to have the event covered up like it never took place. Games are being played in DC and we are all being manipulated.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:24 pmHi, Paul in LA! Do you remember our old conversation about the Kurds?
“The ‘Kurds’ being discussed is the PKK, which is NOT supported by the PUK of Iraqi President Talabani (a Kurd).”
No, but the peshmerga and Kurdish government aren’t exactly knocking themselves out to squash these jokers.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:31 pmTP reported from a legitimate press report that Turkish troops crossed into Iraq. The White House earlier today did not dispute it, nor did they say much of anything about it. Apparently it might have occurred, but Bush Regime forced Turkey to withdraw by threats, then desired to have the event covered up like it never took place. Games are being played in DC and we are all being manipulated.
Comment by Jay Randal
Yeah, the same scenario crossed my mind.
However if the Iranians would have done the same thing… BAM! Instant WWIII.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:32 pmJPV > this whole chain of events is strange to me, because even CBS news on the net posted the story. Either the whole invasion was concocted disinformation scam, or it started to take place and was halted fast to be covered up as a non-event.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:38 pmYeah, something’s up.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:41 pmBush and Cheney are really nutty, so they might have threatened to nuke Turkey if they continued the invasion. Turks are leary of the Bush Regime.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:49 pmBush and Cheney are really nutty, so they might have threatened to nuke Turkey if they continued the invasion. Turks are leary of the Bush Regime.
Comment by Jay Randal
Turks are into LSD? Tune in, turn on, zip across the border?
I know that drugs induce paranoia at times, but the most likely scenario is Occam’s Razor-ish. Someone reported an “invasion” and all the other people without any presence in the region reported the report. “Oy vey! They’ve attacked the Kurds!” Lots of headless chicken running around until someone notices that nothing really happened.
June 6th, 2007 at 11:25 pmI’m sure the Turks made these type of incursions into Iraq during the Saddam years and Saddam looked the other way or oculdn’t do anything about it anyway. It seems the PKK is isolated from its own people, the Kurds, and a delicate balance of “I won’t help you but I won’t hurt you either,” has developed over the years between the majority of Kurds and the PKK members. I don’t think the Turks will invade and occupy Northern Iraq, as I don’t think they wish a confrontation with America. However, that being said, if the Turks are planning fo rthe day America leaves or loses control, these baby steps will come in handy. I don’t see the Turks as opportunists, but if they were, now would be the time to invade and occupy since America couldn’t do anything about it. No, after we leave, either in chaos or in chaos, woops, did I type that twice?, the Turks will be ready for the mess left at their border, that’s all.
June 6th, 2007 at 11:47 pmPress reported late today that a small group of a few hundred Turkish soldiers crossed the border in a raid on some Kurds and that thousands of Turkish troops were poised to invade, but did not cross into Iraq. Apparently the border crossing by a scout group of Turkish soldiers was leaked to the press to deter a full invasion. The ploy worked, because the Turks backed off.
June 7th, 2007 at 2:17 am“#12 Yet the spokesmen stating the helicopters landed in the village on the Iraqi side of the border IS part of the PUK government, not the PKK (group Turkey is seeing as a threat).” –lestatdelc
The Turks landed a very small force 2 miles within the border, in other words, into the border region.
“Hi, Paul in LA! Do you remember our old conversation about the Kurds?”
So many bloggings ago.
“No, but the peshmerga and Kurdish government aren’t exactly knocking themselves out to squash these jokers.” — joe
Given the history of the conflict, most especially the military junta that used to run Turkey, it doesn’t surprise that business relations aside, the Kurds are not going to kill Kurds for the Turks, no. But that doesn’t mean that the tactics of the PKK are supported by the PUK.
Jay, I think that explanation is BUNK.
The Turks are more likely massed at the border NOT to invade the territory they are busy investing in heavily, but to stop refugees flowing into Turkey. They may also want to attack border area PKK fighters. Neither purpose implies an impending invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan.
June 7th, 2007 at 4:27 amI fell for it, too. Yesterday there was an article in the NZZ (swiss newspaper) about the young officers in Turkey were adamant that such an invasion was necessary. So, my first thought was: The NZZ was pretty accurate for once (they are a nasty Bush supporting lot as a rule). I didn’t check more thoroughly after that.
However, this does not change my views, concerning the oppression of the kurdish people in their countries.
June 7th, 2007 at 5:57 amWow, the AP is getting more and more unreliable. With most media outlets not having any foreign news correspondents, how in the hell are we supposed to get the truth about what is happening outside our country? The “fourth estate”. Ha!
June 7th, 2007 at 9:45 amHmmm… oddly enough, I’m not finding very many retractions of this story.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:15 am