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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Friday, October 19, 2007

Now the Kurds up the stakes

This isn't exactly what he's saying, but it sure sounds like the top Kurdish official just said his people and the Kurdish government will go to war to protect the PKK.
The president of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq has said his people will defend themselves if Turkey attacks Kurdish rebels based in the region....

"We frankly say to all parties: if they attack the region of Kurdistan under whatever pretext, we will be completely ready to defend our democratic experiment and the dignity of our people and the sanctity of our homeland," Mr Barzani said.


(Also an AP version with a slightly different coloring.)

4 Comments:

  • Well Barzani obviously doesn't expect Bush to do much about the PKK and cross border terrorism.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:09 PM  

  • Right. He knows the Kurds hold the keys on the US. The US cannot afford to have the Kurds turn in the Iraqi government. They're a huge chunk of the current, slim ruling majority.

    If they shift even a little.....

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:12 PM  

  • Just wondering if Barzani has offered to restrain the PKK in return for Kirkuk. Much like the Sunnis are restraining AQ in return for Kirkuk?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:30 PM  

  • Maybe, but I haven't seen anything indicating that.

    They really don't have to. As the key swing bloc, they already have huge pull.

    (And I do believe they have broader ambitions than the Iraqi borders, so any such promise is temporary.)

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 3:33 PM  

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