Talabani defends Kurdish peshmerga militia

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has defended the Kurdish peshmerga militia, insisting they were a "regulated force".

"Peshmerga is not a militia. It is a regulated force," Talabani, a Kurd, said at a joint news conference with US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, in Arbil and telecast live on Al-Iraqiya state-television.

The United States has consistently called for the dismantling of Shiite-led militias in Iraq, blamed for a large number of killings in ongoing sectarian violence across the country.

A ban on militias imposed under the US-led occupation authority in 2003 has never applied to the three northern provinces of Kurdistan -- Sulaimaniyah, Dohuk and Arbil -- which Kurdish rebels ruled in defiance of Saddam Hussein's regime before the 2003 invasion.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060423/wl_mideast_afp/piraqkurdsmilitia_060423124018;_

[IndianaGreen]

1. Peshmerga are terrorists, engaged in abuses and killings

against Sunis, Turkmen, and Shias. Ironic that it was the US that created and nurtured them, much as we did the forerunner to the Taliban in Afghanistan.

[MADem]

4. The US didn't create them, they've been around since the crumbling

of the Ottoman Empire. FDR dealt with them, too, as did Nixon, making promises to the Kurds, and not delivering on them. The Kurds, and their Peshmerga, will deal with ANYONE, from the Russians, to the Chinese, to the Israelis, to us, in order to reach their goal of nationhood. And they'll wait, as long as they have to....

[MADem]

2. Peshmerga, the 'Death Facers' is the defacto Kurdish Army

The peshmerga continue to oversee security there and Kurdish leaders, including Talabani, have resisted all calls for them to be disarmed, insisting they be retained as an independent unit within the Iraqi armed forces.

We know full well that the Kurds have their eyes on the ultimate prize, and that is a Kurdish nation. Not just a Kurdish state, a Kurdish nation. And they've had this goal in mind for many, many years.

They're patient, and they aren't stupid. I'd be very surprised indeed if they folded up the Peshmerga. I doubt it will happen, no matter what anyone says.

[xchrom]

3. with one eye on independance -- why would the kurds willingly

disband the peshmerga?

we've helped to open this door -- and it isn't going to close just because we want it to.

''autonomy'' is no substitute for an independant kurdistan.

[IndianaGreen]

5. There is never going to be an independent Kurdistan

Shia, Suni, and Turkmen in Iraq will never allow it to happen, even if they have to use force. Turkey won't allow it. Iran won't allow it. Syria won't allow it. The US will not allow it either, and neither will Russia and China who have separatist problems of their own.

[MADem]

6. I wouldn't count them out

The way things are going in the ME, all it would take is a little intervention in Iran to distract the Persians long enough for them to consolidate power there. And seeing as we aren't doing too well in Iraq OR Iran, a friendly country smack-dab in the middle of that mess might be just the ticket from a western perspective. The Shia and Sunni are too busy fighting each other at this stage of the game. And the Kurds, who are not Arabs, have a history of accepting help from Israel; the modern-day Peshmerga was trained, in large part, by the IDF. It's how the Israelis managed to get such great HUMINT in Iraq for eons, when we knew jack.

Eastern Turkey, to be sure, is a different kettle of fish. They'll deny having any designs on that area, and bide their time. They are patient, very patient.

[Teaser]

7. That doesn't mean they're not going to try

Have you read Kurdish web sites? The great bulk of Kurds are boiling mad that they're leaders keep deferring independence until "the future." I don't know how long that kind of pressure can be held back.

[IndianaGreen]

9. Do they want to end up like the Chechens?

Shia religious leaders have been quite clear that they won't allow Iraq to be fragmented by the Kurds.

[Teaser]

10. Nationalism isn't logical

nt

[xchrom]

8. that doesn't mean there is no intention among the kurdish

people to be independant.

a blanket statement of '''there will never be an independant kurdistan'' says nothing about what the kurds themselves want and want to work towards.