With the Turkish troops positioned just south of the Kurdish area of Iraq, that leaves the Iraqi Kurds surrounded on by the Turks. Plus the US has promised Turkey it will help them crush Kurdish separatism within Turkey.
Poor Kurds, always being betrayed by the American’s…
Turks warn Iraqi Kurds
Turkish soldiers deployed in Iraq will open fire on Kurdish fighters if they come under attack, a senior general has warned. Iraqi Kurds are strongly opposed to the Turkish deployment, agreed by the Turkish parliament last week, as are some members of the Iraqi governing council. The size of the Turkish deployment, and its exact location, have yet to be agreed but confrontations are possible as convoys pass through the Iraqi Kurdish north on their way south. “If the convoys are attacked, the necessary response will be given,” said the army’s deputy chief of staff, General Ilker Basbug. “The Turkish armed forces have the abilities and capacity to protect their convoys and themselves.”
same happened after first GW when bush sr promised them help and military support if they will revolt against saddam. sadly those promises were nothing but mere words. kurds revolt against saddam, hundreds were killed and support and help from USA never came.
The Iraqi Kurdish Jalal Talabani and Masood Barzani are livid with the American's, but then again what did they expect with a long and consistent history of American betrayels of the Kurds. Then again even the majority Shia Muslims (mostly Arab-speaking) are voicing disquiet at their former colonial masters coming back to Iraq.
Why are we concerned about a "warning"? Where was our concern when they were being displaced, gassed, tortured and imprisoned under Saddam? The whole whole has ignored the plight of the Kurds, not just the US.
Since the anouncement of Turkish troops for Iraq, there have been more attacks on US troops in the Kurdish (and Shia Muslim) area's of Iraq, and American soldiers have been killed. The Kurds, like the Shia's are coming to realise that their interests and rights may well be sacrificed yet again for wider American geo-strategic interests. What a quagmire.