HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa

That being said, either Novak is floating a trial balloon (with a little more force than usual, since the SAO is named this time) or he’s blowing smoke. As reliable a tool as he has proven to be for the WH, I tend to see the former as more likely. So, what exactly does floating this get the WH? Are they trying to tell the PKK to back off? Are they trying to wedge the PKK away from the Talibani wing of the Kurdish politicos, and how does that help? I really don’t see the benfit for America here to make this public.

With as much trouble as there is already in Iraq, so much that the “surge”™ strategery has as its centerpiece a retrenchment to control Baghdad first at the expense of most of the provinces, the question of where the troops will come from is even more apt. Multiply that many times for the trouble if (as I expect) W expands the conflict into Iran.

Way to go, W.

I’m glad that Bush’s neocons actually at least gave lip-service to the notion that these countries should have democracies – but not so glad at how they went about trying to change things in a way that seems to ensure that things WONT change. . .

There has never been a serious public discussion about patriotism and nationalism in America to my knowledge, it always devolves into platitudes or revolves around tabus like McCarthyism or Vietnam. There’s no way we can understand Iraqi patriotism if we haven’t begun to understand our own nationalism. What was the saying? A patriot supports his country because of what it does, a nationalist supports his country no matter what it does. Or something. For what it’s worth, discussions about nationalism and patriotism in places like Germany can be equally demented, although on balance I’ll take caution over fervor any day of the week.

My sense is that if Turkey would fully integrate the Kurds – as Kurds – into the society, the economy, and the political system, the PKK would either change is purpose and character, or all but die out.

Exactly right, and pandering to their racism and Ataturkian superiority complex is so counter-productive, for us and for them. We have so much sway over the Turks because of the EU issue, and yet we exacerbate the very things that make eventual accession unlikely: an honest assessment of their past vis a vis Armenia, the whole Kurdish issue, respect for individual freedom.. These things require political solutions, not surgical strikes. Hmm.. where have we heard that before?

For those who think Iraqi Kurds don’t see themselves as Iraqis, and have no national spirit (and for those who are operating under the illusion that Kurdistan is some kind of lovely example of how democracy really CAN work if only Iraqi culture allowed it), here is a small example of what “democracy” is really like under the two corrupt mafia warlords who rule Kurdistan:

“Security forces in Dohuk city in the Kurdish Autonomous Region in the north of Iraq arrested 50 Kurds for waving the Iraqi flag to celebrate the victory of the Iraqi national football team, a police source said Monday.

“The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, ‘The Kurdish security forces seize anybody carrying the Iraqi flag, even for one hour.’“

You know, the American – and British – reaction to the whole soccer thing has been just amazing, and mostly amazingly off base. What it has shown for the most part, is a desperate need on the part of Americans (and some others) to force new information fit the old framework.

That old framework is, of course, the received truth that “Iraq is an inherently non-viable entity that was cobbled together by western colonial powers out of three completely separate, distinct, and incompatible ethno-geo-sectarian groups who have detested and slaughtered each other for thousands of years, Iraqis have never had any sense of national identity, and the country was only held together by the iron fist of Saddam”. That this construct utterly ignores reality, including the fact that Iraq had more than a half century of existence as a modern-day nation state, before anyone had even heard of Saddam does not seem to concern any of its proponents.

I remember something similar – and similarly patronizingly condescending – after the Iraqi soccer team’s lovely performance in the 1994 Olympics. There was so much talk then about what an amazing thing it was that the team was composed of Shi`as Sunnis, and Kurds, and how in spite of their inherent incompatibility and historic hatred they were all able to work together toward a goal, and why didn’t Iraqis, who as we knew have been slaughtering each other for thousands of years, take a lesson from their soccer team. It is difficult to express just how annoying that was.

The reality is, of course, that the soccer team is quite representative of Iraqi society in its normal state, and the general reaction to the Iraqi victory in the Asia Cup tells us that Iraqis do indeed have an inherent national spirit that has been badly damaged, but not destroyed, by the events of the last four and a half years.

The way Turks view “their” Kurds, and the way Iraqis and Iranians view “their” Kurds is thousands of miles apart in my experience. As I said, I have never witnessed such horrible racism as I have seen among Turks regarding Kurds, and they are so passionate about it – you cannot even discuss it with them in a rational way.

By contrast, Kurds in Iraq have had a much better time, even with the government, and particularly with their fellow Iraqis. Kurds traveled freely and lived from one end of Iraq to the other. One of the largest Kurdish populations in the world is in Baghdad, and they have been fully integrated into the society and the economy. There has always been quite a bit of intermarriage, though not as much as between Shi`a and Sunni Arabs. In Kurdistan, especially in the “old days” there would sometimes be marriages between elite Kurdish and Arab families in order to solidify relations between tribes or families.

The biggest source of problems for Kurds in Turkey is not that there are separatists among them, but that Turks have some kind of thing about “racial purity” that began in the late 19th and early 20th century. Either you are a Turk or you are no one. That does not allow them to recognize and give equal status to their non-Turkish citizens. So, Kurds have been required to deny their own language and culture, history and identity or suffer the consequences. They were not allowed to speak Kurdish in public, or to teach it to their children, or to express any aspect of their culture.

You may have heard of Layla Zana, elected in 1994 as the first female Kurdish Member of the Turkish Parliament who was put into prison for years for speaking a few words in Kurdish at her inauguration. She was accused of being a separatist even though what she said was an expression of unity between Turks and Kurds. She took her oath in Turkish, and then added in Kurdish a wish for all Turks and Kurds to live together in harmony under democracy or something like that – I don’t recall exactly.

There is quite an enlightening documentary film that deals mainly with Turkish Kurds called “Good Kurds, Bad Kurds”. The “Bad Kurds” are, of course, the Turkish Kurds because they have troubles with the Turkish government who are U.S. allies, and the “Good Kurds” are Iraqi Kurds, who are no less violent and troublesome, because they, of course, had difficulties with Saddam. All Kurds recognize that the most abused Kurds in the world are the Turkish Kurds.

My sense is that if Turkey would fully integrate the Kurds – as Kurds – into the society, the economy, and the political system, the PKK would either change is purpose and character, or all but die out. In any case, though I could be wrong my sense is that these days PKK is less a separatist group than a civil rights group, though certainly there are separatist elements there.

On a side note, I think the Iraqi soccer celebrations this week should finally have put to rest the notion that not very many Iraqis experience patriotism for their country, even despite the righteous monopoly we Americans tend to think we have on it. It would have been such a great moment to seize for a withdrawal announcement..

Btw, thanks leslie for cleaning up my triple comments, I’ve learned to wait for them to show up even if the page is done loading.

As to the tactical or operational support the Turks could expect from the Americans, it all depends on how deep inside Iraq the PKK has nestled itself. If they were close to the border I would imagine it would confine itself to some gift wrapped and current intel as to troop strength, location, high value targets etc., and not much in the way of material support. But since Edelmann apparently spoke of a covert SF op, and the PKK is probably sizable or entrenched enough to warrant some air power, that probably means combat controllers sneaking around with laser designators. I doubt that any of the supposed PKK leadership out there is going to expose themselves to assassination any other way after hearing of this.

Please note, I would not consider myself an authority on any of this, only an interested observer from having lived much of my life in Berlin, where Kurdish drama occasionally flares up among our substantial Turkish population. This is all speculation however, I have no clear evidence of what Edelman has in his pointy head nor where this year’s Kurdish loyalties lie.

It’s a shame we don’t have an administration capable of the statecraft necessary to broker any political rather than military deals on this issue.

As for the Turkish Kurds – by far the most abused of all the Kurds* – I don’t think they ever expected anything good from the U.S., so it’s all business as usual.

*In addition to the horrible abuse Turkish Kurds have suffered from their government, the racism of Turks toward Kurds is unlike anything I have ever seen.