Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Wall Street Journal
February 23, 2008
Pg. 3
By Gina Chon
BAGHDAD -- The Turkish military said its ground troops entered northern Iraq Friday, an escalation of Ankara's fight against Kurdish separatists and a move that could complicate relations with the U.S., an ally of both Turkey and the Kurdish regional government in Iraq.
The Turkish incursion came as the U.S. received encouraging news on another front: The anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr announced Friday he was extending a six-month cease-fire that his Mahdi Army militia imposed in August. The extension -- for another six months -- was greeted as welcome news by U.S. officials, who have credited the cease-fire as one of the keys in boosting security in Iraq in recent months.
The Turks have threatened for months to send ground troops into Iraq in their fight against the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The PKK, seeking to establish a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey, frequently stages attacks from northern Iraq. Until now, the military had relied largely on air bombing campaigns, though unconfirmed reports have reported limited, cross-border incursions to target the Kurdish group recently.
The Turkish military said troops would return to Turkey as soon as their goals were achieved, saying the operation would contribute to stability and peace in Iraq. Turkish media reported as many as 10,000 troops had entered Iraq, but the number couldn't be confirmed. A coalition official in Iraq said military intelligence indicated there were only several hundred troops in Iraq.
Kurdish officials expressed concern that the ground incursion could mark the start of wider-scale operations in Iraq. The Kurdish militia, the peshmerga, was put on alert in Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish enclave in the north. An Iraqi-government spokesman said he understood Turkish desires to target the PKK but called on Ankara to respect Iraq's borders.
While Turkish troops launched ground operations against the PKK during Saddam Hussein's rule, Friday's actions could complicate U.S. and Iraqi efforts to bring down violence in the region. Iraqi Kurds have been accused of giving sanctuary to the PKK, though the Kurdish regional government in Iraq last year promised to root out the rebels.
Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said the U.S. understands the incursion is a limited operation to target the PKK and said Washington received assurances from Turkey that it would do everything possible to avoid "collateral damage to innocent civilians or Kurdish infrastructure."
In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said that the U.S. respected Turkey's need to protect its population, and agreed with Turkish contentions that the PKK was a terrorist organization. The spokesman, Bryan Whitman, declined to say whether the U.S. provided specific intelligence to Turkey in advance of yesterday's strike, but said that the two countries had "intensified" their intelligence-sharing in recent months about the PKK.
The muted U.S. reaction to the Turkish strike reflects the Bush administration's mounting frustration with the Iraqi Kurdish leadership.
The Kurds have been strong U.S. allies since the 2003 invasion, but many Pentagon and State Department officials are upset with the Kurds for failing to take strong measures against the PKK despite repeated promises to crack down on the group. "There's a bit of a sense that the Kurds have kind of brought this on themselves," said a senior U.S. military commander, who added that Turkey had exercised "considerable restraint" in the face of a wave of deadly PKK attacks on Turkish targets.
Separately, U.S. military officials lauded Mr. Sadr's extension of his cease-fire. Imams read the decision of the extension at mosques Friday. According to a statement read during the midday prayers, Mr. Sadr said he still wanted time to reorganize.
Before Mr. Sadr announced his decision, some members of his militia and Sadr political officials had pushed for an end to the cease-fire, worrying U.S. officials. The militia had complained about a government crackdown on Sadr followers, particularly in the southern Shiite region where a power struggle among several Shia groups is taking place.
The U.S. military also has used the cease-fire to go after what it calls rogue Sadr elements. Adm. Smith, who has repeatedly praised the cease-fire in the past, said it opened up militants who ignore it to retaliation from coalition forces. "Coalition and Iraqi security forces will continue to work closely with the Iraqi people to protect them from these criminals who violate the law and dishonor the commitment made by al-Sayyid Muqtada," the U.S. military said in a statement.
Mr. Sadr called for the cease-fire in August after his militia clashed with government forces largely loyal to a rival Shiite group, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, in the southern city of Karbala, where millions had gathered for a Shiite religious holiday. During Friday prayers at a mosque in Sadr City, an imam delivered a message from Mr. Sadr's office asking that pilgrims currently headed to Karbala for another Muslim gathering control their emotions and asked that they not display pictures or signs that link them to any political party or militia.
The extension of the cease-fire should help U.S. commanders as they assess the results of the U.S. troop surge, which brought 30,000 additional troops to Iraq. The last of the surge troops are scheduled to leave by July. About 155,000 troops are currently in Iraq.
February 23, 2008
Pg. 3
By Gina Chon
BAGHDAD -- The Turkish military said its ground troops entered northern Iraq Friday, an escalation of Ankara's fight against Kurdish separatists and a move that could complicate relations with the U.S., an ally of both Turkey and the Kurdish regional government in Iraq.
The Turkish incursion came as the U.S. received encouraging news on another front: The anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr announced Friday he was extending a six-month cease-fire that his Mahdi Army militia imposed in August. The extension -- for another six months -- was greeted as welcome news by U.S. officials, who have credited the cease-fire as one of the keys in boosting security in Iraq in recent months.
The Turks have threatened for months to send ground troops into Iraq in their fight against the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The PKK, seeking to establish a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey, frequently stages attacks from northern Iraq. Until now, the military had relied largely on air bombing campaigns, though unconfirmed reports have reported limited, cross-border incursions to target the Kurdish group recently.
The Turkish military said troops would return to Turkey as soon as their goals were achieved, saying the operation would contribute to stability and peace in Iraq. Turkish media reported as many as 10,000 troops had entered Iraq, but the number couldn't be confirmed. A coalition official in Iraq said military intelligence indicated there were only several hundred troops in Iraq.
Kurdish officials expressed concern that the ground incursion could mark the start of wider-scale operations in Iraq. The Kurdish militia, the peshmerga, was put on alert in Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish enclave in the north. An Iraqi-government spokesman said he understood Turkish desires to target the PKK but called on Ankara to respect Iraq's borders.
While Turkish troops launched ground operations against the PKK during Saddam Hussein's rule, Friday's actions could complicate U.S. and Iraqi efforts to bring down violence in the region. Iraqi Kurds have been accused of giving sanctuary to the PKK, though the Kurdish regional government in Iraq last year promised to root out the rebels.
Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said the U.S. understands the incursion is a limited operation to target the PKK and said Washington received assurances from Turkey that it would do everything possible to avoid "collateral damage to innocent civilians or Kurdish infrastructure."
In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said that the U.S. respected Turkey's need to protect its population, and agreed with Turkish contentions that the PKK was a terrorist organization. The spokesman, Bryan Whitman, declined to say whether the U.S. provided specific intelligence to Turkey in advance of yesterday's strike, but said that the two countries had "intensified" their intelligence-sharing in recent months about the PKK.
The muted U.S. reaction to the Turkish strike reflects the Bush administration's mounting frustration with the Iraqi Kurdish leadership.
The Kurds have been strong U.S. allies since the 2003 invasion, but many Pentagon and State Department officials are upset with the Kurds for failing to take strong measures against the PKK despite repeated promises to crack down on the group. "There's a bit of a sense that the Kurds have kind of brought this on themselves," said a senior U.S. military commander, who added that Turkey had exercised "considerable restraint" in the face of a wave of deadly PKK attacks on Turkish targets.
Separately, U.S. military officials lauded Mr. Sadr's extension of his cease-fire. Imams read the decision of the extension at mosques Friday. According to a statement read during the midday prayers, Mr. Sadr said he still wanted time to reorganize.
Before Mr. Sadr announced his decision, some members of his militia and Sadr political officials had pushed for an end to the cease-fire, worrying U.S. officials. The militia had complained about a government crackdown on Sadr followers, particularly in the southern Shiite region where a power struggle among several Shia groups is taking place.
The U.S. military also has used the cease-fire to go after what it calls rogue Sadr elements. Adm. Smith, who has repeatedly praised the cease-fire in the past, said it opened up militants who ignore it to retaliation from coalition forces. "Coalition and Iraqi security forces will continue to work closely with the Iraqi people to protect them from these criminals who violate the law and dishonor the commitment made by al-Sayyid Muqtada," the U.S. military said in a statement.
Mr. Sadr called for the cease-fire in August after his militia clashed with government forces largely loyal to a rival Shiite group, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, in the southern city of Karbala, where millions had gathered for a Shiite religious holiday. During Friday prayers at a mosque in Sadr City, an imam delivered a message from Mr. Sadr's office asking that pilgrims currently headed to Karbala for another Muslim gathering control their emotions and asked that they not display pictures or signs that link them to any political party or militia.
The extension of the cease-fire should help U.S. commanders as they assess the results of the U.S. troop surge, which brought 30,000 additional troops to Iraq. The last of the surge troops are scheduled to leave by July. About 155,000 troops are currently in Iraq.