[eXpat]

And Turkey's Prime Minister has threatened an invasion of northern Iraq if, after the Turkish election on Sunday, talks fail with Iraq and the US on curbing the activities of Turkish Kurd guerrillas link. That reminds me of Tony Blair before invading Iraq when he said that they would stop military intervention, if they promise to be good, behave well and repent of their sins on the TV.

[eXpat]

Now is getting more interesting: Kurdish Mountain Army Awaits Turkish Incursion link

[jboogy]

The flaming ,turbulent middle east. My GAWD will there ever be peace in the middle east?(that rhymed!) The western world should just hurry up and pump that whole place dry so those poor people can live their lives with a little tranquility for once.Poor basterds, who'da thunk so much natural resource wealth could bring so much pain and misery?

[jboogy]

I've done my share of reading on that subject ferrel,bilderbergs,try-lateral commission,CFR,U.N.,rothchilds,freemasons,central banks ,jewish bankers,satanists,rockefellers,bushes,clintons,GAWD,niggaz with attitude,you name it ,there's a supreme ruler conspiracy for every segment of the population,my personal belief is that the world is run by cute an' fuzzy bunnies !I've looked at that clip before but didn't run it due to it's length,my sat. dish will clamp down on me if I use too much bandwidth in a certain amount of time.fair access policy crap.

[PenultimateManStanding]

the world is run by cute an' fuzzy bunnies

btw, you reminded me of the 'save Toby' controversy. Maybe you heard about it: the website owner claimed that Toby, a cute fuzzy bunny, would be killed and eaten unless sufficient donations were made to him. Well, I don't know how much money he got, but Bored.com bought the website and saved the bunny!

[Eli]

This is an interesting story. I talked to a guy who was in Iraq he said the Kurds were the only ones with their act together. He said the US military had to ask for permission to operate in the area.

The US is planning on attacking the Pkk Kurds who are looking for an independent Kurdistan that would take a big chunk of Turkey with it. Novak has a very dry wit. One gets the strong feeling that he thinks Bush is a loon. Bob Novak story

[MacG]

The Kurds are said to have very good relations with Israel since many years. Both Kurds, Turks and Persians seem to be sympathetic towards Israel since none of them really likes Arabs. And the Kurds have the geography to establish another Switzerland - if they just can get their heads around the social thing.

What a royal mess.

[Eli]

It is total mess. If this proves to be true the Kurds could really put the hurt on the US.

The Kurds are the best allies the US has in Iraq even though the Kurds have not forgotten how the US has screwed them time and time again.

The Kurds in Iraq may just start attacking the US. If this goes wrong the US may not even be able to organize a Vietnam kind of retreat.

[Madpaddy]

Beginning to look like a free for all in Northern Iraq.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/ ... 6720070821

Kurdish authorities in northeastern Iraq said on Tuesday they were investigating the authenticity of leaflets warning villagers to evacuate ahead of an Iranian military offensive against Kurdish rebels.

Hundreds of villagers have fled their homes in Iraq's mountainous northeast while others hid in caves after what local authorities said was days of intermittent shelling by Iran across the border.

The leaflets said villagers had 48 hours to evacuate before an Iranian offensive began.

"They do not carry an official stamp of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards or the Iranian Defense Ministry," said Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the Kurdish government.

"These leaflets made many people leave their homes."

[mattduke]

Iran denies they dropped the leaflets:

Stratfor

[DantesPeak]

The PKK has admitted to Dow Jones news that it is behind the Iran-Turkey natural gas pipeline explosion today.

PKK Claims Sabotage Of Iran-Turkey Pipeline -Spokesman
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES September 10, 2007 1:30 p.m:
LONDON (Dow Jones)--The Kurdish insurgent group People's Defense Force claimed to be behind the sabotage of an Iran-Turkey natural gas pipeline in Turkey whose flow was interrupted Sunday, a spokesman for the group told Dow Jones Newswires Monday.
The Force is the military arm of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a separatist guerilla organization that is seeking Kurdish independence from Turkey.

DJ/WSJ [note: this is the full article above]

Explosion rocks Turkey-Iranian gas pipeline 09.10.07, 7:08 AM ET
ANKARA (Thomson Financial) - An explosion last night rocked a gas pipeline in the northeast of Turkey that supplies the country with gas from Iran, the Anatolia news agency reported.
The explosion took place near the town of Dogubeyazit in the province of Agri, which borders Iran. It caused a fire that burned itself out out some 20 minutes later, Atay Uslu, an assistant to the deputy police chief of Dogubeyazit, told the news agency.

AFX/Forbes

Gazprom ups Turkey gas supply after pipeline blast 09.10.07, 2:17 PM ET
MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Russian state-controlled gas giant Gazprom said it had increased supply to Turkey by 50 pct after a pipeline explosion halted Iran's gas flow into the country.

AFX/Forbes

[Cobra_Strike]

Seems to be quite a bit of above ground factors in play recently. And there is the potential for a big one tomorrow too from OPEC.

[eXpat]

Turkey prepares for operation in Iraq link.

Turkey had demanded the right to send troops into Iraq's north to pursue Kurdish rebels. Iraq did not agree to the demand under pressure from the leaders of its semiautonomous Kurdish region.

Turks are furious that PKK rebels carry out attacks on Turkish soil and then slip across the border to mountain hideouts in the predominantly Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Turkey has accused Iraqi Kurds of tolerating their ethnic brethren in the PKK; one punitive measure at Turkey's disposal is to close the border with northern Iraq, hurting the economy of the landlocked region.

Still, the latest images of soldiers' coffins draped in the red and white Turkish flag intensified pressure on Erdogan.

Opposition leaders, chastened by defeat in general elections in July, condemned Erdogan's ruling party. One opposition group called for a cross-border operation, and another blamed the PKK attacks on the government's "lack of determination" to fight terrorism.

[strider3700]

Our soldiers in Afghanistan have to deal with the same issue except of course everyone runs back to Pakistan there. The ways these wars are being fought pretty much guarantee stalemate is the best you can hope for and realistically they just are drawn out forever.

[WhatMeWorry]

CNN International is talking about it right now! THe Iragi Presidents son is speaking. Talks not war etc... the PKK are in caves you can never stop them...the US does not want to fight them, Iran does not want to fight them...Irag leaves them alone now... That leaves Turkey. Will they or won't they. Discussions with US ongoing.

[Ferretlover]

Turkey calls envoy home after House vote
Moves come after panel approves Armenia 'genocide' resolution
WASHINGTON - Turkey has asked its ambassador in Washington to return to Turkey for consultations over a U.S. House panel's approval of a bill describing the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians as genocide, a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday. …
"We are not withdrawing our ambassador. We have asked him to come to Turkey for some consultations," he said. …
link

Turkish Army Drafts Border Operation Plans for Iraq
ANKARA (RIA Novosti) - Turkey's army has prepared several plans for a cross-border operation in north Iraq to counter Kurdish insurgents, which the government will pass to parliament on Thursday, a local newspaper said.
Turkey's government announced on Tuesday the possibility of a military incursion into Iraq to track down Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters, who have killed 15 Turkish troops since Sunday. The country has been amassing troops near Iraq, and shelling and air-raiding suspected rebel positions along the border. The scenarios include an advance of 5 to 10 kilometers into Iraq to gain full control of the border; pinpoint air attacks on suspected separatist bases; air raids on PKK strongholds in the mountains; and combined land operations and air attacks, the Hurriyet newspaper reported on Thursday. …
link

Turkey mulls cutting military ties with U.S. over genocide vote
ANKARA, October 11 (RIA Novosti) - Turkey is considering the suspension of military cooperation with the U.S. after a House of Representatives committee adopted a resolution classing the 1915 massacre of some 1.5 million Armenians as genocide.
The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee passed the document on Wednesday despite opposition from President Bush. Turkey is a key NATO ally and a crucial U.S. partner in operations in Iraq.
The Turkish NTV television channel said Turkey's final reaction to the document would be announced after discussions in parliament scheduled for early next week.
NTV said Turkey might restrict U.S. use of a joint air base in Incirlik, close off its air space to U.S. warplanes, and ban Armenian aircraft from flying over its territory. The majority of supplies for U.S. troops in Iraq, including fuel and military hardware, pass through Turkey. …
link

[jboogy]

" I know there are wasps in that there nest , I sees one go in every once in a while " Bush said in his best ,I'm just a regular cowboy kind of guy voice.
Cheney thought for a second on best to how manipulate his retarded protoge'.
" Well.... ", Cheney teased, " best thing to do is take a long stick and jam it up inside the nest and give it a good shake ".
"Really "? Bush replied.
"yup , once they get nice and riled they'll either die from agitation or just go somewhere else". Cheney snickered behind his hand at his neophyte's gullibility.
"Well OK , my Papa said it'd be best to leave this nest alone but I'm smarter than him ', Bush turned and smiled at his mentor . Cheney smiled back ." Matter of fact Georgy ,I can even get the company I used to work for to come and clean-up afterwords if you can get some money together, You don't want to touch dead wasps do ya?"
Bushes eyes widened in disgust at the thought of actually having any contact with the wasps." No , I'm scared of wasps, you call your friends and I'll find a stick."
" OK George , but first we should put on some tough suits so we don't get stung , don't ya' think?" Bushes eyes widened once again at the smartiness of his friend Cheney.
Bush nodded his head at his friends suggestion but then his eyes narrowed and a wicked grin appeared. " You know what would be funny ?" he asked Cheney .
"No , what would be funny George?"
" We should see how many people we can fool into coming over here before I poke the nest ". Bush whispered , glancing around to make sure no one overheard him.
" Why Georgie that's a splendid idea , I'll do somethin' to make them look away while you do the pokin' and then we'll watch em' get stung!"
Little Georgie danced and clapped with glee at the thought of people running around slapping themselves as they got stung . Life was good and pranks were his and Cheneys favorite things to do .

[PrairieMule]

I found out about 1AM this morning that Turkey was bombing the crap out of the Kurds. It was not from watching CNN, it was from listening to Coast to Coast AM.

It's sad I have to get hard news mixed in with UFO stories.

[WhatMeWorry]

Here is an interesting article from the Turkish Daily News.

Why the PKK is trying to provoke war!

The author makes some good points.