WP: Kurdish Officials Sanction Abductions in Kirkuk (bad, bad news)

[Pirate Smile]

Kurdish Officials Sanction Abductions in Kirkuk
U.S. Memo Says Arabs, Turkmens Secretly Sent to the North

By Steve Fainaru and Anthony Shadid
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, June 15, 2005; Page A01

KIRKUK, Iraq -- Police and security units, forces led by Kurdish political parties and backed by the U.S. military, have abducted hundreds of minority Arabs and Turkmens in this intensely volatile city and spirited them to prisons in Kurdish-held northern Iraq, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials, government documents and families of the victims.

Seized off the streets of Kirkuk or in joint U.S.-Iraqi raids, the men have been transferred secretly and in violation of Iraqi law to prisons in the Kurdish cities of Irbil and Sulaymaniyah, sometimes with the knowledge of U.S. forces. The detainees, including merchants, members of tribal families and soldiers, have often remained missing for months; some have been tortured, according to released prisoners and the Kirkuk police chief.


Aissa Ramadan with his sons, Raed and Saad, who were seized and held. (By Anthony Shadid -- The Washington Post)

A confidential State Department cable, obtained by The Washington Post and addressed to the White House, Pentagon and U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, said the "extra-judicial detentions" were part of a "concerted and widespread initiative" by Kurdish political parties "to exercise authority in Kirkuk in an increasingly provocative manner."

The abductions have "greatly exacerbated tensions along purely ethnic lines" and endangered U.S. credibility, the nine-page cable, dated June 5, stated. "Turkmen in Kirkuk tell us they perceive a U.S. tolerance for the practice while Arabs in Kirkuk believe Coalition Forces are directly responsible."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/14/AR2005061401828.html

[mitchtv]

1. Negroponte's legacy

the Salvador option

[acmavm]

2. Well, shit like this can make the Rodney King "can't we all just get

along" irrelevant. And impossible.

Good going george. Making progress as usual I see. The Turks will really love this shit. And so will the Arabs.

And after all these years here's proof that some things as well as people never change. Negroponte is still a ignorant barbaric murderous
thug.

[Pirate Smile]

3. Could we possible throw more gasoline on the civil war fire?

[acmavm]

5. Maybe, after we have Halliburton haul it in from Kuwait.

.

[converted_democrat]

15. I agree with you.......It's like it's on purpose. .....

[rodeodance]

18. cnn called it a 'systematic" roundup this morning. It is sanctioned by

the US.

[daleo]

4. Does Bush want this, or has he just lost control of Iraq?

There is a reasonable hypothesis that Bush/PNAC wants to maximize turmoil in the region, and balkanize current Arab states. This would fit that hypothesis (i.e. U.S. forces being complicit in these kidnappings).

But it may be simple incompetence on the Bush administration's part. We protesters said the proposed invasion and occupation would all go to hell in a handcart pretty quickly.

[rodeodance]

12. I think, for the part--we have lost control of many parts of Iraq--similar

to what has/is accurring in Afgan--locab tribes/sects have the real control.

[rodeodance]

13. The US moves from hot spot to hot spot in Irag--having some contol

in some parts--some a limited amount of time.

[daleo]

20. I am inclined to agree.

It is just too big to handle.

[LynnTheDem]

6. The innocent lambkin Kurds aren't. Never have been.

Facts EVERY war supporter should have known, BEFORE the US attacked Iraq
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3780745

(And to all those online who attacked me over the past 3 years for posting the facts of the Kurds not being sweet little innocents...TOLD YA SO, MORANS.)

[alfredo]

7. The Kurds want the oil around Kirkuk. If they get it, Turkey will step

in. The Turks do not want the Kurds to have enough money to build an army to challenge them.

I have been telling my friends since the war talk started, that the Kurds will be the sand in the gears.

I'd keep an eye on what is going on in Kurdistan. It might be much more "interesting" than what is going on with the Sunni and Shia.

[Chauga]

8. WP: Kurdish Officials Sanction Abductions in Kirkuk

By Steve Fainaru and Anthony Shadid
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, June 15, 2005

KIRKUK, Iraq -- Police and security units, forces led by Kurdish political parties and backed by the U.S. military, have abducted hundreds of minority Arabs and Turkmens in this intensely volatile city and spirited them to prisons in Kurdish-held northern Iraq, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials, government documents and families of the victims.

Seized off the streets of Kirkuk or in joint U.S.-Iraqi raids, the men have been transferred secretly and in violation of Iraqi law to prisons in the Kurdish cities of Irbil and Sulaymaniyah, sometimes with the knowledge of U.S. forces. The detainees, including merchants, members of tribal families and soldiers, have often remained missing for months; some have been tortured, according to released prisoners and the Kirkuk police chief.

A confidential State Department cable, obtained by The Washington Post and addressed to the White House, Pentagon and U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, said the "extra-judicial detentions" were part of a "concerted and widespread initiative" by Kurdish political parties "to exercise authority in Kirkuk in an increasingly provocative manner."

The abductions have "greatly exacerbated tensions along purely ethnic lines" and endangered U.S. credibility, the nine-page cable, dated June 5, stated. "Turkmen in Kirkuk tell us they perceive a U.S. tolerance for the practice while Arabs in Kirkuk believe Coalition Forces are directly responsible."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/14/AR2005061401828.html

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. More George Bush style democracy

on the march or should I say hunt?

[rodeodance]

14. our Gitmo type policies have been used as justification for these

abductions. This was noted in the Sensenbrenner hearings.

[DS1]

10. Those guys sure do look like an ungrateful bunch, what with their

Democracy and pink fingertips

:grr:













:sarcasm:

[rodeodance]

11. have "abducted" hundreds.....--without charges or judicial process-" yes-

this is the dangerous part.


Slate had a summary:

http://www.slate.com/id/2120933/fr/nl/

Kurdish Kirkuk Kidnappings
By Eric Umansky
Posted Wednesday, June 15, 2005, at 12:32 AM PT


The Washington Post leads with word that Kurdish militia in the tinderbox city of Kirkuk have "abducted" hundreds of local Arabs and Turkmen and shipped them off--without charges or judicial process--to Kurdish-run prisons. The men--apparently a mix of suspected insurgents and increasingly civilians--were occasionally snatched on joint U.S.-Kurdish patrols and secretly jailed "sometimes with the knowledge of U.S. forces." The New York Times leads with a suicide bombing outside a Kirkuk bank that killed 23 and wounded about 80. Most of the casualties were retirees waiting for their pension checks. USA Today also leads with violence in Iraq but focuses on a perceived trend: Many commanders and other observers think there are an increasing number of foreign jihadists, particularly Saudis. They point to the huge number of suicide bombings, an average of 30 per week. That compares to one a week in January 2004..........

[Alpharetta]

16. One more step to civil war

What's tragic is the Kurds have been relatively prosperous and unmolested by Saddam the past 10 years but now they face a likelihood of warfare with Turkish, Shia, and Sunni.

[rodeodance]

17. We're trying to get control of Kirkuk (and its oil) for the Kurds

and get the Arabs out. The Kurds are our 'friends'.... Of course it is leading to civil war + making Turkey very angry with us.....

[rodeodance]

19. you are right

[leftchick]

21. Who Could Have Predicted This??

blah, blah and blech! Bring our troops HOME!

[donkeyotay]

22. this deserves a wider audience

Thanks for this. It's really worth reading. Bringing other people democracy is hard work. And letting intelligence agencies run amok is reducing this world to rule by thuggery.

snip>
Abdel-Rahman said he was concerned that the Americans were being duped by the Kurds, who he said have cloaked what is effectively a power grab as a crackdown on the insurgents. Their strategy, he said, is to bolster their alliance with the Americans.

"Unfortunately, they have succeeded," he said.

Blagburn, the intelligence officer, said that even though the Emergency Services Unit is largely responsible for the secret transfers, it continues to provide valuable assistance in the counterinsurgency. Blagburn termed the unit "a very cooperative, coalition-friendly system."

[dArKeR]

24. I don't think there are many people in America, even if concerned,

would read this six pages.

[dArKeR]

23. Kurds alleged to secretly move prisoners

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/06/17/2003259639