Discussion about Iraq with EU MP Mr. Paulo Casaca

On 2nd December 2008, Mr. Paulo Casaca, a ¨Portuguese Socialist member of the European Parliament who has travelled extensively in Iraq over the last few years, launched his new book titled ‘The Hidden Invasion of Iraq’.

In his new book Mr. Casaca exposes an unnoticed angle of the conflict:

“Unnoticed by the West, thousands of operatives of the Badr Brigade – the Iraqi section of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) – have occupied most of the country and steadily taken over its political command”.

In his book Mr. Casaca argues that this invasion took place with the full knowledge and blessing of people who ought to have known better, including key members of the US and UK governmental organisations and think tanks.

The book exposes systematic and ongoing ties between western authorities including some of the very same figures involved in the infamous “Iran-contra affair” in 1985 and calls for a full and thorough public inquiry.

The event took place at the European Parliament in Brussels, where Mr. Casaca had invited a number of guests to a lunch discussion around his book.

Turkmen, Assyrian and Kurdish representatives attended the event:

Dr. Hassan Aydinli, ITF Europe Representative
Mrs. Merry Fitzgerald, Committee for the Defence of the Iraqi Turkmens’ Rights

Mr. Afram Yakoub, Project Director of Assyria Council of Europe

Kurdish representatives and journalists


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During the discussion Mr. Paulo Casaca mentioned that he had received complaints from Turkmens, Assyrians, Yezidis and other non-Kurdish communities of the north of Iraq regarding their ill-treatment by the Kurds, and addressing the Kurdish representatives he asked them : “please stop treating others in the way you didn’t want to be treated, stop forcing the Kurdish identity on others. If the Yezidis want to be Yezidis, leave them alone”.



Note:
Mr. Paulo Casaca is a founding member and co-president of the “Friends of a Free Iran” and a founding member of “European Friends of Israel”.
Along with the late Mohammad Al-Ahwad, he founded the “Euro-Iraqi” parliamentary dialogue platform, “Iraq with A Future” (IF). He has also been a member of the International Lebanese Committee for the Implementation of UNSCR 1559.