U.S Hires Gun-Runner, Coup-Plotter to Guard Diplos

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/10/u-s-hires-gun-runner-coup-plotter-to-guard-diplos/

Excerpt:
The Iraq war allowed Spicer to move into the U.S. government market. Two years after starting Aegis — his current company, which trades on his reputation — Spicer won a massive contract with the Defense Department in 2004 to guard reconstruction projects in Iraq and coordinate the movements of thousands of private security guards working on reconstruction. It’s earned the company at least $670 million.

Aegis’s guards in Iraq took the company viral. YouTube features a number of swagger-filled Aegis videos depicting the tough security work the company performs. But in 2005, the above “trophy video” surfaced showing Aegis guards firing on Iraqi vehicles that don’t pose obvious risks — all set, light-heartedly, to Elvis’s “Mystery Train.” The U.S. military never reprimanded the company for its release.

SIGIR found last year that Aegis employed 1400 guards in Iraq. State estimates it may need up to 7000 guards — plus armored vehicles, plus helicopters — to protect its diplomats in Iraq now that the military drawdown is accelerating. And Spicer’s company is nothing if not outsized.

Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/10/u-s-hires-gun-runner-coup-plotter-to-guard-diplos/#ixzz11UD4mibQ

Paulien Bakker's (author of a book on Kerkuk) reaction to article on Rudaw

Letter: Author of Book On Kirkuk Responds to Rudaw Story
05/10/2010 08:29:00 admin

After Rudaw published a stroy by WLADIMIR VAN WILGENBUR interviewing Dutch author and journalist Paulien Bakker about her recent book titled "Romantic People", which is about the cultural and political situation of the oil-rich city of Kikruk in Iraq, Bakker wrote the following responce to the story.
Note from the author of the book:

I thank the editor for his efforts to draw more attention to the interview. By rewriting the beginning of the article and changing the title of the piece, he managed to draw maximum attention to it. However, the title is now unnecessary hurtful for the reader, nor does it properly reflect my opinion. I have never said nor meant to compare the Kurds with Saddam - to start with I think comparisons like that are utterly useless. I can only hope an English translation of my book will be available soon.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurds/3200.html

Iraqi Turkmen Front Ankara Representative, Dr. Hicran Kazanci: Barzani can negotiate with Turkey, we cannot

Iraqi Turkmen Front Ankara Representative, Dr. Hicran Kazanci: Barzani can negotiate with Turkey, we cannot


04 October 2010, Monday

The Turkmen and the Kirkuk issue were the topics of discussions with the new Iraq Turkmen Front Ankara Representative who was appointed in July; this is an issue which was popular in Turkey in the beginning of the Iraq War; during the years the subjects are hardly mentioned. Hicran Kazancı, the newly appointed representative made a bold confession and did not spare his words in listing the mistakes made in the past.

Cansu ÇAMLIBEL

Hürriyet

The contacts between Ankara with Northern Iraq Kurdistan Regional Government Leader Mesut Barzani have increased recently. As an organization representing the Turkmen living in cities under Barzani's control do you meet with Barzani?

-On a State level, Turkey communicates with the Kurds, because this is a requirement mandated by the foreign policy which is influenced by national interests. We do not have high level contact with the Kurdish administration. There used to be contact on a parliamentary level, however, during the last term, the ITF Leader could not get together with Barzani. We do not want anyone to think that we are refusing to have a dialogue. The fact is that in order to start a dialogue they impose a condition to recognize that Kirkuk belongs to Kurdistan. If they forgo this condition we are ready to discuss all matters to resolve the problems of Kirkuk.

The Turkmen and Arab total populations equal more than the Kurdish population and this political fact disproves their political theory. In order to resolve the problems, there must be a fair sharing of power. Let us leave the ownership of Kirkuk on the back burner for a bit and concentrate on the other issues. Kirkuk can be dealt with later.

It seems that the knot is tied within the Kurdish Regional boundaries. Where do you consider the regional border to end?

-We have no problems with the Kurdish people, only with some of the extreme demands of some political groups. We observe a target to extend the Kurdish region. As it has been throughout history, the borders of the Kurdish region are bordered by Erbil, Süleymaniye, Zaho, Dohuk. Nobody denies that the area outside Mosul and Kirkuk north of the 36th parallel is a Kurdish region. This border together with the 36th parallel was implemented by the USA for political reasons. When there is an effort to extend this area there will be instability.

Rumors include the annexing of not only Kirkuk but the Hamrin Mountains. This in unacceptable not only to the Turkmen living in the area, but also the Arabs, Yezidi, Christians.

Is the representation of Turkmen in the regional government satisfactory?

-During the 90's, Arbil was within the liberated zone and there were schools providing Turkmen education. After that what happened to our rights? Among over 100 members of parliament we have three and one minister in the Kurdish region. In the whole of Iraq, the Kurds are the second main element; regardless they are provided with 17% budget from the Iraqi central government. They also have commercial revenues from both Habur and the Iran border check points. In Northern Iraq we are in a similar position as Turkmen, we are the second main element. But do the Kurds grant us the rights provided overall Iraq? So far no vested rights have been given in Arbil.

IF THE KURDISH REGİON HAD BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED IN 2003 WE COULD HAVE SAVED KIRKUK

Why are the Turkmen so far behind in contemporary Iraqi politics?

-The Turkmen were unable to establish a bond with the actors in Iraqi politics. In 1991, during the Saddam regime the 36th parallel emerged without including Kirkuk. In 2003, Saddam is overturned and we are once more unprepared. It becomes clear that no investments have been made for the Turkmen in Kirkuk beneath the 36th parallel. During the years 1991-2002, we always spoke about a Turkmeneli region inclusive of Kirkuk. Up until 2003 our slogan was "Arbil is Turkish and shall remain Turkish". Forget about getting Arbil, we started to think about saving Kirkuk. All this is a result of a strategic error. In a meeting between US representative Zalmay Halilzad in 2003 in Selahaddin with the opponents of Saddam, our representative made a mistake.

When our people fundamentally rejected the Kurdish region, the Turkmen were completely excluded from the process. For instance they could have said, "we acknowledge the region north of the 36th parallel". Today simply for this reason we are unable to produce a strategy for Kirkuk's status. If we had been a part of the process then we could have liberated Kirkuk.

You speak as if Kirkuk is lost. Do you not trust the referendum that will follow the census and determine the future of the city?

-The census has been foreseen for the last week of this month but its postponement is inevitable. In our opinion without implementing article 23 of the constitutional law, no census nor referendum can take place.

This article firstly foresees normalization followed by a review of the population of Kirkuk which has increased since 2003. Before 2003 the population was around 700 thousand. After 2003 it was 1.300 thousand. Those arriving were put under the title "forced migration during the Saddam regime". We have no problem with them but the issue was used for political purposes. Neither reliable census results nor numbers for the Saddam period or its aftermath are available.

For political reasons, all the census results from the Saddam era show a low number of Turkmen. As long as equal conditions for Kirkuk and its environs cannot be achieved, a census will not produce realistic results. Kirkuk forms an important balance not only for Iraq but for the regions other countries and all major international actors.

Kirkuk is not only an intersocietal problem of Kirkuk, it is also a problem between Arbil and Baghdad. The transposition of Kirkuk to any one party will have an impact on world stability. This can be resolved through shared political reconstruction and dialogue.

USA GAVE PERMISSION BUT WE WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN ARMAMENT

During the 2003 period, there was talk about efforts for Iraqi Turkmen being armed by Turkey by various means. It was even suggested that the incident which went down in history as the "Sack incident" in Suleymaniye was the result of explosives training received by Turkmen. As a result, armed Kurdish peshmerga became the official security forces of the North.
Whatever happened to your armament efforts?

-In 2006 when I had a meeting with the US commander in Kirkuk I official stated my desire for the establishment of an armed forces. He asked how I planned to do this. There were approximately 1000 Turkmen in the Peace Monitoring Forces (PMF). 400 remained which I proposed be organized under "revival councils". They would safeguard their own neighborhoods but not get involved in any US army operations. This idea was approved by the US but our side did not take any action.

Nowadays, militia forces have been banned but our numbers in the Iraqi army and police forces could be increased. 500 Turkmen are wanted for the police force but only 50 people apply. When us Turkmen fail to apply for the position they are occupied by Arabs and Kurds. It is unfortunate that those who are not armed are still under attack in Iraq. That is still the valid power policy in the Middle East. When you are powerless your politics remain weak.

IF KANDİL IS BEYOND CONTROL, TURKEY SHOULD BE GIVEN FREE HANDS

"We have observed some positive developments on the part of the Kurdish government regarding PKK. I am aware that both Barzani and Talabani put pressure on BDP regarding the initiative issue. The US has withdrawn its combat forces from the region. For this reason, stability in Iraq is an important issue for both the US as well as the neighboring countries. In order to protect the structure established by the US from deteriorating, the PKK must be disarmed and pacified.

There are approximately 1000 Syrians and Iranians in the PKK terror organization. When the organization is neutralized both Syria and Iran will benefit from stability. Everybody, particularly Iraqi Kurds have an obligation to take action. Even if they are unwilling to do so, this is obligatory. Instability in the region will primarily harm the Kurds. If the Kurdish regional government is unable to control Kandil, then Turkey or the US could be authorized to take custody of the terrorists. If their forces are insufficient to maintain control, Turkey should be allowed to go in and enforce security."

NO STRANGER TO ANKARA

Hicran Kazancı is one of the young names put on display by Iraqi Turkmen. Mr. Kazancı, who was appointed Iraq Turkmen Front (ITF) Ankara Representative is not a stranger to Ankara. Kirkuk born Kazancı was introduced to Ankara for the first time in 1995 when he came to Ankara University Institute of Science to complement his university studies started in Mosul with a Masters and Doctorate degree. After the downfall of Saddam, he returned to his native country and carried out various duties in Turkmen politics including foreign relations consultancy to present Head of ITF Sadettin Ergeç. When the chair of Turkey representative was offered to him he had no second thoughts in returning to the apple of his eye of his student life. The head spinning political traffic of Ankara and the heavy traffic of state officials abroad have prevented Mr. Kazancı from carrying out his courtesy visits. He is waiting for an appropriate time to meet with President Gül, Prime Minister Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Davutoğlu.

What we consider to be a delay, Mr. Kazancı passes over as "Turkey has a multi aspect foreign policy agenda, it's normal". When asked "Could it be that the Turkmen who were the prime subject in Ankara during the first days of the Iraq war have been forgotten?" the reaction is nothing short of opening a pandora's box.

What Mr. Kazancı said may be the first time that a Turkmen politician has had a sincere confrontation with recent history. He forms courageous sentences and is far from the attitude of "Let this go no further" that we are accustomed to with Turkmen.


Hürriyet

TURKEY’s EUROPEAN IDENTITY AND THE ROLE OF CULTURE AND MEDIA

TURKEY’s EUROPEAN IDENTITY AND THE ROLE OF CULTURE AND MEDIA

CONFERENCE AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN BRUSSELS

30th SEPTEMBER 2010

More US lies...

The Altars of Fear: Wrong Turns on a Long, Dark Road
by Chris Floyd
www.chris-floyd.com/articles/1-latest-news/2029-the-altars-of-fear-wrong-turns-on-a-long-dark-road-.html


Excerpt:

There is, of course, no mosque being built at the site of the 9/11 attacks. To say otherwise is a complete falsehood; it is a statement without the slightest element of truth or fact in it. It is the precise equivalent of saying that the moon fell down last night and landed on the Washington Monument. Yet this Big Lie has reverberated across the country like few others in recent years. Millions of people believe it, believe it fervently, and what's more, also believe that the "mosque" is being built there by Islamic extremists as a "trophy" to celebrate the 9/11 attacks.

This radical lie -- eagerly propagated by corporate chieftains like Rupert Murdoch and allowed to fester unchallenged for weeks by the establishment media -- has roused multitudes to angry protests, to attacks on mosques and Islamic centers, and to outpourings of open, unabashed ethnic hatred against Muslims that, yes, echo the anti-Semitism of Nazi-era Germany. (See the much-feted establishment grandee Martin Peretz for a prime example.) Muslim Americans who have lived happily integrated with their communities for decades now feel cast out, threatened by nationally-amplified voices accusing them of disloyalty, of sinister conspiracies to enslave and oppress their fellow citizens, to destroy America and turn it over to its enemies, etc. -- again, tropes which are instantly and alarmingly familiar to anyone with a modicum of knowledge about the febrile hatreds that boiled and churned in Germany between the world wars.

Yet although the main engine currently stoking this hatred is a deliberate and transparent lie, there are people barreling into power on it. In North Carolina, the Republican candidate Ilario Pantano has made the lie a centerpiece of his campaign. As Justin Elliot reports at Salon.com, Pantano is a former Marine who became a "hero" to the militarist Right for killing two unarmed Iraqis in his charge, filling them with 60 rounds of lead. He boasted that he had intentionally shredded the unarmed men to pieces in order to terrorize Iraqis into compliance with the unprovoked American invasion and occupation of their country. Based on the testimony other Marines who saw the incident and felt the slaughter was unjustified, Pantano faced murder charges. But the top brass came to his rescue and dropped the charges.

Now Patano has seized on the "Ground Zero mosque" to push his campaign gainst a "conservative" Democrat -- the usual timeserver who is in thrall to the corporatism and militarism that his party fully shares with its opponents. In a conservative district, in an anti-incumbent year, Patano has a very good chance of riding the Big Lie -- and his thuggish rep for killing the unarmed -- into Congress.

Iraqi Turkmen Front Communiqué

Written Statement from ITF

21st September 2010

Iraqi Turkmen Front reacted to the recent announcement made by President Celal Talabani about the presidency being negotiable while Kirkuk and article 140 were not. In the written statement prepared by Iraqi Turkmen Front Information Department, it was stated that no position should be monopolized by any particular party and that article 140 had run its legal course and that they opposed its implementation.

In a speech made on a televised program, President Talabani had stated that they were open to negotiating the presidency and that although this position might not be granted to the Kurds, no concessions regarding Kirkuk and the application of article 140 which is relevant to Kirkuk would be considered. The response from the Iraqi Turkmen Front following Talabani’s statement was soon to follow. In the statement published by Iraqi Turkmen Front the fact that article 140 was subject to article 142 regarding the change of the constitutional law and that the provisions of article 23 of Provincial Assembly elections should be applied to annul the changes in Kirkuk’s demographical structure was underlined.

In the statement made by Iraqi Turkmen Front Information Department, attention was called to the fact according to Law No.6 of Provincial Assembly Election Law, the registry of voters in Kirkuk for the years 2004-2009 needed to be reviewed. In its statement, Iraq Turkmen Front called all political parties in Iraq to rally for solidarity and the territorial integrity of Iraq and underlined that parties needed to act for the public good when forming coalitions for the process of establishing a government.

http://www.kerkuk.net/haberler/haber.aspx?dil=2057&metin=201009213

Short Reflections on the Roots of Islamophobia and War on Terror

An Arab Woman Blues - Reflections in a sealed bottle...: Short Reflections on the Roots of Islamophobia and...: "In a general atmosphere of bans, cartoons and Holy book burnings, I find it necessary to revert in Time as History is almost always an hones..."

Layla Anwar writes:

In a general atmosphere of bans, cartoons and Holy book burnings, I find it necessary to revert in Time as History is almost always an honest Witness.

One needs not write long essays on this subject, at times (more often than not) a few lines are sufficient.

And these are the lines I shall present today. A quick trip back in Time.

In order to make the travelling more secure (you know, with all these terror threats everywhere), I will use a proven medium of transport - summarized extracts - with my emphasis in bold and in brackets - from a sound, balanced, reputable and brilliant contemporary scholar of Islam - Sayyed Hossein Nasr. With the hope that the "intelligent" reader will take time to ponder on the ongoing historical parallels...

" The study of Islam in the West began in the 10th and 11th centuries. Because this was a time in which Europe was thoroughly Christian, Islam was seen as a Christian heresy, and its founder as an apostate. Soon the imminent threat to Western Christendom from Islam, led many to call the Prophet of Islam the AntiChrist and the Quran itself was translated by order of Peter the Venerable in order to be refuted and rejected as sacred scripture.

The Middle Ages were marked by strong religious oppositions to Islam. Yet it was at this time that the West showed the greatest interest in Islamic thought, including philosophy, the sciences, arts and technology...

The Renaissance perpetuated religious opposition to Islam but also began to show disdain not only for Europe's own medieval past but also for Islamic learnings. Furthermore, the emphasis on Euro-centrism during the Renaissance and the rise of humanitarianism caused many European thinkers to consider people of other civilizations and ethnic groups including Muslims, inferior.

Although Islamic studies were still carried on...they were distorted by a sense of Western superiority and even hubris characteristics that were to continue into the modern period...

The Enlightenment turned against the theological assertions of Christianity and substituted rationalism (as a world view). Moreover, it further developed the idea that there was only one civilization, the Western one and that other civilizations were significant only to the extent of their contribution to Western civilization, which the French Encyclopedia referred to as "La Civilisation "... (par excellence)

During the 19th century, historicism in its absolute sense took the center of the philosophical stage with Hegel who considered all other civilizations stages in the march of the Geist in time leading to the final stage, which was supposedly realized in modern Western History...this was also the period when the exotic image of the Islamic East, with its mysterious casbahs and harems full of nude females (to be replaced by Abu Ghraib pornography) as reflected in 19th century European art (took place)...and this was also the period when the Romantic movement began, when many minds, tired of the rationalism of the Enlightenment, turned anew to the Middle Ages as well as to seeking meaning beyond the borders of the West...(yet) the manner of studying Islam remained heavily biased, not only as a result of the interests of those powers it was serving, but also through the absolutization of current Western concepts and methodologies, that were applied to Islam with a sense of superiority and hubris going back to the Renaissance definition of the "European man"...(and woman).

Source : Islam - Religion, History and Civilization. Seyyed Hossein Nasr 2002. p.xii-xv.

Le Président Kadhafi contre la tenue d'un sommet arabe à Bagdad

France-Irak-Actualité, le blog de Gilles Munier

http://france-irak-actualite.over-blog.org/article-le-president-kadhafi-contre-la-tenue-d-un-sommet-arabe-a-bagdad-57763330.html

Le régime de Bagdad ne décolère pas contre le Président Mouammar Kadhafi qui a demandé en juillet, au secrétaire général de l’ONU, l’ouverture d’une enquête sur l’invasion américaine de l’Irak et qui entend porter cette question à l’ordre du jour du prochain sommet arabe prévu en mars 2011, à Bagdad. Pour le Kurde Hoshyar Zebari, ministre irakien des Affaires étrangères, la demande libyenne menace la sécurité en Irak, encourage les ingérences extérieures, entrave les efforts de réconciliation nationale… Des propos en langue de bois qui ne convainquent personne, l’Irak étant devenu la « mère de toutes les ingérence extérieures », et les « efforts de réconciliation » rien d’autre que de la poudre aux yeux ou un piège pour assassiner les résistants.

La position libyenne n’est pas nouvelle. En octobre 2002, le Président Kadhafi avait pris ses distances avec la Ligue arabe qu’il accusait de connivence avec les Etats-Unis contre l’Irak. Il avait ensuite condamné l’agression et l’occupation du pays. Après l’exécution du Président irakien, Mouammar Kadhafi a été le seul chef d’Etat arabe à décréter un deuil national et, plus tard, à recevoir officiellement une délégation de la résistance irakienne. Aïcha Kadhafi, sa fille, avocate, a milité très activement pour la levée de l’embargo, participé au collectif d’avocats défendant Saddam Hussein. Secrétaire général de l’association caritative Waatassimou, elle a attribué l’«ordre du courage» à Mountazer al-Zaïdi, le journaliste irakien qui a lancé, en décembre 2008, ses chaussures sur George Bush.

Dernièrement le Président Kadhafi a proposé que le prochain sommet arabe se tienne au Caire, aucun roi ou chef d’Etat arabe n’acceptant, selon lui, d’aller en Irak en raison de la situation prévalant dans le pays. Harith al-Dhari, Président de l’Association des Oulémas Musulmans, un des principaux dirigeants de la résistance irakienne, est de cet avis. Dans le quotidien qatari Al-Watan, il a déclaré que se réunir dans un pays occupé serait contraire à la charte de la Ligue arabe, et il a appelé au boycott du sommet.