Peaceful rhetoric may be a cover for an ongoing covert war waged against us. A friend may be an enemy in disguise. Although we cannot really answer why we have so many enemies or why so many people have made us their enemies, we are on constant alert.This state of mind was once again provoked with reports suggesting that Israeli military and intelligence agents are currently engaged in covert operations in the Kurdish section of Iraq. They are reported to be training Kurdish commandos in guerrilla warfare and anti-terror tactics. Under normal circumstances, this information is not newsworthy. Every armed force has an elite special operations unit. However, the intention behind this training is poisonous: Kurds feel that their country is being invaded from all directions by states like Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq, and they are getting ready to end the occupation of these “imperialist” forces! That is why they are accepting Israeli assistance in their struggle for reunification and full independence.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq sniffed something in the air to this effect, but Kurdish leaders and Israeli officials denied cooperation between Iraqi Kurds and Tel Aviv. Both of them refused to make any comments on the issue.
But the American press picked up the scent of blood. The New Yorker in particular pressed on, but got no positive answers from the Israelis. Yet the reporters of the magazine found out that Israel’s presence in northern Iraq was widely acknowledged within the US intelligence community. American intelligence officials told The New Yorker that when asked why they were in the Kurdish region, the Israelis answered “because we should be here.” Not convinced of this answer, CIA officials at the time thought of exposing Israel’s assistance to the Kurds. This is what The New Yorker wrote in 2004, adding that besides rumors of Israel training Kurdish commandos, Israeli-Kurdish relations have expanded considerably starting in 2003. In July 2003, the Israeli government lifted its embargo on Iraq, allowing trade between the two peoples. But it seems this decision was driven with the aim of exporting Israeli military material to the Kurds.
Jews feel that they are threatened by the Arabs and Iran, and Kurds are neither Arab nor Persian. So if Israel supports the Kurds’ claim for independence, it will have a natural ally plus a functional watchtower to see what is going on in Iran, Syria and Iraq. Needless to say, such cooperation will draw the wrath of all three states as well as Turkey, and the Kurds themselves will suffer most from the backlash.
Israeli-trained Kurdish commandos have also been reported to accompany Israeli operatives across the Iraq-Iran border in recent years to install sensory devices meant to monitor suspected Iranian nuclear facilities.
Recently, a Hamas leader, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, was assassinated in Dubai by alleged Israeli agents. The Hamas organization seriously suspects Israeli agents operating out of Iraqi Kurdistan. Iraqi Kurdish officials and their Israeli counterparts do not utter a word, but rumors are circulating that Israel is training the Kurds to be anti-terrorist commandos. In return for their training, Israelis are anticipating Kurdish commandos will gather intelligence about Iran and Syria for Israel. It is claimed that the Kurds monitor Iranian nuclear facilities.
These rumors, needless to say, are heard by Turkish intelligence circles, too. Could it be that recently this information has seriously contributed to Turkey’s coldness to Israel and distancing itself from the Jewish state? Especially when the Turks heard that Israelis are telling the Kurds or sharing with them the statement that “the Kurds, whose country is currently occupied by Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria, are aided by Israel in their fight for independence, as they were many years ago.”
The source of this information is (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/, 2/5).
The Kurds fought for independence from Iraq, Iran and Turkey. Some Kurds committed terrorism against Turkey. It is going too far to call their “country” “occupied.” What country? It would be sufficient to suggest that the 40 million Kurds are a separate nationality for whom a case can be made for self-determination. This is in contrast with the Palestinian Arabs, who are not a separate nationality and for whom no case has been made for self-determination, only asserted, and who in any case have a state of their own in Palestine, called Jordan.
Winston Mideast Analysis & Commentary has a general admonition about Western training of Muslim allies. If not careful about who is recruited, the West will train people who turn on them, as did the Mujahideen of Afghanistan. The next likely candidates to make trouble are the Palestinian Authority troops trained by the US and others.
