They just got a different tool to use than we do: They kill innocent lives to achieve objectives. That's what they do. And they're good. They get on the TV screens and they get people to ask questions about, well, you know, this, that or the other. I mean, they're able to kind of say to people: Don't come and bother us, because we will kill you. Bush - Joint News Conference with Blair - 28 July '06

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Iraqi president criticises PM for Turkey visit

Iraq's President Jalal Talabani criticised interim Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari for making a solo visit to Turkey on Tuesday without consulting other members of the government.

Talabani, who is a Kurd from the north, presides over Iraq's fractious political system, which includes a parliament riven by religious and ethnic divisions. Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria long for an independent state of their own and consider Turkish treatment of Kurds to be oppressive.

"The Iraqi government is not committed to any agreement which may be reached between the prime minister and the Turkish government," Talabani said in a statement. Read more

db: The Kurdish Talabani places little premium on the notion of 'unity' it appears