Talabani: "US always supports just causes" - no laughing
Excerpt below from Murder case puts Iraqi gov't in quandary - Seattlepi.com
... The fallout over Mahmoudiya didn't stop President Jalal Talabani from warmly praising America, telling a Fourth of July reception at the U.S. Embassy that the world "always looked up to the United States for support in their just causes." Top figures from Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties were all in attendance. Link
db: Of course the US has a habit, going back many years, of NOT supporting 'just causes' - rather of supporting the despots, autocrats, tyrants and dictators of the world - whoever, in fact, the myopic US policy makers of the day believe serves America's interests best. Much like UK foreign policy. Given that Talabani is a Kurd you would think that he would know that. One example below of US betrayals of Iraq's Kurds.
"Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower,"
William Blum
Chapter 17 p122-123
Iraq, 1972-75
As a favor to a very important ally, the Shah of Iran, President Nixon and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger provided military aid to the Kurds fighting for their autonomy in Iraq, Iran's perennial foe. Though the military aid was to total some $16 million, the object - unknown to the Kurds - was not to win them their autonomy, but to sap the Iraqi resources and distract them from Iran. Said a CIA memo of 1974: "Iran, like ourselves, has seen benefit in a stalemate situation...in which Iraq is intrinsically weakened by the Kurds' refusal to relinquish semi-autonomy. Neither Iran nor ourselves wish to see the matter resolved one way or the other." The congressional Pike Committee, later investigating the CIA, commented: "This policy was not imparted to [the Kurds], who were encouraged to continue fighting. Even in the context of covert action, ours was a cynical enterprise."
In 1975, oil politics brought Iraq and Iran together, and the latter, along with the United States, abandoned the Kurds to a terrible fate. At a crucial point, the Kurds were begging Kissinger for help, but he completely ignored their pleas. Kurd forces were decimated;several hundred of their leaders were executed. Later, when questioned about this by the Pike Committee, Kissinger responded: "Covert action should not be confused with missionary work."[1]
[1] Staff Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence, US House of representatives, 1975,"the Pike Report". This report can be read in book form: CIA - The Pike Report (Spokesman Books, Nottingham, England, 1977), p.56,195-8,211-17
See Washington Post: The Author Who Got A Big Boost From bin Laden
... The fallout over Mahmoudiya didn't stop President Jalal Talabani from warmly praising America, telling a Fourth of July reception at the U.S. Embassy that the world "always looked up to the United States for support in their just causes." Top figures from Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties were all in attendance. Link
db: Of course the US has a habit, going back many years, of NOT supporting 'just causes' - rather of supporting the despots, autocrats, tyrants and dictators of the world - whoever, in fact, the myopic US policy makers of the day believe serves America's interests best. Much like UK foreign policy. Given that Talabani is a Kurd you would think that he would know that. One example below of US betrayals of Iraq's Kurds.
"Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower,"
William Blum
Chapter 17 p122-123
Iraq, 1972-75
As a favor to a very important ally, the Shah of Iran, President Nixon and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger provided military aid to the Kurds fighting for their autonomy in Iraq, Iran's perennial foe. Though the military aid was to total some $16 million, the object - unknown to the Kurds - was not to win them their autonomy, but to sap the Iraqi resources and distract them from Iran. Said a CIA memo of 1974: "Iran, like ourselves, has seen benefit in a stalemate situation...in which Iraq is intrinsically weakened by the Kurds' refusal to relinquish semi-autonomy. Neither Iran nor ourselves wish to see the matter resolved one way or the other." The congressional Pike Committee, later investigating the CIA, commented: "This policy was not imparted to [the Kurds], who were encouraged to continue fighting. Even in the context of covert action, ours was a cynical enterprise."
In 1975, oil politics brought Iraq and Iran together, and the latter, along with the United States, abandoned the Kurds to a terrible fate. At a crucial point, the Kurds were begging Kissinger for help, but he completely ignored their pleas. Kurd forces were decimated;several hundred of their leaders were executed. Later, when questioned about this by the Pike Committee, Kissinger responded: "Covert action should not be confused with missionary work."[1]
[1] Staff Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence, US House of representatives, 1975,"the Pike Report". This report can be read in book form: CIA - The Pike Report (Spokesman Books, Nottingham, England, 1977), p.56,195-8,211-17
See Washington Post: The Author Who Got A Big Boost From bin Laden
posted by exoplanet at 12:08 AM
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