Turkey vs. Israel – Moon of Alabama

December 1, 2005

Turkey vs. Israel

There were reports from Hersh about Israeli forces in northern Iraq, now there is some confirmation. This has huge implications.

Israelis training Kurds in northern Iraq – report

Private Israeli security firms have sent experts to Iraq’s northern Kurdish region to give covert training to Kurdish security forces, an Israeli newspaper reported on Thursday.

The daily Yedioth Ahronoth said that over the past year and a half the Israeli companies had set up a secret training base in northern Iraq as part of a multi-million dollar project with the Kurdish regional government.

It said dozens of Israeli specialists had been sent to teach Kurdish forces "weapons training, self-defence and counter-terror warfare".

It is unavoidable that Israeli counter terror training for Kurds in Iraq ends up as terror in Istanbul.

This puts Nato member and E.U. candidate Turkey directly against Israel and its U.S. proxy force. Metal Firtina edging towards reality?

Posted by b on December 1, 2005 at 21:38 UTC | Permalink

Comments

Haven’t the Israelis been training the Kurds (to operate against Saddam, for example) for a long time? They also helped the Turkish government fight the PKK in the mid-1990s.

Posted by: theodor | Dec 1 2005 22:30 utc | 1

Ha’aretz
The withdrawal from Iraq is coming

Israel must prepare itself for the American withdrawal from Iraq. An American withdrawal, especially if it takes place without the United States achieving its main goals in Iraq, will certainly influence the strategic situation throughout the region. The American military deployment in the Middle East in the wake of the Iraq war is of unprecedented scope. Its forces are deployed on the flanks of Iran and Syria, opposite Lebanon and near Jordan and Saudi Arabia. As a result, Iran and Syria are behaving much more cautiously.
However, the American public is badly influenced by the events in Iraq and the losses suffered there, without any sign of a tangible solution approaching. That feeling has penetrated Congress, and members of the president’s own party are starting to talk about the need to develop an “exit strategy” from Iraq. President Bush’s popularity is at an unprecedented low. But Bush keeps reiterating that he will not order an exit from Iraq until the goals of the war are met.
Well-informed American sources say that senior Republican Party officials are already dealing with the question of whom to send to the White House when Bush’s term is over. They fear that the current situation will cause a Republican downfall in the next presidential elections, so they want to change the timetable for the withdrawal from Iraq. That will require them to change Washington’s strategic goals in Iraq gradually. It’s something the U.S. has done before, in Vietnam, as Henry Kissinger did.
American experts are already talking about it, saying that after the Iraqi elections a new government will be formed there with a different composition and more ministers from the Sunni community. With the Iraqi government’s agreement, the process of “Iraqization” of the war against “the rebels” will begin in 2006. Something similar happened during the war in Vietnam, known as Vietnamization.
In Iraq, there is talk that the process will enable the U.S. to pull its forces out of the cities in 2006. The U.S. military involvement in Iraq will mostly be aerial support, deployment on the Iraq-Syria border and logistical help. That will reduce the number of American troops there, and as a result, the numbers of American casualties.
America’s enemies will certainly exploit those changes to claim that Washington failed to achieve its minimal goals in the Iraq war. When defeated in wars in the past, the Arabs often managed to convince their people that they won. In any case, an unsuccessful American withdrawal from Iraq will certainly cause Iran to step up its involvement there, strengthen Hezbollah and further encourage terror against Israel.
Al-Qaida will also feel more confident in its attacks on moderate and pro-Western regimes like Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Palestinian extremists will draw encouragement from such a development. What doesn’t get done before the American withdrawal with regard to Israeli-Palestinian road map arrangements will be much harder to accomplish afterward. The results of various elections in the Middle East could also make things more difficult for the moderates.
In any case, Israel must assume that an American withdrawal from Iraq will take place in three years at the latest, when a new president enters office. It doesn’t matter if it is a Democrat or Republican. The new president will surely do everything possible to find a convenient formula for a withdrawal from Iraq. Therefore, Israel must prepare strategically for an American withdrawal and carefully examine what can be achieved in the realm of arrangements with the Palestinians.

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Dec 2 2005 0:37 utc | 2

And this just in!
Rumour has it, Messrs Ledeen and Chablabbi will be spending the holidays together at their favorite Uzbek Ski Chalet at Beldersay…..
Of course, they will do their very best to avoid the hot tub set to scalding.
.

Posted by: RossK | Dec 2 2005 8:36 utc | 3

Re Israeli troops in Iraq’s Kurdish territories.
In early reports of AIPAC-gate, i.e., the Pentagon’s Franklin passing secret docs to AIPAC honchos Rosen & Weissman, which they are alleged to have given to Israeli officials, the info was said to refer to risks posed to Israeli troops in that region. I remember being shocked to learn that Israeli troops were helping the Kurds. Later references to this legal case and the docs have referred only to US troops.

Posted by: Hamburger | Dec 2 2005 12:22 utc | 4

Should have added to the above: “remember being shocked to learn that Israeli troops were helping the Kurds” and that this was being reported in the main stream press.

Posted by: Hamburger | Dec 2 2005 12:29 utc | 5

Forget Duke Cunningham. Take a look at THE PEOPLE WHO BRIBED HIM
Yes, I agree. Let us take a close look at the people who bribe the US Congress .
America thinker?
Charging Dual Loyalty for American Jews: Then and Now

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Dec 2 2005 14:23 utc | 6

@ Uncle $cam
Scam is definitely the word here: take a look at Google Maps view of the supposed headquarter of Group W Media. Zoom in, remove the “balloon” and it turns out to be a vacant lot (with two big installations (shopping centers?) close by.
The level of corruption and cynicism of the present criminal ruling class is breathtaking.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Dec 2 2005 16:17 utc | 7

hkol
wow. nice catch.

Posted by: slothrop | Dec 2 2005 16:27 utc | 8

Interesting hkol, indeed a nice catch! Here’s more:
GROUPWMEDIA.NET
Website Title: Group W Media
Meta Description: Group W Media
Response Code: 200
SSL Cert: http://www.wilkescorp.com expires in 71 days
Alexa Trend/Rank: Not directly ranked but is
0 (1 Month) 0 (3 Month)
Website Status: Active
Reverse IP: Web server hosts 37 websites (reverse ip tool requires free login)
Server Type: Microsoft-IIS/5.0
IP Address: 12.22.219.140 (ARIN & RIPE IP search)
IP Location: – California – Poway – Adcs Inc
Blacklist Status: Clear
Record Type: Domain Name
Monitor: Monitor or Backorder
Wildcard search: ‘groupwmedia’ or ‘group media’ in all domains.
Name Server: DBRU.BR.NS.ELS-GMS.ATT.NET DMTU.MT.NS.ELS-GMS.ATT.NET
ICANN Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
Created: 05-feb-2001
Expires: 05-feb-2008
Status: REGISTRAR-LOCK
Registrant:
Group W. Media
13970 Stowe Drive
Poway, CA 92064
US
Domain Name: GROUPWMEDIA.NET
Administrative Contact:
Group W. Media Whois Privacy and Spam Prevention by Whois Source
13970 Stowe Drive
Poway, CA 92064
US
858 848 2000 fax: 858 848 0400
Technical Contact:
Network Solutions, LLC. Whois Privacy and Spam Prevention by Whois Source
13200 Woodland Park Drive
Herndon, VA 20171-3025
US
1-888-642-9675 fax: 571-434-4620
Record expires on 05-Feb-2008.
Record created on 05-Feb-2001.
Domain servers in listed order:
DBRU.BR.NS.ELS-GMS.ATT.NET 199.191.128.106
DMTU.MT.NS.ELS-GMS.ATT.NET 12.127.16.70

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Dec 2 2005 17:13 utc | 9

Addendum:
The Wilkes Corporation provides leadership, knowledge and personnel for technology and defense-related corporations. Through an aggressive recruiting program, Wilkes Corporation finds and develops top talent in all traditional areas of entity management and technology development. This team of professionals is available to handle all the needs of any firm including finance, business development, sales, personnel management, marketing, information systems management, training, customer support and new product/technology development.
Corporate Culture
When you become a part of the Wilkes Corporation team you will enter a working environment unlike any other. Our projects range from working on government contracts supporting homeland defense to planning major events in the community. We also have opportunities in information architecture and services as we move with the rapid pace of emerging technology.
Here at Wilkes Corporation we have a work hard-play hard mentality. That is why we have multiple company-sponsored events throughout the year. These events include:
* Quarterly town hall meetings and lunches
* Sporting events and tailgate parties
* Department lunches and events
* Summer events
* Community and political fundraisers
* Annual Holiday Ball
While at work we also want to make each day as profitable and beneficial for you as it can be. We offer the following to assist you in this:
* Internal training
* Educational/Professional Development Program
* Employee Incentive Points Program
* Great benefits packages
Our corporate headquarters are located in Poway, California with sister facilities in Hawaii, Washington D.C., Virginia, and Panama. As our company grows, so do our locations, both domestic and international.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Dec 2 2005 17:23 utc | 10

As many as 60 U.S. Congressmen may be implicated in Bribery scandal
The Abramoff affair could have much wider implications. A reporter for BusinessWeek, on a television interview program, said that his Justice Department sources had told him that as many as 60 congressmen could be implicated in the bribery scandal-far more than enough to threaten control over the House of Representatives, where the Republican majority is 231-202, with one independent.
Still untouched by the US Mainstream Media is Mohammed Atta‘s visits to Abramoff’s casino ship in the months leading up to 9-11.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Dec 2 2005 17:58 utc | 11

Abramoff, lobbyists linked to troubled multibillion-dollar Homeland Security contract
The Transportation Security Administration awarded a $1 billion contract to Unisys to devise a cutting-edge computer network linking hundreds of airports to the TSA’s state-of-the-art security centers. The contract was ideal, they argued, because if the company failed to meet its goals, Unisys would pay money back to the agency.
It didn’t turn out that way. In October, the Washington Post revealed the Pennsylvania-based information services company had overcharged the government for a whopping 117,000 hours — billing $131 an hour for employees who were paid less than half that amount. Officials now see the project costing taxpayers as much as $3 billion.
THE AIPAC INDICTMENT
27. On yr about March 13, 2003 , ROSEN disclosed to a senior fellow at a Washington, D.C. think tank the information relating to the classified draft internal policy document concerning a Middle Eastern country and the internal deliberations of United States government officials that had been provided to ROSEN by FRANKLIN. ROSEN disclosed details from the document and encouraged the official to use his contacts to investigate further. The senior fellow advised ROSEN that he would follow up and see what he could do.
All speculation centers on the American Enterprise Institute as the “think tank” being referenced ? Perle is the only” think tanker” supect referenced in the Post Article tied to AEI. The FBI targeted a phone call between Franklin and Perle which requires a FISA warrant. Perle used the Forward to portray the canard that he barely knows Franklin. Perle and Franklin met weekly at Doug Feith’s office, along with other OSP’ers.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Dec 2 2005 18:22 utc | 12

The Abramoff Effect
The burgeoning controversy surrounding Jack Abramoff, a conservative lobbyist whose Washington ties stretched deep into the Bush White House and the Republican Capitol, has yet to gain anywhere near the media attention accorded the CIA Plamegate leak investigation or DeLay’s indictment.
Why is the media trying to minimize Abramoff? Why is he being protected? Why is his association with Mohammed Atta not seen as a link from Abramoff to 9-11?
If Atta was a fanatical Muslim, why would he be visiting Abramoff’s casino ship, if it was not to meet with Abramoff?
“Evidence linking these Israelis to 9/11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. It’s classified information.” — US official quoted in Carl Cameron’s Fox News report on the Israeli spy ring and its connections to 9-11.
Also see: McGovern attacks the press. More importantly, he goes further than any high ranking government official has gone before on 9-11, and on identifying the real criminals behind our money system and our government.
Note: This audio interview (above)was not available live on the 29th due to “problems with the computers”, so it was rebroadcast on the 30th, but again “problems” occurred. And it is not available on the GCN archives as of the 30th!
Could it be that some group is worrying that too much serious information is making it to the public? Please download and post these audio files!
They are there now and worth your time!

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Dec 2 2005 18:31 utc | 13

Here’s the link I left out above:
The Israeli Spy Ring
“I think there is very compelling evidence that at least some of the terrorists were assisted not just in financing — although that was part of it — by a sovereign foreign government… It will become public at some point when it’s turned over to the archives, but that’s 20 or 30 years from now.”
— Senator Graham as quoted in
Senator: At Least One Foreign Country Assisted the 9/11 Terrorists

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Dec 2 2005 19:25 utc | 14

More on Wilkes Corporation here.

Posted by: beq | Dec 2 2005 21:46 utc | 15

@Uncle Scam,
FYI. After an SEC investigation into the Unisys TSA contract, the Washington Post printed a retraction re the Unisys overcharge because the reporter got it wrong.

Posted by: gylangirl | Dec 3 2005 2:38 utc | 16

@gylangirl
Thanks, but do you have a link regarding the reporters retraction?
My google fu hasn’t found anything…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Dec 3 2005 3:24 utc | 17

Uncle, I’m listening to yr. link above. Who is this guy running the program, w/so much unsubstantiated stuff? Are you familiar w/his work? Why should I take him seriously? (McGovern hasn’t come on yet.)

Posted by: jj | Dec 3 2005 4:26 utc | 18

Keep listening jj, then get back to me… I think you’ll find it quite interesting,especially w/ what McGovern has to say w/regards to Israel. The Host is a French Radio talk show guy (I think), he’s not important. As the Buddha said, we can even learn from a rock, if looked at in the right way.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Dec 3 2005 4:35 utc | 19

Yes, I understand well that most have a bit to contribute, even if 99% of their “stuff” is best overlooked. It’s just that he merely asserts w/out proof. I’ll get back to it shortly. Thanks

Posted by: jj | Dec 3 2005 4:45 utc | 20

Israel, US disagree on post-Assad Syria
Dec. 4, 2005.
“Israel and the US are at odds over the future of Syria in a post-Bashar Assad era, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
In a strategic dialogue held last week in Washington between the two countries, Israeli representatives warned that a future regime in Syria, should Assad lose power, might be just as problematic as the old one.
The Israelis projected three possible scenarios if the current regime does fall – all of them dangerous for the stability of the region.
The first was the possibility that Syria would deteriorate into total chaos and plunge into some sort of civil war; the second was that Assad would be succeeded by another member of the ruling Alawite sect who would be a hardliner like Assad; or, third, that an extreme Islamic regime would take over the country.”
Link
Israel: We prefer Assad
“Israel told the United States it fears the outcome of regime change in Syria.”
Link

Posted by: Noisette | Dec 4 2005 16:42 utc | 21

Excerpt from CounterPunch, Nov. 18 2005:
Schuh: What is the future of Syria, of President Bashar Al Assad’s situation?
Nour: Both the Syrian and Lebanese regimes will be changed- whether they like it or not- whether it’s going to be a military coup or something else… and we are working on it. We know already exactly who’s going to be the replacements. We’re working on it with the Bush administration. This is a Nazi regime of 30 years, killing ministers, presidents and stuff like that. They must be removed. These guys who came to power, who rule by power, can only be removed by power. This is Machiavelli’s power game. That’s how it is. This is how geopolitics — the war games, power games — work. I know inside out how it works, because I come from a family of politicians for the last 60 years. Look, I have access to the top classified information from the CIA from all over the world. They call me, I advise them. I know exactly what’s going on. And this will happen.
Q: So would they remove the entire Assad family?
A: Why not? Who is Bashar Al Assad?
Q: I didn’t see forensic proof in the Mehlis report that would legally convict Assad of Hariri’s death in a court of law.
A: I don’t give a damn. I don’t give a damn, frankly. This Bashar Al Assad-Emil Lahoud regime is going to go whether it’s true or not. When we went to Iraq whether there were weapons of mass destruction or not, the key is — we won. And Saddam is out! Whatever we want, will happen. Iran? We will not let Iran become a nuclear power. We’ll find a way, we’ll find an excuse- to get rid of Iran. And I don’t care what the excuse is. There is no room for rogue states in the world. Whether we lie about
it, or invent something, or we don’t… I don’t care. The end justifies the means. What’s right? Might is right, might is right. That’s it. Might is right.
Q: You sound just like Saddam. Those were his rules too.
A: So Saddam wanted to prove to the whole world he was strong? Well, we’re stronger- he’s out! He’s finished. And Iran’s going to be finished and every single Arab regime that’s like this will be finished. Because there is no room for us capitalists and multinationalists in the world to operate with regimes like this. Its all about money. And power. And wealth… and democracy has to be spread around the world. Those who want to espouse globalization are going to make a lot of money, be happy, their families will be happy. And those who aren’t going to play this game are going to be crushed, whether they like it or not! This is how we rule. And this is how it’s going to be as long as you have people who think like me.
Q: When will this regime change take place?
A: Within 6 months, in both Lebanon and Syria.
Q: Some names of replacements?
A: It is classified. There are going to be replacements and we know who they are, but I cannot mention the names.
Q: Will this be done peacefully?
A: It doesn’t matter. The end justifies the means. I don’t care about how it’s done. The important thing is that it is done. I don’t rule out force. I’m not against force. If it’s an option, it will be an option.
Q: But if it’s just trading Syrian control for American or Israeli control?
A: I have — we have — absolutely no problem with heavy US involvement in Lebanon. On an economic level, military level, political level, security level… whatever it is. Israel is the 51st state of the United States. Let Lebanon be the 52nd state. And if the Arabs don’t like it, tough luck.
Link

Posted by: Noisette | Dec 4 2005 16:51 utc | 22

The Counterpunch article noisette links to is, imo, a good example why CP is not always a reliable resource. That article starts w/ the murder of hariri and ends w/ an uncited ralph reed/abramoff quote/anecdote.
I think the article is about US/israel manipulations of lebanese/syrian politics.
I dunno. What a mess.

Posted by: slothrop | Dec 4 2005 17:15 utc | 23

I am also having trouble googling any Post retractions for articles prior to October 29th and the Post article re Unisys was printed October 23rd. Here’s the online Post retraction website. I guess prior article retractions must be archived elswhere.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/25/LI2005042500027_3.html

Posted by: @UncleScam, | Dec 4 2005 22:36 utc | 24

above note to Uncle Scam was from me. I regret the error!

Posted by: gylangirl | Dec 4 2005 22:37 utc | 25

Back to Main