Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
May 08, 2021

U.S. Officials Claim That Iraqi Kurds Helped To Kill Qassam Soleimani

Yahoo has prominently posted a long piece about the early 2020 murder of the Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and the Iraqi resistance leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

'Conspiracy is hard': Inside the Trump administration's secret plan to kill Qassem Soleimani

This article, based on interviews with 15 current and former U.S. officials, reveals new details about the Soleimani strike and the Trump administration’s long-running deliberations about killing the Iranian general and other top Iranian officials and proxies. It depicts an operation that was more sophisticated, and with a broader list of people potentially targeted for killing, than was previously known. And it describes previously unreported threats to U.S. officials in the aftermath of the strike.

MoA has extensively discussed the consequences of the assassination and most of what is said in the Yahoo piece is not new at all. That makes it suspicious.

Soleimani and Muhandis during a battle against ISIS

To recap: On January 3 2020 U.S. drones killed Major General Qassim Soleimani, the famous commander of the Iranian Quds ('Jerusalem') force, while he left the airport of Baghdad where he had just arrived. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the top leader of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, had been there to great him and to pick him up. Both had planned to attend the funeral in Najaf of the 31 Iraqi soldiers the U.S. had killed on December 29 at the Syrian-Iraqi border near Al-Qaim. Soleimani was also supposed to meet the Iraqi prime minister who at that time was a mediator in Iran-Saudi talks. Soleimani carried a letter with the Iranian response to a previous Saudi one.

In consequence of the killing of Muhandis the Iraqi parliament decided to remove all U.S. troops from Iraq. There are nearly daily attacks on U.S. forces which are still in Iraq. As revenge for the killing of Soleimani Iran and its resistance axis of Hizbullah, Syria and Ansar Islam in Yemen decided to remove all U.S. military from the Middle East. This is understood to be a decades long project.

Hardly anything of that - besides the murder of Soleimani - is mentioned in the Yahoo piece. There is not one word on Muhandis, his role in Iraq or the consequences of his death. There is no mention of the Iraqi parliament vote or of the ongoing attacks on U.S. units in Iraq.

Instead the piece prominently emphasizes alleged Kurdish collaboration in the assassination:

In late December 2019, Delta Force operators and other special operations members began filtering into Baghdad in small groups. Kurdish operatives, who played a key role in the killing, had already started infiltrating Baghdad International Airport by that point, going undercover as baggage handlers and other staff members.
...
The three sniper teams positioned themselves 600 to 900 yards away from the “kill zone,” the access road from the airfield, setting up to triangulate their target as he left the airport. [...] A member of the Counter Terrorism Group (CTG), an elite Kurdish unit in northern Iraq with deep links to U.S. Special Operations, helped them make the wind call from down range.
...
After the strike, according to two U.S. officials, a Kurdish operative disguised as an Iraqi police officer walked up to the wreckage of Soleimani’s vehicle, snapped photographs and quickly obtained a tissue sample for DNA confirmation before walking away and vanishing into the night.

Muhandis and Soleimani were revered by the Shia majority in Iraq. The revelation of Kurdish involvement in Soleimani's death might have harsh consequences for Iraqi Kurds.

If the Kurds were really involved why was this released? Why does it come in a piece that is more or less a recap of already known stuff? What are the motives of those who revealed this?

I for one do not believe those claims.

Who is interested in (re-)launching an ethnic civil war in Iraq?


The Yahoo piece then comes to the consequences of the attack:

Iran reacted with predictable fury to Soleimani’s killing, lobbing dozens of ballistic missiles at two U.S. bases in Iraq. Though no one was killed, Pentagon officials later said more than 100 service personnel were diagnosed with traumatic brain injury.

But the rocket attack was just a “slap in the face,” said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, and did not represent Iran’s full retaliation for the killing. U.S. officials and experts believe that Iran may eventually attempt a high-profile assassination of a senior U.S. official or a terrorist attack aimed at a U.S. facility.

The 'U.S. officials and experts' believe that they are way more important than they really are. Iran's Supreme Leader Ajatollah Khamenei, who was extremely near to Soleimani, has let it known that there is no one of Soleimani's caliber in U.S. ranks who could be taken out as revenge. There will be no Iranian assassination campaign of U.S. politicians or military leader.

Fears of such only shows that the former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, one of the initiator of the assassination of Soleimani, is a craven milquetoast:

Tucked into the appropriations bill signed by President Trump in the final days of 2020 was $15 million set aside to provide protective services to “former or retired senior Department of State officials” who “face a serious and credible threat from a foreign power or the agent of a foreign power” because of the work they did while in office.

The real second part of the revenge that is still coming was announced by Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah:

What do we mean by just punishment? Some are saying this must be someone of the same level as Qassem Soleimani - like Chairman of Joint Chiefs, head of @CENTCOM, but there is no one on Soleimani or Muhandis' level. Soleimani's shoe is worth more than Trump's head, so there's no one I can point to to say this is the person we can target.

Just punishment therefore means American military presence in the region, U.S. military bases, U.S. military ships, every American officer and soldier in our countries and regions. The U.S. military is the one who killed Soleimani and Muhandis, and they will pay the price. This is the equation.
...
The response to the blood of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis must be expulsion of all U.S, forces from the region.

General Esmail Qaani, Soleimani's replacement as commander of the Quds Brigade, confirmed Nasrallah's statement:

Going Underground on RT @Underground_RT - 00:14 UTC · Jan 6, 2020

Esmail Qaani, the new leader of Iran's IRGC Quds Force:
"Our promise is to continue the path of martyr Soleimani. Due to the martyrdom of #Soleimani, our promise will be the expulsion of the US from the region in different steps."

These are not empty threats but a military project that will play out over the next years. I would not bet on the U.S. as the winner of that war.

Posted by b on May 8, 2021 at 15:50 UTC | Permalink

Comments
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The Kurds have long been associated with Israeli secret agencies, and Israeli bribes-from-aid to US politicians are the determinant of US ME policy. So Israel via Yahoo news was likely celebrating to provoke Iran or for similar purposes.

Posted by: Sam F | May 8 2021 16:16 utc | 1

The picture is in Khozestan province in Iran. It was during the 2019 flood.

Posted by: Kammy | May 8 2021 16:25 utc | 2

One wonders how many more US betrayals it will take for the Kurds to wake up to the fact that they're perceived by the Yankees as Useful Idiots? Gullible Useful Idiots? Dumb, Gullible, Expendable Useful Idiots?

It'll be interesting to see how the used & abused Kurds 'thank' AmeriKKKa for this insulting and completely unnecessary revelation?

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | May 8 2021 16:28 utc | 3

It gets plainly clear that IF the Kurds had a role in the iranian leader assassination, the narrative might be designed to create a road to a presently non-existent enmity between Iranian fighters in Syria and the Kurds in Syrian northeast.
And puts some blocks in the road of a future Syrian-Kurdish peace compromise.

Posted by: augusto | May 8 2021 16:28 utc | 4

Iran's response may depend on how eager it is to have the U.S. rejoin the JCPOA. My guess is that what Iran wants most at this time is a lifting of economic sanctions, so I do not expect overt actions, such as assassinations or cyberattacks. However, its proxies may remain in an offensive mode, not that the U.S. military actually cares if its soldiers are killed, especially the mercenaries who make up the bulk of the fighting forces.

Posted by: Rob | May 8 2021 16:31 utc | 5

" As revenge for the killing of Soleimani Iran and its resistance axis of Hizbullah, Syria and Ansar Islam in Yemen decided to remove all U.S. military from the Middle East. This is understood to be a decades long project. "

So prior to that they were willing to tolerate the US presence there ?

Posted by: Question | May 8 2021 17:15 utc | 6

Mr. Question

No.

The declaration subsequent to the assassination of the late General Soleimani was intended to appease public opinion in Iran, for the most part. Furthermore, that public announcement of an existing policy served to entrench support for it in the minds of the Iranian people.

The economic siege war against Iran, the martyrdom of the late Hadj Ghasem, and the absence of any aide and succor to the Iranian people by the so-called Western states has been successfully used to discredit those who believed normal intercourse between Iran and the West is a possibility. That population in Iran has no legs to stand on.

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 17:24 utc | 7

Mr. B

All those involved in those murders, in my opinion, are on a hit list: be they Arab, American, Kurdish, Iranian, or German

Revenge will come or has already begun.

But beyond those murders, there is this: the so-called West has now lost Iran and the Shia World by condoning, through their silence, the national/religious heroes of Iran and Iraq.

There are times in history that are Epoch-makers: we all had the rare opportunity of witnessing such days during the funeral marches of the late martyred Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, the late martyred General Soleimani and their companions.

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 17:32 utc | 8

Cui Bono? Good question but one of the answers for sure is increased ethnic tensions in the ME

Will those ethnic tensions spill over into a war that can be managed by empire to its ends?

In case any haven't noticed, empire is lighting fires all over the world in hopes of creating a war they can hide behind....and it is not happening....yet

Empire is losing control of the narrative in many areas of the world and they are working hard to get them back by hook or crook.

If empire is driven from the ME, it means the Occupied Palestine issue has been resolved as well.....they are locked together, IMO

Posted by: psychohistorian | May 8 2021 17:50 utc | 9

What a nice picture. Brothers in arms. That why my government and country are self destructing. Empty on the inside where it counts.

Posted by: So | May 8 2021 18:05 utc | 10

$15 million to protect plumpguido? it takes that much to keep him away from KFC and veal i guess? i kid. i kid the fat greasy fuck.

the kurds seem like the least possible culprits but who knows. they're BFFs with israel so maybe there's some logistics between the groups...?

maybe since the kurds have always been treated like cannon fodder they're being set up as the target of some false flag nonsense which the US/israelis can use as a flimsy pretext for more "derpa derp iran is teh hitlur" bullshit.

Posted by: the pair | May 8 2021 18:15 utc | 11

definitely an israeli attempt to start an iran war. they've tried tricks like this before and have much of assad's syria convinced. and there are rumors that they funneled arms to kurdish pjak and/or pak insurgents in iran's western mountains, although stratfor believes that support came from the saudis.

but jerusalem has no love for the kurds. in 1982 during the first lebanon war by the izzies, there were kurds who fought shoulder to shoulder with the palestinians against the invading idf. ten or so kurdish martyrs died defending an observation post on nabatiye plain just north of the litani river. they died singing revolutionary songs of the 1938 dersim rebellion era, comparing the israelis to turks. and long before turkey became a uav powerhouse the israelis helped them track down pkk guerrillas in the mountains with the heron, a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned uav, aka the machatz from iai.

this is just a provocation. untrue. probably from mossad, or the darker side of hasbara.

Posted by: Leith | May 8 2021 18:17 utc | 12

Mr. So

Indeed.

The late Mr. Muhandis was fluent in Persian and admirer of the Persianate culture & civilization. He enjoyed the poetry of the Shahnameh, for example.

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 18:28 utc | 13

Mr. Leith

A lot has happened since the events around river Litani in 1982.

Furthermore, those were different Kurds than those of Talibanistan and Barzanistan of Iraq.

I personally do not put it past some Kurds, in Iraq or in Iran, to have offered themselves to USA, free of charge, for an opportunity to help hurt Iran or to destroy her.

Many people in the Near East are up for rent.

Many more are cunning fools, easy to manipulate as they consider themselves to be supremely clever.

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 18:34 utc | 14

Who the hell knows who could collaborate in that assassination. Could be Khamenei, for all we know.

Posted by: Mao Cheng Ji | May 8 2021 18:53 utc | 15

Does Yahoo employ a single actual journalist?

Posted by: intp1 | May 8 2021 18:55 utc | 16

mr fyi

the zach dorfman article on yahoo that b linked to specifically mentions polad talabani, head of ctg, being involved. polad is from the puk, or talabanistan as you tag it, and is a cousin of current puk leadership and a nephew of mam jalal talabani. the puk has been allied with and friendly to tehran for 25 years or more. mam jalal talabani, former president of iraq, lived in iran for many years. i don't believe for a minute that anyone in the talabani family, no matter how much up for rent they are, would participate in an op against suleimeni. the kdp, or your barzanistan, is a different story. they are not overly friendly with iran and may well have participated. but until i see proof my belief is that this is nothing more than an izzie attempt to instigate bad blood between the tehran/baghdad bloc and the iraqi kurds.

Posted by: Leith | May 8 2021 19:03 utc | 17

What of the rumors that the CIA operative Michael d'Andrea was killed in a plane crash in Afghanistan, brought about somehow by Iran in retaliation? Do we know if he is still alive?

https://time.com/5775758/military-crash-cia-disinformation/

Posted by: Dave | May 8 2021 19:14 utc | 18

Mr. Leith

Thank you for your response.

I also hope you be correct in your surmise.

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 19:25 utc | 19

Dear All

Absolutely devastating news from Kabul today, Shia Hazara students murdered by Sunnis.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/blast-near-afghan-school-kabul-kills-10-injures-dozens-security-official-2021-05-08/

Shia have enemies.

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 19:35 utc | 20

Mr. Mao Cheng Ji

How would we know that you are not raping your mother, sister, and daughter?

Or renting your wife to Japanese?

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 19:39 utc | 21

psychohistorian | May 8 2021 17:50 utc | 9

Watch out for the massive (their words) exercises in Israel, to take place tomorrow. Simulated war with Herzbollah and Hamas, but possibly including real attacks on Gaza. (They expect rockets from Gaza). Bombing expected. The Palestinians have nothing to lose either. (205 wounded and at least another 44 arrested today)
Netanyahu is no longer able to form an israeli Government, so he risks prison (? not sure if that is for real as he usually finds a way out) for corruption later on. He has nothing to lose during his last few days as PM.

****
Donbas reports heavy fighting and an "advance" by troops (unconfirmed) towards the city of Donetsk. (The question is of fuel supplies for Uke tanks and trains as 40% comes from Belarus and the treatment plant is closed until June for maintenance).
****
The Indonesians have silenced all radio contact with Irian Jaya and are carrying out an "operation" by troops, against the Papuan resistance.

****
Have a nice evening, in spite of all that.

Posted by: Stonebird | May 8 2021 19:44 utc | 22

'..All those involved in those murders, in my opinion, are on a hit list: be they Arab, American, Kurdish, Iranian, or German.'

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 17:32 utc | 8

What about israelis? Are you a jew, Fyi?

Posted by: tucenz | May 8 2021 20:31 utc | 23

Mr. tucenz

Iranian officials have not assigned blame to Israel.

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 20:46 utc | 24

The Yahoo article sure is a real slap in the face to the Kurdish forces working with the West in occupying northern Iraq and NE Syria. No doubt it was written to deflect Iraqi and Iranian anger away from Western interference in the Middle East towards the Kurds to get a sectarian war going to justify continued Western occupation and meddling.

Who are Jack Murphy and Zach Dorfman anyway? From what I could find of Dorfman on search engines, he is a writer employed or associated with the Aspen Institute headquartered in Washington DC writing on cyber-security topics. That might suggest he and the other writer were fed this information or farrago about Kurdish involvement in Soleymani's assassination from the usual anonymous sources.

Posted by: Jen | May 8 2021 20:56 utc | 25

jen

jack murphy is former special forces. left the army ten years ago. now calls himself an 'investigative journalist'. but he has also written a couple of fictional action novels.

Posted by: Leith | May 8 2021 21:03 utc | 26

Question @ 6:

Read that paragraph from the MoA article carefully and understand that such an undertaking means ridding the entire Middle Eastern region of all US military interference. This surely includes forcing the US to leave Saudi Arabia and other ME nations with their heads stuck in the US backside.

Understand also that other Western nations also have forces, mercenaries and "advisors" in the Middle East and their removal from the region is just as much important but less urgent. If the chief bully can be thrown out first, its minions will follow like the craven cowards they are. No doubt the British and the French will try to keep a toehold in the region through proxy forces but whether those govts have the backbone to keep going is another question.

Posted by: Jen | May 8 2021 21:16 utc | 27

Ms Jen

There is a sectarian war initiated by Sunnis against Shia.

There is also a Judeo-Christian Crusade against All of Islam

And then there are interloper Sane Sunnis who have joined the Shia against Salafist Jihadism.

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 21:24 utc | 28

@ Question:

Before their beef was with Israel, then ISIS and other Terrorists were added to it... after the assassination of Soleimani, apparently US Army has also been added to that list.


Dont expect them to run around and behead some random white guy somewhere...these guys take their time and mean business....well at least judging by their acts in the last 40+ years or so.

Posted by: Parsi | May 8 2021 21:28 utc | 29

Mr. Parsi

They started first.

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 21:29 utc | 30

I think it's important for Iran to assassinate at least one mid-high level person, in order to demonstrate they have the logistical capability of doing so. To put some slight hesitation in the minds of cowboy, rogue US warmongers. And frankly to not continue to look soft as their generals and scientists are continually murdered inside and outside Iran. Their incompetence in protecting these important people is well-demonstrated. Are they equally incompetent at carrying out real consequences other than launching a few missiles?

They need to be like Frank Nitti in "The Untouchables", the elevator scene. "Touchable"

Posted by: Hippo Dave | May 8 2021 21:46 utc | 31

What are your religious beliefs, Fyi? What tradition(s) do you come from?

Posted by: tucenz | May 8 2021 21:50 utc | 32

RT today in article.

"Based on “interviews with 15 current and former US officials,” the article pieces together the effort to “take Qassem Soleimani off the board,” in the words of one anonymous CIA official. Multiple US military branches and intelligence agencies were involved, but so too were Israeli special forces, the article claims."

Posted by: Per/Norway | May 8 2021 22:06 utc | 33

@31 Hippo Dave who says "I think it's important for Iran to assassinate at least one mid-high level person, in order to demonstrate they have the logistical capability of doing so."

Done and done! Anybody heard from Ayatollah Mike lately?

Posted by: Haassaan | May 8 2021 23:06 utc | 34

I lol’d at b’s description of Pigman Pompous Pompeo as a “craven milquetoast.” Suits that bloated blowhard perfectly.

Noticed one error... ‘Ansar Islam’ (aka the Houthis) should be ‘Ansar Allah’.

Posted by: Antibody | May 8 2021 23:06 utc | 35

U.S. officials claim that they, themselves, are not entirely responsible for their roles in participating in the crimes of the occupation?
What else do they happen to claim?
Do they perhaps claim that kermit the frog won their latest free and fair election, though he does not actually exist and clearly didn't bother to run?

Posted by: Josh | May 8 2021 23:59 utc | 36

What will they claim next?
That boys are girls?
That girls are boys?
That man created God?

Posted by: Josh | May 9 2021 0:00 utc | 37

Wait,
Sorry,
They already did that,
My mistake...

Posted by: Josh | May 9 2021 0:01 utc | 38

The 'U.S. officials and experts' believe that they are way more important than they really are. Iran's Supreme Leader Ajatollah Khamenei, who was extremely near to Soleimani, has let it known that there is no one of Soleimani's caliber in U.S. ranks who could be taken out as revenge. There will be no Iranian assassination campaign of U.S. politicians or military leader.

Too bad. The beatings will continue as long the policy makers are not held responsible for their actions. Whacking cannon fodder will not change policies. It would be a good start IF allegations of Ayatollah Mike demise is true but he's only one of the MANY policy makers out there.

Posted by: Ian2 | May 9 2021 0:05 utc | 39

b: "Who is interested in (re-)launching an ethnic civil war in Iraq?"

Answer = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Netanyahu

But you already knew that.

Posted by: Mike | May 9 2021 0:31 utc | 40

Pompeo may not be of Soleimani's caliber, but at least he's a large target.

Posted by: Martin Nathaniel Bro | May 9 2021 0:35 utc | 41

Mr. Ian2

While there is none who would ever be comparable to Imam Hussein, every single man involved in his murder was killed.

Posted by: Fyi | May 9 2021 1:26 utc | 42

Mr. Martin Nathaniel Bro

One among many.

Posted by: Fyi | May 9 2021 1:27 utc | 43

fyi

re 'all killed': with all due respect, that is but a half truth. yazid died a drunk, he was not killed.

Posted by: Leith | May 9 2021 2:41 utc | 44

Mr. Leith

Good enough.

Posted by: Fyi | May 9 2021 3:02 utc | 45

Screw the Kurds. Even if they weren't involved in this, they're a gaggle of Quislibgs who are hated by every government in West Asia and due excellent reasons, because they are always poised to join up with any enemy of any nation where they live in a heartbeat.

The Amerikastani worship of Kurds is especially ridiculous when coming from people who couldn't tell a Kurd from a curd, and had never heard of them before their television set told them to.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | May 9 2021 3:12 utc | 46

I suppose that this tells us that the USA suspects that the Kurds are in talks with Some People The State Department Does Not Like. What better way to spike such talks than to release this guff?

Posted by: Yeah, Right | May 9 2021 3:44 utc | 47

@28 Leith "now calls himself an 'investigative journalist'. but he has also written a couple of fictional action novels"

I'd hazard a guess that all his "investigative journalism" is not a million miles from "fictional".

Posted by: Yeah, Right | May 9 2021 3:54 utc | 48

Leith @ 26, YR @ 48:

LOL these journalists always turn out to have been creative writing majors at college. Jack Murphy must have had a script rejected by one of the Hollywood studios. DC Comics or Marvel Studios must have asked him for a script with fewer explosions and villains with actual motives.

Posted by: Jen | May 9 2021 4:14 utc | 49

Whether the Kurds were involved or not, it is irrelevant as far as I am concerned. Why? Because it could be a diversion to engage the Iranians and their Kurdish brethren in a hostile situation, something that only the US, Russia, Turkey and Israel and the Persian Gulf Arabs would benefit from. I do accept that some Kurds may have been involved as some Iraqis may have been too. But an official sanction of the engagement by Kurdish leadership is almost impossible. The Talibani faction have always been on close terms with Iran. The Barezani side, renowned for their treacherous nature, know better than to provoke the Iranians, particularly when Masood Barezani himself admitted that when ISIS were at the gates of Erbil, he called the US, Turkey, Arabs and they all declined to send help. Only Commander Solleymani and his 50 entourage arrived in Erbil to help protect the Kurds and the ISIS fighters, hearing of this, lost the will to continue their siege and pulled back. The main point here is that whatever happens in the Near East, be it Israelis, Arabs or the Turks, their main sponsor is always the West (US-UK-France) and the Russians. In other words, the figure in charge always takes the blame and rightly so. Murdering an official of another country, particularly a high ranking one, is not only a blatant crime, it also shows total disregard for international norms and rules, something the US used freely to invade Iraq, Afghanistan, Grenada and dozens of other countries. This act of terrorism by the US shows the true nature of this so called "war on terror". As we go further into the future, we find that it is in fact "war FOR terror". What is the US doing meddling in so many countries throughout the world. It has gone beyond your traditional colonial imperialism seeking to exploit the natural resources of others. It is a well planned campaign of enslaving the rest of the world for one purpose, to destroy the human sole. This cannot be a human act, any normal natural human being would be content with using politics, military means... to take over the resources of other nations. This ongoing campaign of creating wars, refugee crisis, destroying the infrastructure of other nations, implanting terrorists groups in other countries, taking over other peoples land to create a regime for the purpose of spreading terrorism within a region... are extraterrestrial acts as far as I am concerned. a human being, no matter how criminal or greedy, would only go so far to achieve their goals. The kinds of acts we witnessed in the old USSR, Vietnam, Korea, the Near East and such, are the works of non-humans. This I do not say to justify excuses for the criminals who committed such foul acts, this I say because when I look at the creatures involved in these monstrous events, I do not see the human look in their eyes. Just looking at the likes of Biden, Nothingyahoo, Stalin, John McCane, Hillary Clinton, Obama, Pompus, the Bushes, the Windsors and the likes, I do not see anything human in their behaviour. I see evil, pure evil.

Posted by: Ahurra | May 9 2021 4:35 utc | 50

Living in this part of the world, one thing I have learnt, before the overthrow of the Shah of Iran and Saddam Hussein, there were no Al Qaeda, Taliban or ISIS anywhere in this part of the world.

Posted by: Ahurra | May 9 2021 4:39 utc | 51

The current negotiations on the re-implementation of the JCPOA seem to go well. There are probably negotiations or at least rumors about Iran and the Kurdish factions getting closer, too.

Israel has an interest to use the Kurds to derail the JCPOA again or at least to prevent any Kurdish-Iranian approach.

Posted by: m | May 9 2021 4:40 utc | 52

Leith@17 - "the zach dorfman article on yahoo that b linked to specifically mentions polad talabani, head of ctg, being involved."

The article makes no mention of Polad Talabani. There's a link in it to an old 2015 article by Jack Murphy about the Kurdish CTG and Polad Talabani: https://sofrep.com/news/kurdistans-elite-counterterrorism-group-takes-fight-isis/
Nonetheless, the Talabani/PUK connection is there as you noted - any Kurdish CTC involvement in Soleimani's assassination is absurd. A fact which will completely fly over the heads of 99.9% of the YahooNews audience, whose reaction will undoubtedly be somewhere along the lines of "Cool story, bro!".

Jen@25 - "The Yahoo article sure is a real slap in the face to the Kurdish forces working with the West in occupying northern Iraq and NE Syria."

Respectfully, I think You're kind of missing the point. The article's purpose is to reignite the civil war between Iran's Barzani/KDP (US, Israel, Turkey-friendly) loyalist Kurds and the PUK (Iranian-friendly) Kurds. I doubt the U.S. will ever leave Iraq, but if we do: we will somehow invoke our 'autonomous Kurdish Barzanistan' loophole and just stay there because it's kind of not in Iraq. The fly in the ointment there is the PUK Kurd regions - the U.S. and Israel hates them (passively) and has every incentive to prod Barzani/KDP to put the boot on their neck once and for all. Any Iranian-friendly Kurds must be eliminated for the greater good (the long-planned U.S./Israeli war against Iran).

Jack Murphy isn't oblivious to Israel's influence in U.S. politics or the treasonous Israeli supporters in congress. He does appear to be an easy target for Mossad, eagerly lapping up secret special forces insider tips planted by Israel. He sent out a thread of curious tweets earlier today. Sorry for posting verbatum, but you know how Twitter black hole's stuff:

Later part of thread at https://twitter.com/JackMurphyRGR/status/1391048398002921478

Replying to @JackMurphyRGR Our article has been updated with a statement from Lawen Azad, a spokesman for Lahur Talabany, co-president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party and a former intelligence chief who denied that Kurdish operatives were involved in the Soleimani killing cont: 2:59 PM · May 8, 2021·Twitter Web App
Replying to
@JackMurphyRGR
writing in an email to Yahoo News that the Counter Terrorism Group "categorically rejects claims" that it was involved in the operation.


His YahooNews article has not been updated with this additional information as I look at it now. Probably because Murphy breathlessly touted the based Kurd CTG (mostly an anti-al-Qaeda and ISIS force) and now he's pissed them off. Not intentionally - he's just using his (ultimately) Mossad-supplied facts to weave the beginning of a narrative. Next steps: clarify to the sheeple that KDP are 'good' Kurds and the PUK are Iranian-loving demon Kurds that must be genocided.

Syrian Kurds PYD are really not part of this particular intrigue. The Syrian PYD and Iranian KDP have a pretty tense relationship as it is, but nothing like the overt KDP/PUK distrust and animosity. In the long run, the U.S. and Israel still have a unified goal for all the Kurds: one Barzani to rule them all and feed them willingly into the Iranian meat-grinder.

Posted by: PavewayIV | May 9 2021 4:42 utc | 53

paveway

thanks for the clarification. i do have one snivel though on your otherwise well done comment. imo the current us admisistration does not seem to hate the puk kurds. just four days ago mcgurk, the current wh nsc coordinator for the middle east, along with a group from state and dod met with the puk leadership including qubad and lahur. discussions included continued support for the region in the fight against isis and inter-party relations within the kri. so maybe that is what triggered mention of kurds in the murphy/dorfman article.

the american gi's that worked with the puk against ansar al-islam and isis always had good things to say about those particular kurds and that part of the kri. although i agree that pompeo and probably esper had it in for them because they were too friendly with iran. when current secdef austin was centcom a decade ago he always had good relations with the puk. i believe votel and mattis did also.

Posted by: Leith | May 9 2021 6:25 utc | 54

Fears of such only shows that the former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, one of the initiator of the assassination of Soleimani, is a craven milquetoast:

Tucked into the appropriations bill signed by President Trump in the final days of 2020 was $15 million set aside to provide protective services to “former or retired senior Department of State officials” who “face a serious and credible threat from a foreign power or the agent of a foreign power” because of the work they did while in office.

So, it's safe to say that Pompeo's bodyguards will be spending a lot of time holding his hand at every notable All-You-Can-Eat buffet in the greater Washington DC metro area?

Posted by: ak74 | May 9 2021 6:31 utc | 55

Viewing Kurds as a monolithic force is manifestly misguided. And the same applies to narrower regional subgroups. The reason why Talabanis were glad to get American aid, besides possible bribes, was a vexing problem with a radical Salafist Kurdish group in their region, and who were supported in some clusters of villages. This lead to the formation of "Counter Terrorism Group" in the part of Iraqi Kurdistan that was under sway of Talabanis and rather than depend on smuggling oil to Turkey, like Barzanis, they were smuggling gasoline from Iran.

Because American special forces armed and trained CTG, they recruited some agents within that group that they could activate later. The Talabani who lead CTG could have some control over those agents, or not -- so it is plausible that some such agent, free lancing or not, could help to kill Soleimani and al-Muhandis. If true, it is puzzling why a secret bearing on intelligence operations and causing mortal danger to the agents was disclosed. In normal times, that should be 10+ year prison sentence (life sentence?).

One explanation is that it is a misdirection. This is not a complete explanation because Lahur Talabani is a real person with ties to Americans, so such misdirection would be detrimental, UNLESS there was some blackmail and Talabani, involved in the affair or not, did not want to play along. Or a revenge if Americans spooks suspected that some of their agents were sold by Lahur to Iranians. Because of geographical position and regional tradition, the most plausible conflict between former friend would stem from one side wishing to engage in terrorism inside Iran and the other side did not. Thus the damaging leak. Concerning long term plans to magnify chaos in Iraq, this topic is probably in hands of another American intelligence group which, judging on results, is damn competent. And this piece of spite does not look too clever.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 9 2021 6:49 utc | 56

Posted by b

Iran's Supreme Leader Ajatollah Khamenei, who was extremely near to Soleimani, has let it known that there is no one of Soleimani's caliber in U.S. ranks who could be taken out as revenge. There will be no Iranian assassination campaign of U.S. politicians or military leader.

I see two interpretations of this quote:

1. Iran's leader recognizes that revenge and deterrence are two very distinct concepts. One is based on personal ego while the other aims at strategic gain. However, fearing the reaction of a domestic audience overly focused on revenge, he offers a clever, flattering, excuse for apparent inaction.

2. Aware of the balance of power and the reality of escalation dominance, Iran abstains from retaliating in kind. However, fearing the reaction of a domestic audience overly focused on revenge, Iran's leader offers a clever, flattering, excuse for apparent inaction.

Posted by: robin | May 9 2021 7:01 utc | 57

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 19:35 utc | 20

Absolutely devastating news from Kabul today, Shia Hazara students murdered by Sunnis.
...
Shia have enemies.

Thank you Fyi for the link. I believe the incident fits perfectly with this current article.

--

Posted by: Fyi | May 8 2021 21:24 utc | 28

There is a sectarian war initiated by Sunnis against Shia.
There is also a Judeo-Christian Crusade against All of Islam
And then there are interloper Sane Sunnis who have joined the Shia against Salafist Jihadism.

And then there are Santa's little helpers, working in the shadow, blowing on embers, spreading rumours and calling for blood. This worked wonderfully in Iraq 16 years ago. Who remembers the string of bombings on shrines, markets, weddings ?

Who remembers the two blokes from the Basra prison incident of 2005?

Posted by: robin | May 9 2021 7:11 utc | 58

Who remembers the two blokes from the Basra prison incident of 2005?

Posted by: robin | May 9 2021 7:11 utc | 58

Well, I do. I still have their picture around here somewhere.

One can hazard a guess that this bombing has some relation to a desire to not have the US leave Afghanistan. Lot's of explosions here and there of late. Too many in fact, they just don't have the impact they once did. How long would anybody notice 9/11 today? It was only 3000 people or so.

But I think it is too late, we are leaving Afghanistan now, other things to do, more convincing "enemies" to confront.

The best "revenge" is to stay out of it, watch them flail around as they fall and to know it is not your doing.

Posted by: Bemildred | May 9 2021 8:10 utc | 59

Posted by: Bemildred | May 9 2021 8:10 utc | 59

But I think it is too late, we are leaving Afghanistan now, other things to do, more convincing "enemies" to confront.

Yes, regular troops are probably set to leave Afghanistan. But you know what? It was a good run. A handsome 20 year revenue stream for a handful of really fine folks.

However, the strategic aim of the operation hasn't changed. What better way to ensure a thorough, durable state of chaos than to outsource the conflict to locals and regional actors? As I said, it worked perfectly in Iraq.

Posted by: robin | May 9 2021 8:44 utc | 60

I, too, get the feeling the author of this piece is being fed a narrative by the people he talked too. Though CTG has undeniable strong ties with the US special forces, and groups of its kind tend to grow more loyal to the US than their own government, I cannot believe PUK's willingness to engage in an operation of this kind. Not only is PUK militarily allied to Iran for almost three decades, PUK-territories rely heavily on cross-border trade with Iran. Yet, on the other hand, there's Kerkuk. Kurds have had some bad blood with Iran (and thus Soleimani) since the 2017 take-over of Kerkuk by pro-Iranian PMF militias.. Yet, I still tend to disbelieve the narrative Yahoonews is selling. If it was any other Kurdish party, I'd tend to believe it. But PUK?

Also, timing is very questionable. Why would the US even want to expose an ally this obviously? Who needs inter-sectarian violence to flare up? Is this a cheap scheme to have Iran retaliate on the Kurds, abolish its 3-decade-lasting ties with Sulaimaniyah, and be able to reap public support for a prolonged stay in Iraq, or worse, a war against Iran? Oh hey, and KRG is like a European militaries picknick spot, US'd easily force the coalition into their scheme. I can just smell the neocon conspiracy all the way here in Tehran.

Posted by: Hedwig | May 9 2021 9:54 utc | 61

Does anyone suspect that the car-bombing that killed 53 people (mostly school-girls?) and injured 155 others might be a "false flag" attack aiming at gaining Western public support to maintain US-led Western forces in Afghanistan past the date (September 11, 2021) they are supposed to be leaving? Notice that President Ashraf Ghani was very quick to condemn Taliban miltants as the culprits (without evidence that they and they alone had done so) but the Taliban denied having anything to do with the attack that had been carried out in a Shi'a Muslim neighbourhood targeted by Islamic State militants in recent times.

Posted by: Jen | May 9 2021 10:53 utc | 62

@Jen 63:

Here is what I wrote on Southfront on this topic:

As for the Taliban, there is, of course, zero reason for them to do this. If they really want ti stop girls’ education again, which by the way they say they will not do, they can just do it after they inevitably recapture power in a year or two. Blowing up the school would be totally counterproductive at this point.

There are only two sets of people it would benefit: the Imperialist States of Amerikastan, which wants to continue the occupation, and the puppet child sex slaver Quisling warlord regime in Kabul, which needs the occupation to continue to survive.

Cui bono, as they say. Who benefits from a crime?

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | May 9 2021 11:32 utc | 63

Posted by: Jen | May 9 2021 10:53 utc | 62

That is also my conviction. If the Taliban wish to repeat their exact domestic policies of the 90s (which they did with the full blessings of the US and its allies that created the movement), they can always do so once they return to power. This criminal attack stinks as a false-flag by every metric. And the human detritus that runs the Anglo-American empire and its vassals doesn't shirk from such acts.

I would add as a side note that ISIS in Afghanistan has been defeated by the Taliban and not the US forces that have effectively backed it.

Posted by: Constantine | May 9 2021 13:48 utc | 64

Ms. Jen

Most definitely:

A Pashtun government murdering Persian-speaking, Shia, non-Pashtun girls, in a timed series of bomb explosions for maximum number of casualties, to get the Crusader Judeo-Christian Mad King to protect its fiefdom a bit longer.

I would say you are right on the mark.

Posted by: Fyi | May 9 2021 14:09 utc | 65

Mr. Hedwig & Others

A known religious enemy of Islam, especially the Shia, cannot stay in Iraq, not even in Kurdish areas. Kurds are also conservative Muslims.

Posted by: Fyi | May 9 2021 14:13 utc | 66

Biswapriya Purkayast @May9 13:31 #2

As for the Taliban, there is, of course, zero reason for them to do this.... Blowing up the school would be totally counterproductive at this point.

Yeah, seems more likely that the Empire's wrecking crew (aka ISIS) is behind the bombing.

The motive? 'Trigger' America's 'woke' fake progressives to demand that USA stay in Afghanistan. The good people (tm) of the Biden-Harris Administration would not be able to resist that pressure.

Funny how Western fake media are so certain that USA is leaving Afghanistan despite previous failed attempts and numerous other lies (closing Guantanamo, "moderate rebels", etc.).

!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | May 9 2021 14:38 utc | 67

My comment is a response to Biswapriya Purkayast #63

!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | May 9 2021 14:39 utc | 68

Mr. Ahurra

You cannot include in your list the late Joseph Stalin.

Much of what he did, like the actions of the late Ivan the Terrible, was forced on him by causes external to the Soviet Union.

Without him, the Third Reich would have been with us today without any doubt.

The late Shah of Iran was a weak well-intentioned man. His major political error was that he amassed all power in is own hands and, therefore, assumed responsibility for all that was ill during his reign.

His major error in judgement other than going against Islamic Tradition on multiple occasions, was that he did not recruit people superior to himself to run his government, he preferred loyal sycophants.

He might be even considered a patriotic Iranian but he was ill informed by his subordinates, except his wife.

The idea that "Islam Is the Answer" seems to me to have been around since at least the time of the late Seyyed Jamal Al Din Assad Abadi as Muslims were confronted by a World made by The Western Christians which they could neither understand nor contrl.

I think the reforms in Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan early last century retarded that as some partial successes were achieved. But, the later failures of the modernizers in Turkey, in Iran, and in Egypt discredited that approach.

Iran is quite instructive in that the Iranian people elected, by proclamation, an obscure Muslim Philosopher & Jurist to lead them and to safeguard their interests. That once Iran entered the era of mass politics, the masses quite clearly have indicated more trust in mullahs than others: perhaps because mullahs never betrayed Iran.

Posted by: Fyi | May 9 2021 14:40 utc | 69

Piotr Berman #56

Thank you, that seems likely as the skirmishes proceed. Perhaps related was the IRGC bust of radical insurgents in the north one week ago.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 9 2021 15:19 utc | 70

mr fyi

i agree with your opinions on pahlavi.

on the other hand i disagree that mullahs never betrayed iran. the cia and mi-6 deservedly get the blame for the mossadegh coup of 53. but that coup never would have been successful without the participation of ayatollahs kashani and behbahan and their thousands of club swinging followers who took to the streets against mossadegh and his allies.

as for stalin, to his shame he deported millions of muslims to siberia because of his fear they would collaborate with the nazis. that fear was well founded because many soviet muslims still remembered stalin's shutdown of mosques and religious schools in the late 1920s and 30s. and his persecution of muslim religious leaders.

Posted by: Leith | May 9 2021 16:08 utc | 71

“perhaps because mullahs never betrayed Iran.”
Posted by: Fyi | May 9 2021 14:40 utc | 69

fyi, everything that I read about the 1953 coup points to Iranian mullahs being, at least minimally perfidious, in that coup. So, never say never.
This is not to say, they haven’t done well for Iran and Iranians currently.

//

By assassinating the late general Qasim Soleimani on January 3rd 2020, the empire committed suicide for fear of dying.
On January 8th 2020, Iran delivered the last bullet to make sure the empire stays dead.
On that date, Iran showed two things among others.
1 ) That Iran is not afraid of attacking the empire head-on. No other country can claim that. Not the mighty old USSR. Not the current or previous China.

Oh, and Iran has been crapping on the Monroe doctrine, by directly aiding Venezuela.

2 ) That Iran, with terminal guidance in it’s rockets, has MAD parity, and took the head-on ‘war with Iran’ off the table, once and for all.
In the aftermath the POTUS said: “All is well.” Well, is it Mr. president?

“In my opinion, the moment when the Trump Administration made this statement is when the death certificate of the Empire was signed. Why?”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/55782.htm

Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | May 9 2021 16:46 utc | 72

Thx, b, for your analysis of that puff-piece, which Yahoo featured prominently (where I first read it a few days ago). I had noticed that the article really played up the Kurdish contribution, but hadn't worked out the implications.

First thing that struck me about the article was the soft-core War Porn style - something about "fingers lightly resting on the trigger"? (or was that "lightly caressing" the "trigger"?) That aspect of the propaganda would be aimed at US Veterans & 2A types, priming them to accept the (dishonest) political framing of the rest of the piece.

Bonus observation: the $16M set aside (by Congress?!) for ongoing "security" for Pompeo sounds like blood money to me. I'd love to see a full audit of how that money gets spent/laundered, but that ain't gonna happen.

Posted by: elkern | May 9 2021 16:52 utc | 73

Mr. Leith & Mr. Sakineh Begom

I think that the late Ayatollah Kashani betrayed the late Dr. Mossadegh and not Iran.

Posted by: Fyi | May 9 2021 17:15 utc | 74

Leith | May 9 2021 16:08 utc | 71

"... ayatollahs kashani and behbahan and their thousands of club swinging followers who took to the streets against mossadegh and his allies."

For me, a bit of missing data that would explain how the coup was able to overcome apparently overwhelming popular support of Mossadegh. Despite knowing that the Crown and and US BigOilOctapus were clearly behind the coup, there was no way to explain the swift success and immediate consolidation of such radical changes ...until your post. I cannot verify your data, but it fits so well.

...and begs a review of the use of religious leaders acting in concert to enable massive political upheavals and then sustaining such changes. How useful and mis-useful all OneGod/mystic/messiah supposed religions can be, especially when their basis is mixed fairy-tales and singularities.

In order to be a player and not a pawn...a cause of large effects and not always the victim, what better way to pull it off than that combination.

Ever since large populations gained ability to read and write and use Gutenberg's invention of printing-press, government sponsored assassinations
required agencies that were officially secret and immune to investigation by any legal authority. That is the very reason such agencies are created...except of course for the USA, which had to use existing outlaw groups until WW2, when finally the Office Of Strategic Services was established, which then morphed into U-Know-Hoo.

The UKH , banker-inspired and brilliantly operated, infiltrated its "assets" in pandemic fashion into .gov so that by 1970s a new agency was created: the US Senior Executive Service, parallel to US Civil Service.

I do ramble, but that's how the thread unwinds.

Posted by: chu teh | May 9 2021 18:32 utc | 75

@ paveway... thanks for your comments...

@ 63 jen.... it seems many of us share your view... it makes more sense what jackrabbit says - this is an isis gig and has nothing to do with the taliban... whoever mentioned afgan being largely shia got my attention... i never thought of that.. i think it was @mina in the moa thread from today...

@ 23 tucenz... i am not surprised you get no answer from the poster fyi...

Posted by: james | May 9 2021 18:34 utc | 76

Mr. fyi,

Ms. would have sufficed in addressing me. I think you know better.
As for Mr. Mossadegh, I don't know how you, in your mind, separate, Iran, and Iranians. He was was foremost lover of all things Iran.

Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | May 9 2021 18:50 utc | 77

mr chu teh

you have a great namesake. without him mao would have foundered and been lost to history as a minor revolutionary.

Posted by: Leith | May 9 2021 18:51 utc | 78

Posted by: Jackrabbit | May 9 2021 14:38 utc | 67

The motive? 'Trigger' America's 'woke' fake progressives to demand that USA stay in Afghanistan. The good people (tm) of the Biden-Harris Administration would not be able to resist that pressure.

No, I don't think so. I'm not hearing the level of noise required to achieve what you are suggesting. The news made the headlines, sure, but we're far from the artillery barrage it took to focus people's attention on Aleppo in 2016.

A western audience can certainly care for any possible issue you can imagine, but it takes a constant and heavy drumbeat. Are there guest speakers, political analysts and such, offering advice and hinting at the the dangers of regular troop withdrawal? I'm not hearing it here but maybe things are different on your end.

In my opinion, this type of action is aimed at a purely domestic audience. Very brutal and ostensibly sectarian - the winning ticket to pitch communities against one another.

Posted by: robin | May 9 2021 19:02 utc | 79

Ms. Sakineh Begoom

My apologies.

I think that the government of the late Dr. Mossadegh was the last chance of the traditional ruling families to advance the interests of the Iranian people (as understood by them.) That he was a patriot, I have no doubt but he was also too self-assured and rigid at times.

By 1978, I think, the Iranian people had turned against the Monarchy as well as the professional classes. The 3 slogans of the crowds were Independence, Freedom, Islamic Republic. The Iranian people then proceeded to approve an Islamic Republic by 98% of the vote cast.

I think also that it would take generations to convince the Iranian people to give the reigns of the government to anyone who is not overtly religious.

Posted by: Fyi | May 9 2021 19:08 utc | 80

robin @May9 19:02 #79:

I'm not hearing the level of noise required to achieve what you are suggesting.

IIRC the pull-out isn't expected until September. So there's still time for the "level of noise" to increase substantially.

!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | May 9 2021 19:11 utc | 81

b

interesting that jack murphy served in the 5th special forces group in iraq under chris miller. miller later became secdef after esper was terminated.

Posted by: Leith | May 9 2021 19:52 utc | 82

correction to my comment @ 76... i read minas quote wrong, or my memory on it wasn't correct.. here is what she said in the moa in review thread..
"Ref Afghanistan, this is again terror against the Shiites, but unlike the Sunnis/Shiites Syrian narratives, this is of no interest for the MSM who skip the fact from their titles.

Posted by: Mina | May 9 2021 16:01 utc | 14"

turns out afgan is largely sunni, so it would seem mina thinks the attack on the school was an attack on shite adherents...

Posted by: james | May 9 2021 22:04 utc | 83

@ chu teh | May 9 2021 18:32 utc | 75 who nicely wrote
"
For me, a bit of missing data that would explain how the coup was able to overcome apparently overwhelming popular support of Mossadegh. Despite knowing that the Crown and and US BigOilOctapus were clearly behind the coup, there was no way to explain the swift success and immediate consolidation of such radical changes ...until your post. I cannot verify your data, but it fits so well.

...and begs a review of the use of religious leaders acting in concert to enable massive political upheavals and then sustaining such changes. How useful and mis-useful all OneGod/mystic/messiah supposed religions can be, especially when their basis is mixed fairy-tales and singularities.

In order to be a player and not a pawn...a cause of large effects and not always the victim, what better way to pull it off than that combination.
"

It has been years since I have made a similar connection between the monotheistic religions cred being tied to the one religion to rule them all....God of Mammon/global private finance. I thank you for doing so and encourage others to look at Western/world history through that lens.

And chu teh, the connection to the thread topic is that failing empire is throwing all of its propaganda and none of its "finance control" at the problems as China is doing....the real war is about how society operates and the lie, cheat and steal as long as you have might over right meme is being challenged by the meritocracy fueled public focused meme of China.....and all this is proxy BS, IMO

Posted by: psychohistorian | May 9 2021 22:37 utc | 84

Thanks to everyone who replied to my comment @ 62.

The method of attack (car bomb) and the timing of the attack (four months before the departure deadline) were giveaways.

Thanks also to PavewayIV @ 53 for more information on the "divide and rule" tactics being used by the US and Israel on the Kurds themselves so as to maintain other hostilities in the Middle East against them.

Posted by: Jen | May 10 2021 1:17 utc | 85

Leith@54 - the american gi's that worked with the puk against ansar al-islam and isis always had good things to say about those particular kurds and that part of the kri. Agree that CENTCOM and SOCOM at lower levels have no animosity towards the PUK and has always worked well with and respected them.

I'll respectfully disagree with you on the commanders. None of the CENTCOM or SOCOM commanders got to those positions without pandering to the thoroughly neocon, Israeli-firster political psychopaths above them. That means their handlers staffing our (US) National Security Council, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Director of National Intelligence. Nothing is fundamentally different under Biden. Austin, Votel and Mattis had good relations with the PUK because they simply had to. It wasn't in CENTCOM's purview to meddle in Kurd politics. No reason to think those generals' private views differed substantially from their bosses. Something along the lines of:

"We freedomized the Kurds from Saddam. We armed then to the teeth. We hardened the lines of our planned Iraqi partition giving the Kurds a substantial share of Iraqi's oil and gas. In return, ZATO only asks a few small favors of the Kurds: 1) Obey the Barzani/KDP we groomed to rule you, 2) take control the oil/gas contracts in Kurdistan (and reopen the Kirkuk-Haifa pipeline) and 3) viscerally hate the demonic Iranians because we said so. Those Goddamn PUK rejected #1 and #3 - why don't they obey us? We should have got ISIS to Yizidi their asses. They resisted our 'Independent Kurdistan' scheme, and got so pissed off at us that they gave Kirkuk back to Iraq, screwing up #2. Intransigent bastards!"

I agree with Piotr Berman@56 - "Viewing Kurds as a monolithic force is manifestly misguided. And the same applies to narrower regional subgroups." CENTCOM has to treat the PUK as a monolithic force in order to work with them toward immediate regional military objectives. CENTCOM's bosses, on the other hand, recognize the fractured nature of the PUK and actively work (via non-military means) to destroy them through division. A Barzani-ruled eastern Iraqi Kurdistan replacing a weakened, fractured PUK will more directly support U.S. strategic objectives of a war with Iran. The U.S. isn't concerned in the least with the 'best interest of the Kurds'. To my psychopathic leaders, the Kurds are a convenient doormat to northern Iraqi's oil/gas, but otherwise a disposable tool.

Yerevan Saeed explained the PUK situation in an al Jazeera piece a year and a half ago.

Why the unity of the PUK is important for Iraqi Kurds
Factionalism within the PUK party has destabilised the Kurdish region of Iraq for years. Its leadership has to unite.

It is, I would argue, in the interests of my neocon leaders that the PUK is replaced by the KDP. I'm not especially clear how Murphy's curious claim contributes to that goal, but his assertion has a purpose and we're being played.

Posted by: PavewayIV | May 10 2021 1:27 utc | 86

re Colonial Pipeline shutdown:

Is this possibly related to Colonial gasoline leak in N Carolina?...that was found mid-2020 and still leaking April 2021... 9 months?

Coinkydink, of course. Probably just a small matter because it's >2000 miles away and i heard the rumors of it. Maybe s/o out hunting grist for the UNC research fiasco and mistook a pipeline for a bat.

Be a good time to do a proper patch job while it's down...or just as likely a new leak was discovered somewhere along the line and this is great excuse to keep such data offline. Just a precautionary shutdown to do a bit of non-scheduled maintenance.

Posted by: chu teh | May 10 2021 4:30 utc | 87

Leith | May 9 2021 18:51 utc | 78

It is so. In a past life I was 3rd in line as understudy for Napoleon's boot-shine boy. The internet enables me make a better choice this time, albeit under anonymous license.

Posted by: chu teh | May 10 2021 5:00 utc | 88

paveway: "CENTCOM and SOCOM at lower levels have no animosity towards the PUK and has always worked well with and respected them."

those lower levels have been moving to higher levels during the 18 years we have been there. they and a majority of americans are sick of neocons and also the rtp crowd.

i do not believe most flag officers are neocons. generals keane and boykin and a number of others are exceptions. but the majority are not. they walk a tightrope following civilian leadership whether those civilians are neocons or liberal interventionists. but yes, they should speak up more vigorously to those bosses when they disagree with policy. do it while they are still in uniform and not wait until they comfortably retire.

i agree with you and mr berman that it is misguided to to think of the kurds as monolithic. that is a no-brainer. they have been split so long they have different religions, different cultures, different languages, and completely different aspirations.

the aljazeera article you link to is a bit old. yerevan saeed the author of that article also writes for rudaw, which is a kdp mouthpiece. bakhtyar has buried his political hatchet and rejoined or perhaps had never left the puk party. he is joint leader of the supreme political council of the puk. he was present along with kosrat ali and other puk leaders including the talabanis at the meeting with brett mcgurk (nsc), state and dod last week.

btw the kdp is complaining that the us is trying to strongarm them into releasing the five badinan journalists that were thrown in prison for writing about barzani corruption:
Kurdistan government is not U.S. servant: KDP official

i'm not a fan of the kdp. forget the corruption, that is routine in iraq. my beef with them is for their sucking up to erdogan and allowing turkish army occupation and indiscriminate bombing in northern kri regions.

regarding the murphy/dorfman article i agree we are being played. i suspect pompeo and/or aipac are behind the curtain.

Posted by: Leith | May 10 2021 5:01 utc | 89

PUK official Aras Sheikh Jangy has released statements in both Khendan and Chawder, both PUK-affiliated media outlets - that they were not aware CTG forces had been taken to this operation. He also stated that PUK would never take up arms against its friends. That's a half-confession, the way I see it. " Yes, CTG was there. / No, we were not involved. "

Posted by: Hedwig Kuijpers | May 10 2021 5:58 utc | 90

psychohistorian | May 9 2021 22:37 utc | 84
re Mossadegh etc ; thanks your data and kind thoughts.

re Mammon: recent posts by you, Karlof1 and others touched on Hudson's awesome reprise on history of money. We all know of "food, shelter and clothing" being the basics of survival. Of course, food includes air and water.

Well, it's hardly a jump to to see food as #1 in value, which answers the most obvious source of value to act as money...FOOD! It is the ultimate backer behind any money. Gold and silver were/are both scarce and convenient, so were chosen as very workable stand-ins for FOOD...only [!] if FOOD is available.

As I reason it, grain was #1 when easily available, but other foodstuffs and scarce silver and gold combined into a system that worked reliably because [and as long as] the king et al could dictate a reliable Exchange Rate.

The Ex. Rate could be easily disseminated and understood at a time when few people could read/write, so even a news-stele [obelisk] that was hammered-out once a year was useless. ..but a short-list of already-well-known items was easily transmitted by word-of-mouth or just pointing.

Nothing has changed regarding #1, namely FOOD. Only we have forgotten and/or our betters do not want us to re-know it.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow FOOD is #1, but only if available. That proverbial LastHamSandwich blows away any competition from mere silver or gold, 2 of the most chokeable substances.

Any serious hide-a-way/bolthole has air-recyclers, water recyclers and stacks of mil.-grade 25+year dry meal packs...only stands to reason. Gold, silver and faux-coin will not even buy a napkin...just marks one a as a target, aka no longer in the club; just cannibal bait.

Posted by: chu teh | May 10 2021 6:00 utc | 91

re Mossadegh as chosen Iran leader when Shah was 1st kicked out in 1953.

I won't elaborate much, but does anyone know what Mossadeh did that nearly [!] saved Iran?

He, with his multilingual, broad and brilliant education and track of competence and experience acted as a Sherlock Holmes would...and fully uncovered and exposed the total scandal the made Shah rich and Iran poor after the 50-50 split on profits by [BP] Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. To wit: the Crown Co. sold all the oil and split the proceeds...BUT the sale was quietly to an intermediary company structure at a falsely lowball price...that then RESOLD all the oil into the real and higher priced market...the price difference being pure profit retained in London and not shared by the Shah or Iran.

I knew nothing of history, but I and lots of Americans found out maybe 2 years later. It was not a secret. Pumped for pennies; sold at modest mark-up; then re-sold at real price! Utter Albion scam

{Somewhere on internet {?} will be accounts of unbelievably lavish party the Shah threw in the desert in 1971 for 1000s of world elites....with stolen Iran peoples' wealth...cost over $500 Million 1971 USD.

Posted by: chu teh | May 10 2021 6:39 utc | 92

I recall from back toward the beginning, the man who is now president told everyone of his desire to divide that country into three separate weak ethnic states. This would be another step in that direction.

Posted by: UnionHorse | May 10 2021 12:07 utc | 93

Fucking Yahoo, now they are supposed to be a trusted source?

Posted by: Smith | May 10 2021 12:51 utc | 94

It's bullshit to claim that Kurds were used to infiltrate the airport or operatives. Not everywhere is like the US, where blacks are on one side and whites on the other side.

Kurds and Arabs live side by side in Iraq, most of the time they are not even distinguishable. I am sure there are thousands of Kurdish police and airport officers already in the Baghdad airport. I'm sure hundreds of Arab officers are also US agents. It's not like Arabs are pro-Iran and Kurds are anti-Iran, the lines are much much muddier than that, and such over-simplications are just stupid.

The only reason for such propaganda is to push Kurds further into seclusion and into the hands of the US.

Posted by: A | May 10 2021 13:15 utc | 95

Mr. A

I agree with your description of life in Iraq; many Arabs (Sunni or Shia) fled to the safety of KRG when war visited the area of Iraq in which they lived.

On the other hand, I think the emotional appeal of Kurdish nationalistic ideas also prevents an honest appraisal of the possibilities of Kurdish political & cultural & economic life in Syria, in Turkey, in Iraq, and in Iran.

The minority Austrians in Tyrol, now part of Italy, and the Italian state have a modus vivendi - one could always hope for something like that with Kurds and the various states in which they live.

Posted by: fyi | May 10 2021 14:52 utc | 96

Mr. Chu Teh:

The Oil Nationalization was a costly political mistake since Iranians could not operate the oil industry themselves; that knowledge did not exist in Iran at that time.

On the other hand, the Coup against the government of Iran was even a worse mistake as it laid the foundation for perpetual enmity between the United States and Iran.

The English are still in Iran, trading with her and quarreling, while Americans are consigned to the Enemy of Iran and Enemy of Shia category.

Posted by: fyi | May 10 2021 14:58 utc | 97

Mr. Leith

Unfortunately, I do not see a dispassionate discussion among Kurds - in Iran, in Iraq, in Syria, or in Turkey - as to the costs and benefits of 100 years of violent struggle against the central governments of those countries for Kurds (in all their linguistic and religious diversity).

I personally found that game was not worth the candle of burnt lives.

Posted by: fyi | May 10 2021 15:06 utc | 98

chu teh

interesting, and i would wager that intermediary shell game was done via aioc subsidiaries so as not to leave any crumbs to outsiders.

but it was not a 50/50 split. it started out as an 84/16 split. but even after decades of negotiation by iran the brits only increased iran's portion to 17.5 percent. they were able to do that by bribing the shah or his father or his father's predecessors in the qajar dynasty. the nationalists in iran, including mossadegh, became outraged when they found out that the saudis got a 50/50 split from the americans in aramco.

and it was not just london bankers enjoying those astronomical profits by aioc. the british government owned controlling stock (51 percent) in aioc. that maneuver was finagled by winston churchill when he was 1st lord of the admiralty in order to ensure fuel for the royal navy in ww1. so it was poorly paid iranian oil workers who helped to sink the bismark. i would speculate that royal navy connection is probably why mi-6 was able to convince the cia to help them with the 53 coup.

Posted by: Leith | May 10 2021 15:23 utc | 99

mr fyi

that 100 years of violent struggle has for the most part been to protect themselves against persecutions such as the zilan and dersim massacres in turkey or halabja in iraq.

or for being treated like untermensch and second class citizens in iran and syria. it is legitmate for the kurds as it is for the palestinians.

Posted by: Leith | May 10 2021 15:51 utc | 100

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