Iraq’s National Security Council, headed by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, has announced that Turkey has 48 hours to withdraw from Iraq’s territory before it uses “all available options.”
The Shi’ite militia, Kataib Hezbollah, that is backed by Iran released a statement promising to retaliate against the Turkish incursion that is violating Iraqi sovereignty.
In the last 24 hours, Turkey has stated it will deploy up to 2000 troops in Iraq, up from a few hundred. They claim they were legally asked by the Kurdish Regional Government to help in the fight against ISIS. Baghdad claims they are the only sole legitimate government in Iraq.
In recent weeks, Shi’ite militias have also vowed to fight against US troops in Iraq if were to be deployed there.The Arab Source
Turkey Must Withdraw “within 24 hours”: Iraq National Security Council
Paul Antonopoulos
How ironic. Turkey shoots down a Russian plane on the pretext of violating its sovereignty and then almost immediately invades a sovereign county. Is NATO going to have to come to Turkey's aid if Iraq responds militarily?
Moon of Alabama
Erdogan Moves To Annexes Mosul
The wannabe Sultan Erdogan did not get his will in Syria where he had planned to capture and annex Aleppo. The Russians prevented that. He now goes for his secondary target, Mosul in Iraq, which many Turks see as historic part of their country:
At the end of World War I in October 1918, after the signature of the Armistice of Mudros, British forces occupied Mosul. After the war, the city and the surrounding area became part of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (1918-1920), and shortly Mandatory Iraq (1920-1932). This mandate was contested by Turkey which continued to claim the area based on the fact that it was under Ottoman control during the signature of the Armistice. In the Treaty of Lausanne, the dispute over Mosul was left for future resolution by the League of Nations. Iraq's possession of Mosul was confirmed by the League of Nations brokered agreement between Turkey and Great Britain in 1926. Former Ottoman Mosul Vilayet eventually became Nineveh Province of Iraq, but Mosul remained the provincial capital.Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city with about a million inhabitants, is currently occupied by the Islamic State...
Should Mosul be cleared of the Islamic State the Turkish heavy weapons will make it possible for Turkey to claim the city unless the Iraqi government will use all its power to fight that claim. Should the city stay in the hands of the Islamic State Turkey will make a deal with it and act as its protector. It will benefit from the oil around Mosul which will be transferred through north Iraq to Turkey and from there sold on the world markets. In short: This is an effort to seize Iraq's northern oil fields.
That is the plan but it is a risky one. Turkey did not ask for permission to invade Iraq and did not inform the Iraqi government....
Barzani's Kurdistan is so broke that is has even confiscated foreign bank accounts to pay some bills. That may be the reason why Barzani agreed to the deal now. But the roots run deeper. Barzani is illegally selling oil that belongs to the Iraqi government to Turkey. The Barzani family occupies not only the presidential office in the KRG but also the prime minister position and the local secret services. It is running the oil business and gets a big share of everything else. On the Turkish side the oil deal is handled within the family of President Erdogan. His son in law, now energy minister, had the exclusive right to transport the Kurdish oil through Turkey. Erdogan's son controls the shipping company that transports the oil over sea to the customer, most often Israel. The oil under the control of the Islamic State in Iraq passes the exactly same route. These are businesses that generate hundreds of millions per year....What could possibly go wrong?
How ironic. Turkey shoots down a Russian plane on the pretext of violating its sovereignty and then almost immediately invades a sovereign county. Is NATO going to have to come to Turkey's aid if Iraq responds militarily?
Moon of Alabama
Erdogan Moves To Annexes Mosul
Pull back the ISIS curtain and Erdogan is the wizard of oz.
ReplyDeleteIs NATO going to have to come to Turkey's aid if Iraq responds militarily?
ReplyDeleteIf they cannot take on ISIS, what chance do they have against the Turks?
Maybe it will be Russia coming to their aid...
Iraq is not strong enough to start a war with Turkey.
ReplyDeleteIt is not in Russia's interests to start a war with Turkey.
The UN will do nothing.
Only the U.S. has the power to stand up to Turkey. But more likely the U.S. gave Turkey a green light to invade.
Just when you think the Middle East can't get any messier, it does.
The goal of Western powers for at least a century is to partition potential adversaries to prevent the emergence of a strong competitor. Syria is on the list for partition, then Iran, then Russia and then China. The economic goal is for the periphery to supply resources to the core and to provide compliant markets for the core.
ReplyDeleteThis is common knowledge in international relations, geopolitics and geostrategy, from the time of Halford Mackinder wrt to modern thinking but it stretches back along way before that and was one of the factors in the rise of various empires.
Islamism is a tool the West is using toward this objective, and it combines the Wahhabism and Salafism of the Gulf and ISIS with Erdogan's brand of Turkish neo-imperialistic Sunni Islamism, and the Muslim Brotherhood against Shi'ite Iran, Hezbollah, and Iraqi and Syrian Shi'ites that are allied with Iran or would be likely to.
This "Islamic weapon" is also aimed at Russia Federation and Central Asia, as well as the Muslim population of Eastern China. Western powers realize that there is likely to be serious blowback on this account but consider the rewards worth the risks.
Dunno about you, Tom, but I can't shake the feeling that we're reliving the 1930's.
ReplyDeleteIn the short run these acts of aggression will be allowed to slide "for peace in our time," but they're going to fester until ....... ???
The wheels are coming off, Dan.
ReplyDeleteIt began in earnest with 9/11 and the reaction to it, but that, of course, had been in the works since the US decided to support the "freedom fighters" in Afghanistan that morphed into AQ. It's also a result of the US decision to advance instead of integrate after the fall of the USSR.
Now all the historical factors that led up to WWI and WWII are in play again and on a larger and more deadly scale owing to WMD.
And right on schedule, Germany has permitted the republication of Mein Kampf.
This would be a corny and wildly implausible novel or movie script if it were only imaginative.
We have the UN, WTO and nukes that prevent small regional conflicts from spiraling into war. We have democracies, few countries are run for the benefit of the elite few unlike the 30s. We've stable sovereign fiat money systems with the capability that promote economic prosperity nearly everywhere at all times. Large scale war is simply no longer a possibility. Even Saudi Arabia, the least liberal country on the planet had their first elections with women on the ballot AND women voting. The Liberal spirit is strong and enduring, my friends, you've nothing to fear. The road may be bumpy and not straight, but progress is steady and ongoing.
ReplyDelete