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2007.05.31 Iraq/Iran Roundup
See previous: 2007.05.30 Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan/"The media sucks." Roundup
Below the fold (newest items at the top):
- Odierno: We’re negotiating with insurgents for a ceasefire
- Top general: Turkey ready for PKK strike in Iraq
- All Roads Lead From Tehran
- Bush envisions U.S. presence in Iraq like S.Korea
See also:
Odierno: We’re negotiating with insurgents for a ceasefire
Allahpundit
This goes hand in hand with Bush’s new approach to Iran, of course. He needs to show progress by September, and if that means making nice with America’s enemies to calm the violence and give Petraeus something to show Congress, so be it. KIAs are up this month too, partly due to the new strategy of embedding in Iraqi neighborhoods and partly due to the jihadis trying to drive up casualties to raise the pressure back home for a pullout.
Whatever friction there may be between Sunni insurgents and Al Qaeda, you would think they’d smooth it over and refuse to negotiate given how close they are to their goal of driving us from the country. But you’d be wrong, it seems: US military officers in Iraq are attempting to negotiate ceasefires with some insurgent groups that have been responsible for the violence in the country.
Lt General Raymond Odierno, commander of ground forces in Iraq, said on Thursday the US was responding to insurgent groups that have signalled an interest in reconciliation.
“We’re talking about ceasefires and maybe signing some things that say they won’t conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces,” he said…
Top general: Turkey ready for PKK strike in Iraq
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's top general said Thursday the military was ready to stage a cross-border offensive to fight Kurdish guerrillas in Iraq and that he already had sought government approval to mount military action.
Earlier, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has pledged his support for any military decision to stage an incursion into Iraq, said the army had not yet asked parliament for permission.
But Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said he had asked for approval during a news conference on April 12, when he said "an operation into Iraq is necessary."
"We have told both Turkey and the world on April 12 that as soldiers, we are ready," Buyukanit said Thursday.
Buyukanit's remarks appeared to put Erdogan's government under pressure to seek approval from parliament to send soldiers into Iraq to fight separatist Kurdish guerrillas. The rebels have long used northern Iraq as a base in their campaign for self-rule in southeast Turkey.
The United States opposes any unilateral Turkish military action, fearing it could destabilize northern Iraq -- the calmest part of the country.
Massoud Barzani, the leader of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, also strongly opposes a Turkish incursion and has threatened to confront Turkish soldiers if they enter northern Iraq. ...
All Roads Lead From Tehran
Jules Crittenden
Stratfor on Iraq = Korea: … This is not so much an announcement of a plan to create a specific force structure or basing arrangement as it is a statement about the length and character of Washington’s commitment to Baghdad. The real underlying significance of the announcement is simple: the United States is not leaving Iraq any time soon.
Stratfor suggests this is, like everything else, tied to the talks with Iran. … This was not the standard “we stand by Iraq” press conference; the White House appears to have made an assertion that reflects a much deeper agreement with Tehran. Washington could well be positioning itself to garner domestic and Iraqi support for a U.S. military presence in Iraq that will continue for the foreseeable future (significantly, while reassuring Sunni allies in Iraq they will not be abandoned).
That presence, of course, will shift dramatically from the current arrangement. This is consistent with some changes already in the cards: a reduced U.S. troop presence and operational tempo, a shift from combat to advising and support, and a withdrawal from day-to-day security operations.
… That presence ultimately will mean the same thing for Iraq that it has meant for South Korea: an attack on Iraq is the same as an attack on the United States. ...
Bush envisions U.S. presence in Iraq like S.Korea
WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush would like to see a lengthy U.S. troop presence in Iraq like the one in South Korea to provide stability but not in a frontline combat role, the White House said on Wednesday.
The United States has had thousands of U.S. troops in South Korea to guard against a North Korean invasion for 50 years.
Democrats in control of the U.S. Congress have been pressing Bush to agree to a timetable for pulling troops from Iraq, an idea firmly opposed by the president.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush would like to see a U.S. role in Iraq ultimately similar to that in South Korea.
"The Korean model is one in which the United States provides a security presence, but you've had the development of a successful democracy in South Korea over a period of years, and, therefore, the United States is there as a force of stability," Snow told reporters.
He said U.S. bases in Iraq would not necessarily be permanent because they would be there at the invitation of the host government and "the person who has done the invitation has the right to withdraw the invitation."
"I think the point he's trying to make is that the situation in Iraq, and indeed, the larger war on terror, are things that are going to take a long time. But it is not always going to require an up-front combat presence," Snow said.
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