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History Guy Newsletter 9.29.12

29 Sep

As American and other allied forces gather in the Persian Gulf region, and as Israel continues to prepare for a possible military strike on Iran over the nuclear issue, Historyguy.com has several resources related to the history Middle East wars, as well as to the histories of the various nations and potential combatants in this escalating issue.

The regime of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad is allied to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and is engaged in a bloody civil war with anti-Assad rebels. Israel has stated that any potential use or transfer of Syria’s known chemical weapons inventory would be considered a reason for Israeli intervention. The U.S. and other allied nations have made similar statements. Here are some resources related to conflicts involving Israel and Syria:

Wars Between Israel and Syria at http://www.historyguy.com/israel_syria_wars.htm

Arab-Israeli Border Wars at http://www.historyguy.com/arab_israeli_border_wars.html

While Iran and Israel have not fought an official war, it is a well-known fact that the two nations have engaged in what is called “Asymmetrical Warfare” for some time now, with assassinations, sabotage, and other forms of attacks between them. For one example of this type of warfare, see http://commentary.historyguy.com/2012/07/does_terror_attack_in_bulgaria_give_israel_cause_for_war_with_iran299/299

For a look at the modern wars involving Iran (or Persia, as it used to be known), go to the page on The Wars of Iran and Persia at http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_iran.htm

If war breaks out between Israel and Iran, the other allies of Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Gaza, may also become involved, which may also draw in Egypt. For a look at the past as well as the ongoing conflicts on Israel’s northern and southern fronts, go to:

The history of the Israel-Lebanon Conflict at: http://www.historyguy.com/israel-lebanon_conflict.html

The Gaza War between Hamas and Israel at: http://www.historyguy.com/gaza_war.htm

The world is potentially on the brink of a new Middle East War, one that could draw in not only the usual belligerents (Israel, Lebanon, Syria, etc.) and Iran, but also other neighboring nations such as Turkey, Azerbaijan (Iran’s neighbor, but is friendly with Israel), but also global powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and other NATO nations. The History Guy Newsletter will continue to send more frequent updates on this situation.

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Posted in Historyguy Newsletter

Does Terror Attack in Bulgaria Give Israel Cause for War With Iran?

18 Jul

Israeli Tourist Bus Bombed in Bulgaria

Several Israeli tourists died in a terrorist attack on a tourist bus in Bulgaria that Israeli authorities say lead back to an Iranian plot to kill Israeli citizens. At least six Israeli tourists died in the explosion, at least 30 other civilians sustained wounds. The bus, which was leaving the airport at Burgas with 154 passengers, most of them Israelis, was headed for a resort popular with Israeli vacationers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu placed the blame for the attack squarely on Iran, citing other recent attempted terror attacks that he also blamed on Iran.

“In the past months we saw Iranian attempts to attack Israelis in Thailand, India, Kenya and Cyprus,” Netanyahu said, added, “This is an Iranian terror offensive that is spreading throughout the world.” Netanyahu also added that Israel would respond with force.

Recent tensions between Israel, Iran, and the United States, have caused much speculation as to whether an attack on Iran, which is developing a nuclear program, will occur soon. Iran has blamed Israel for assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and for cyber-attacks on nuclear facilities. Iran and Israel have a very harsh history of hostile relations, with Iran conducting terror attacks on Israelis in the past, arming Israeli enemies such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and for supporting the Assad regime in Syria. Israel claims that Iran’s nascent nuclear program’s end goal is to develop nuclear weapons that would be used on Israel.

Given all this recent tension, why would Iran strike at Israeli targets now? One theory is that a war with Israel would detract pro-democracy activists in Iran and strengthen the current regime. Another theory is that the United States and other Western allies would be able to convince Israel to not attack now. Or, this is a ploy by factions within Iran (i.e. the Revolutionary Guards) to discredit other factions of the regime.

Whatever the reasons for the Iranian attack, it is clear that if Israel truly wanted a Cassus Belli (a cause for war), they now have it.

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Posted in Balkans, Current Affairs, Iran, Israel, Mideast Wars, Opinion, Scenarios, War and Conflict

War With Iran? Look at Wars of 1812 and 1912 First

02 Jan

Looking at a possible Iran War in 2012 with a look back at 1812 and 1912

By Roger Lee, The History Guy

New Year’s Day, 2012, opened with Iran’s announcement that Iranian nuclear scientists had produced Iran’s first nuclear fuel rod and that the Iranian navy had test-fired a new medium-range surface-to-air missile. All this while Iran conducted war games in the Strait of Hormuz designed to test its ability to close those straits to international oil shipping. All this while the U.S. and the other Western powers continue to declare that they will not allow a disruption to the oil shipping, and Israel watches nervously and prepares for war.

Iranian war games in the Strait of Hormuz

As the world seems to quickly slide toward war, n look back at events 200 and 100 years ago seems in order. 2012 marks the bicentennial of the War of 1812, in which the U.S. took on the much more powerful British Empire and managed to survive to talk about it. In 1912, the world was on the brink of a devastating World War, which was still two and a half years away, but events in 1912 set the stage for a war that everyone thought would be quick and sharp, but proved to be out of everyone’s control as soon as it began.

In 1812, the world was in the throes of an earlier version of world war, with Britain, Russia, Spain, and other nations in a death-match with Napoleon’s French-dominated empire. The United States did not have a dog in that fight, so to speak, but had long-standing problems with the British. Ever since the American Revolution, the Americans felt that Britain did not respect the U.S. as a true sovereign nation. British agents aided the Native Americans who resisted American encroachment along the frontier, and British ships regularly disrespected American shipping on the high seas, leading to violent naval confrontations and the forcible boarding of U.S. ships to “impress,” or illegally (in the U.S. view) draft sailors into the British navy. The United States basically felt they had to put up or shut up in terms of their problems with Britain. Also, some expansionist elements in the government and elsewhere eyed the prospect of invading and “liberating” Canada from the British.

Thus, a somewhat naïve and woefully unprepared America declared war on the most powerful nation on earth and commenced to invade British Canada. Long story short, the U.S. got it’s rear-end kicked out of Canada and throughout most of the eastern seaboard by the British. Not until the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, could the U.S. claim any meaningful victory on land.

How does this situation relate to the current tension with Iran? In this case, in 2012, the smaller nation feeling no respect is Iran, and the most powerful nation in the world is obviously the U.S. Some analysts, and some Iranian spokesmen themselves, say that if Iran is pushed around too much (sanctions, U.S. drone flights, covert warfare, assassinations, etc.), it may retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping, which would be a cassus belli for the Western Powers. Of course, the fact that Iran is clearly pursuing nuclear weapons makes Israel and the West quite nervous, and if Israel truly believes that Iran is close to getting The Bomb, then war is likely inevitable. One thing about the War of 1812 that applies to this situation is that when the U.S. chose war with Britain (and with Canada), the assumption was that the war would be quick, and that Britain was too distracted by its other wars to put much effort into another war. Iran may be thinking the same thing, to everyone’s detriment.

The situation in 1912 was a bit different. The former major power in the eastern Mediterranean region, the Ottoman Empire (also known as Turkey), was fading fast, and the vultures were beginning to gather to pick at the soon to be expired Ottoman carcass. Italy attacked Ottoman Libya in 1911, and in October, 1912, the Ottomans sued for peace and gave up their last piece of territory in North Africa. The day following the conclusion of the Italian-Ottoman War, the Balkan alliance of Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Bulgaria launched an attack on the Ottoman possessions in Europe. The Ottomans lost that war, but that First Balkan War, and a Second Balkan War that broke out right after the first one, helped set the stage for World War One, which erupted in the summer of 1914. In the wars of 1912, we see several smaller nations take on the ancient bogeyman from their past; no longer strong, but feeble and weak. And the little guys won. In the modern era, the little guys can be seen as Saddam’s Iraq, Khaddafy’s Libya, Assad’s Syria, Iran, and North Korea. They all have a bad history with the Western powers. They all, at one point or another, had challenged the West, and survived those initial conflicts. But they took that feeling of victory and invulnerability too far, challenged the West one too many times, or refused to bow down when faced with invasion and war. Saddam is now dead. Khaddafy is dead. Assad is under siege, and North Korea is still the great unknown. Iran is the linchpin. If they truly see themselves as the relatively small but tough challenger to U.S, and Western influence in the Muslim world, then they may push the envelope enough to cause a military response from either Israel or the U.S.

Unintended Consequences of War: The British Burn Washington

In the 1912 analogy, the smaller nations were victorious initially, but when the big dogs got into the fight beginning in 1914, Serbia, and Montenegro were almost destroyed. Bulgaria lost even more land. The war did not go as any of them anticipated, which is usually the way of war. The same held true in the War of 1812. The U.S. expected a fairly easy war against the British in Canada, and instead, the Americans saw their own nation invaded and Washington, D.C burned down by the invaders. In both examples from 100 and 200 years ago, the little guys faced down against the big guys, and once war started, it went in directions no one wanted or anticipated. If a war with Iran is in store for 2012, the decision-makers on all sides need to keep that historical fact in mind before it is too late.

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Posted in Current Affairs, History, Iran, Mideast Wars, Scenarios

Israel and Syria War Page Online

19 Apr

Israel-Syria War page now online at: http://www.historyguy.com/israel_syria_wars.htm

Also, tensions between the two Mideast foes may be heating up toward a new war. Read the interesting WSJ article at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704671904575194100405117846.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_opinion

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Posted in Arab-Israeli Wars, History Updates, Israel

Yemen History of Wars Nothing New and al-Qaida Forms New Threat

04 Jan

Yemen is one of the poorest nations in the world, with high unemployment, a low literacy rate, a corrupt government, a well-armed population with a history of stronger allegiance to tribe, clan, and family than to the nation, and a long history of civil conflict. Many analysts consider Yemen a leading candidate to become a “failed state,” as Afghanistan once was and Somalia is now. Both Afghanistan and Somalia have become havens for al-Qaida and other Jihadist Muslim organizations intent on destabilizing secular Arab nations and launching attacks on Western interests. The presence of al-Qaida is not Yemen’s only military problem, though it may be the most pressing as 2010 begins. The attempted bombing of an American airliner on Christmas Day, 2009 has been linked to al-Qaida forces in Yemen (part of the larger al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula organization, also known as AQAP). The suspected airline bomber spent time in Yemen and evidence points toward the likelihood that he received training in Yemen from al-Qaida. Also, a Yemeni radical Yemeni cleric was connected to the U.S. Army officer who killed several soldiers at Fort Hood earlier this year. As of this writing, many experts believe that an increased American involvement in Yemen is highly likely in 2010 as,..READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE AT: http://www.historyguy.com/yemen_history_wars_politics.htm

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Posted in Current Affairs, History, History Updates, Mideast Wars, War and Conflict, wars in yemen

History of Iran Wars

09 Oct

With the world economic crisis dominating the news, little attention is currently placed on the ongoing tensions between the United States and Israel, on one side, and the Islamic Republic of Iran and its allies, Hezbollah and Hamas, on the other.

While many pundits and analysts in the U.S. and abroad wondered about a Bush/Cheney "October Surprise" to damage or destroy Iran’s growing nuclear capability, and to perhaps aid John McCain’s campaign, the likelihood of such an attack is now greatly diminished due to the above-mentioned economic crisis. Below is a history of the wars involving Persia and Iran from the late 1700s to the present day.

From the History Guy Website at: http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_iran.htm

The modern nation of Iran is also known throughout much of history as the ancient nation of Persia. This is the same Persia which overran the Spartans at Thermopylae; the same Persia which fell to the conquering Macedonian, Alexander the Great; the same Persia which fought the Romans and their successors the Byzantines for centuries for dominance in the Near East. This is also the same Persia which fell rather easily to the expanding Arab Muslim Empire led by the successors to Islam’s founder, the Prophet Muhammad. Persia became the center of the Shia branch of Islam. The Shia, who are also known as Shiites, often fight against the larger and more dominant Sunni branch of Islam. Most Turks and most Arabs are Sunni. The Persian, or Iranian people are not Arabs. They speak the Farsi language and are largely Shiite. Iran also has large ethnic minorities, mostly along the nation’s borders. These minority groups occasionally rebel in favor of autonomy within Iran, or for outright independence. The larger minorities include the Arabs of Khuzistan, the Kurds along the northwestern borders with Iraq and Turkey, and the Azeris along the Azerbaijan border to the northwest. Baluchis inhabit the border region near Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Several themes emerge as the military history of Iran and Persia is examined. One is religious: The Shiite Iranians/Persians engaged in many wars against their Sunni neighbors, whether they were the Ottoman Turks, the Sunni-ruled Iraqis, the Sunnis of Afghanistan or the Sunni monarchies of the Persian Gulf. Another theme is geographic and economic. Wars and conflicts with an expanding Russia to the north, and an imperial Britain to the south, both looking for ways to dominate the lucrative Gulf region. And, in the 20th and 21st centuries, conflicts with the United States, which based its policies toward Iran on a need to contain Soviet communism, and on a perceived need to ensure continued access to Iranian and Gulf oil. Persia officially changed its name to Iran in the early 20th Century.

This page on the wars of Persia and the wars of Iran covers conflicts from the late 18th Century to the Present day.

Persian Civil War–(1779-1794)–The revolt of the eunuch general Agha Mohammed led to this 15-year civil war. Agha Mohammed eventually won the war and became the Shah of Persia.

Georgian-Persian War–(1795-1796)–After consolidating his power, Agha Mohammed invaded the Caucasian kingdom of Georgia, which had previously been a part of the Persian Empire, but had broken away following the death of Nadir Shah in 1747. Persian forces invaded Georgia and defeated the Georgian King Heraclius.

Afghan-Persian War–(1798)–The new Shah of Persia, Fath Ali, supported a pretender to the Afghan throne against the Afghan King. The pretender, Muhammad Barakzai overthrew his brother, Zaman, with help from an invading Persian army.

Russo-Persian War–(1804-1813)–Following Russia’s invasion and annexation of Georgia and Karabakh, Persia gave aid to rebels resisting Russian rule. Russia then attacked Persia, and put the city of Erevan under siege in 1804. The siege was lifted upon the arrival of Persian reinforcements led by Shah Fath Ali and Crown Prince Abbas Mirza. Warfare continued in the Caucasus region and along the Caspian coast until 1813. The most significant battle after the initial invasion and siege was the Battle of Aslanduz (Oct. 21, 1812), in which the Russians defeated an army led by Abbas Mirza. A peace treaty was signed on October 12, 1813 at Gulistan. In this treaty, Persia recognized Russian rule over Georgia and other disputed Transcaucasian areas.

Afghan-Persian War–(1816)–Persia invaded Afghanistan and occupied the western Afghan city of Herat. Local Afghan guerrillas forced the Persians to exit Afghanistan.

Turkish-Persian War–(1821-1823)–The regime of Crown Prince Abbas Mirza launched an attack on Ottoman Turkey due to Turkish aid to Azerbaijani rebels in Persia. The rebels had fled from Persia and were given refuge by the Ottomans. The war opened with a Persian invasion of Turkey in the Lake Van region, and a counter-invasion by the Ottoman Pasha of Baghdad (Iraq belonged to the Ottoman Empire), who invaded western Persia. This invasion force was driven back across the border, but the newly modernized Persian army of 30,000 troops defeated 50,000 Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Erzurum near Lake Van in 1821. A peace treaty in 1823 ended the war with no changes to their mutual border.

Russo-Persian War –(1825-1828)–This war resulted from the ongoing border disputes arising from the Treaty of Gulistan (1813) between Persia and Russia. Persian forces were initially successful, capturing the Georgian capital of Tbilisi in 1825. Russian forces led by General Ivan Fedorovich Paskievich went on the offensive against the invading Persians and defeated them at the Battle of Ganja (also known as the Battle of Kirovabad) on September 26, 1826. Abbas Mirza led a Persian force of 30,000 which was defeated and routed by a Russian army of 15,000 troops. In 1827, General Paskievich captured Erevan and Tabriz in the the northwest of Persia. The Russians captured the Persian capital of Tehran in the winter of 1827-28, along with the Persian army’s total inventory of artillery pieces. The resulting peace Treaty of Turkomanchi recognized Russian rule of Armenia, forbade Persia to station warships on the Caspian Sea, and forced Persia to pay a war indemnity to Russia. A war indemnity was a financial payment from a defeated nation to the winner to pay the cost of the war. This defeat basically ended Persia’s role as a major power among the nations of the Gulf and the Caucuses region.

Afghan-Persian War–(1836-1838)–Persia invaded Afghanistan partly in response to Britain’s influence in the region, and laid siege to the western Afghan city of Herat. The Herat defenders were aided by a British military advisor named Eldred Potter. Potter offered his services to the Afghans and set about organizing the city’s defenses. Persian assaults on the city failed, and the invading army gave up the siege (September 28, 1838), and returned home.

Afghan/Anglo-Persian War–(1855-1857)–Persia again invaded Afghanistan, this time successfully capturing Herat. This upset the British, who claimed influence over Afghanistan. The British Empire declared war on Persia (Nov. 1, 1856), and proceeded to invade Persia both by sea and by land. British forces landed and took the Persian port of Bushire in January, 1857. An Anglo-Indian army invaded Persia, which soon gave up and agreed to evacuate Herat.

Persian Revolution –(1906-1909)–Persia was beset by internal political violence and rebellions against the rule of the tyrannical Shah Mohammed Ali. Actual warfare broke out in 1908 by a rebellion in the city of Tabriz. The Shah’s forces besieged Tabriz, but the rebellion did not end until an intervening Russian army brutally seized Tabriz in March of 1909. While this was occurring, other rebel factions marched on Tehran, capturing the capital city on July 12, 1909. The Shah abdicated his throne, and his young son, Ahmad Mirza became the new Shah.

Mohammed Ali’s Invasion –(1911)–With Russian approval and aid, the exiled former Shah, Mohammed Ali, landed on the Caspian coast on June 17, 1911,in an attempt to recapture his throne. His forces were defeated by a government army and he returned to exile on September 5, 1911.

Anglo-Russian Invasion and Occupation of Persia –(1911)–Russia invaded and occupied northern Persia on the pretext of restoring order in the country and also to protect Russian financial and economic interests. British forces also invaded and occupied most of the oil-producing southwestern Persia. This was partly to counter Russian influence, and partly to protect British oil supplies.

World War One –(1914-1918)–Though Persia officially did not take part in this war, Russian and Ottoman Turkish forces used Persia’s Caucasus region as a battleground throughout the war. British forces continued and expanded their occupation of southern Persia while also pursuing invasions of Ottoman Iraq.

Soviet Invasion of Persia –(1920-1921)–The new Communist regime in Russia (now renamed as the Soviet Union), invaded northern Persia and established Soviet satellite states in Gilan, Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, and Khorasan. Following the coup of Persian General Reza Khan Pahlavi in February of 1921, a peace treaty with the Soviets was ratified, and Soviet forces withdrew.

Persian Revolution –(1921)–Reza Khan Pahlavi overthrew the corrupt Shah Ahmad Mirza and crushed the separatist regimes in Gilan, Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, and Khorasan.

Arab Rebellion in Khuzistan –(1932)

Anglo-Soviet Invasion and Occupation of Persia –(1941-1946)–The Soviet Union and the United Kingdom once again occupied large areas of Iran due to their war with Germany during World War Two. This time, no combat took place in Iranian territory, but the Soviets did aid separatist movements among the Kurds and Azeris.

Kurdish Rebellion –(1941-1944)

Azeri Rebellion –(1945)

Kurdish Mahabad Rebellion –(1946)–This Soviet-supported Kurdish separatist movement fell to the Iranian army after the Soviets withdrew their troops in 1946.

Anti-Mossadeq Coup –(1953)–The American Central Intelligence Agency planned and executed a coup against Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeq. Britain was concerned that Mossadeq was going to nationalize the oilfields of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now known as British Petroleum, or BP) and the United States feared that Mossadeq may ally Iran with the Soviet Union. The plan for the coup was called "Operation Ajax," and it succeeded in overthrowing Prime Minister Mossadeq and installing a more pliable Prime Minister. The Shah assumed greater powers, and Iran was a firm ally of the Western powers during the Cold War until the Shah’s overthrow in 1979.

Iran-Iraq Border Battles –(1969-1970)–Disputes over the Shatt al-Arab waterway, claimed by both nations, led to hostilities in the late 1960s. Iran supported a rebellion by Iraqi Kurds until 1975, when the Shah and Saddam Hussein reached an agreement

Kurdish Rebellion –(1970-1980)–During the Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini against the Shah, Iranian Kurdistan rose in rebellion. The Iranian Army and the Revolutionary Guards crushed the rebellion. Kurdish losses were around 10,000.

Iranian Seizure of Gulf Islands –(1970-1980)–Iran occupied several Persian Gulf islands claimed by the United Arab Emirates.

Dhofar War–(1973-1975)–Iran sent troops to Oman to aid the Sultan of Oman, who was fighting against Marxist rebels aided by South Yemen. The Shah of Iran reportedly wanted to not only support a fellow pro-Western Gulf Monarch, but also wanted to give his troops combat experience in the field.

Islamic Revolution in Iran –(1979-1980)–Iran was swept with anti-Shah protests, culminating in the Shah going into exile and the Ayatollah Khomeini taking power and installing an Islamic Republic. During the resulting instability in Iran, several ethnic groups rebelled, including the Kurds and Azeris. A Marxist group known as the Mujahadeen Khalq also became active against the Islamic Republic.

U.S.-Iran Hostage Crisis–(1979-1981)–Radical Iranian students seized control of the American Embassy in Tehran, sparking a crisis that nearly resulted in war. A badly-planned and badly-executed U.S. military rescue attempt ended in disaster in 1980.

The First Persian Gulf War (also known as the Iran-Iraq War)—(1980-1988) – In 1975, Iraq and Iran came to an agreement on the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway which provides Iraq’s only outlet to the sea. In exchange for Iran stopping support for Kurdish rebels, Iraq agreed to share the Shatt al-Arab with Iran. This and other disputes over their common border, plus the belief that the 1979 revolution had weakened Iran, led Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to launch an invasion of Iran on September 22, 1980. After initial successes, the Iraqi army ground to a halt and soon retreated under repeated assaults by the numerically larger Iranian Army and Revolutionary Guards. After the Iranians pushed the war into Iraq, Saddam’s forces began using chemical weapons. By 1988, both nations faced exhaustion and, after nearly a million casualties between them, agreed to end the conflict.

The Tanker War –(1984-1988)–Iran and Iraq each attacked oil tankers and oil facilities in the Persian Gulf in an effort to damage each other’s economy. The United States entered the fray in 1987 by "reflagging" several Kuwaiti oil tankers, thereby providing them with American legal and military protection. Iran continued to attack these ships, provoking violent American responses.

Iran’s Proxy War with Israel –(1980s-Present)–Iran openly supports and arms Israel’s enemies, Syria, Hamas, and Hezbollah. Israel and the United States consider Iran to be a party to the warfare waged by Hamas, Hezbollah, and the tensions with Syria.

PEJAK Kurdish Rebellion –(1998-Present)–The Party for a Free Life in Iranian Kurdistan (PEJAK) is a Kurdish guerrilla force fighting for freedom from Iran. Believed to be supported by the Kurds in Iraq as well as by the United States.

Proxy War with the United States –(Current)–Iran and the United States are, for all intents and purposes, engaged in a mutual proxy war against each other. The United States alleges that Iran is supplying weapons, training, money, and cross-border bases to anti-American forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran is meanwhile alleging that the United States is arming and encouraging Kurdish, Azeri, Arab (Khuzistani), and Baluchi militants in rebellion against Tehran. This all serves as a backdrop for the possibility of a new war between the United States and Iran. Such an "Iran War," in addition to the current Iraq War and Afghanistan War could destabalize the Middle East and jeopardize the West’s oil supplies.

Sources:

R. Ernest, Dupuy, and Dupuy Trevor N. The Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 B.C. To The Present.New York: Harper & Row, 1970.

Kohn, George C. Dictionary of War s. New York: Facts On File Publications, 1999.

WHKMLA : List of the Wars of Persia / Iran

Iran faces challenges from within--by Chris Zambelis of Asia Times Online

The Kurds Begin To Revolt In Iran, Turkey & Syria – Encouraged By Iraqi Kurdistan

Kurdish Secessionism Looms Over the Middle East--May 11, 2006, by Robert Lindsay: Independent Left Journalist From California

Iranians shell anti-Iranian Kurdish PEJAK guerrillas in Kurdistan region-Iraq–May 23,2007, by KurdNet

Further steps in the lead-up to the war with Iran — October 12, 2007, by Atlantic Free Press

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Turkish Attacks on Kurds Raises Questions

17 Dec

Turkish forces bombed Kurdish PKK rebels based in northern Iraq in aerial attacks on December 1st and on December 16th, with both attacks aided by intelligence supplied by the United States. Earlier in the Autumn, Turkey hinted at an invasion of northern Iraq to get at the rebels, a move opposed by both the U.S. and the Iraqi government.

While the Turks are within their rights to strike at an enemy combatant force with whom they have been at war with since the 1980s, the U.S. is not the sovereign power in Iraq; officially, sovereign power rests with the Iraqi government in Baghdad, and reports indicate that the government, especially the Kurdish members of the government are quite angry at this attack and at U.S. complicity.

While the U.S. can claim that it is aiding a fellow NATO member defend itself, and that the PKK is considered a terrorist group, allowing the Turks to strike inside Iraq does open up the question of what the Bush Administration would do if Iran launched a similar cross-border strike against their own Kurdish rebels who also use northern Iraq as a base.

U.S. Helps Turkey Hit Rebel Kurds In Iraq: Intelligence Role Could Complicate Diplomacy–Washington Post, December 18, 2007

Turkey’s U.S.-Backed Strike in Iraq–Time, Dec. 17, 2007

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Posted in Current Affairs, Mideast Wars, War and Conflict, Wars, Wars in Iraq