The Kurds are said to be the largest ethnic minority on the globe without a homeland. Many groups fight for Kurdish independence. Among those are the PKK. Throughout the Iraq War, Turkey has bombed northern Iraq with the latest wave of attacks beginning on August 17th and they intensified last month. Bayram Kaya (Today's Zaman) reports, "A special ops unit of the National Police Department was recently sent to northern Iraq to capture or kill the senior leaders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the National Police Department has said." Al Mada reports that PKK is warning that a civil war may break out. That's only one of the potential threats in the news cycle. Michael S. Schmidt and Eric Schmitt (New York Times) report that US and Iraqi officials are worried about other things, specifically al Qaeda in Iraq. Al Mada notes that the Iraqi government is swearing no Iranian Qods Force troops are in Iraq.
Meanwhile the Sunni militias in Iraq were largely unarmed or put on the payroll as Sahwa. But the Shi'ite militias really haven't gone away. Al Mada notes that Moqtada al-Sadr declared in a TV interview that his Mehdi militia will not be disarming because he does not believe that the US is really leaving Iraq. He declared that he "question"ed the depature noting some forces may be leaving but the US presence remains.
This as Nouri al-Maliki, prime minister and thug, is attempting to strip elected politicians of certain powers. Al Rafidayn reports Nouri insists they are using the powers of their office to 'conduct terrorism.' But if we think back, the last elected MP he called a terrorist is the one he attempted to have jailed over a private conversation where the MP compared Nouri to Saddam Hussein. So most likely, this is another power-grab for Nouri. In today's New York Times, the editorial board contributes "Prime Minister Maliki and the Sunnis" and here's the opening paragraph:
The authoritarian tendencies of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq are well known. But the arrest of more than 600 Iraqis whom the government describes as suspected former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party and army is particularly cynical and reckless. With American troops scheduled to withdraw by year’s end, the last thing Mr. Maliki should be doing is stoking sectarian tensions.
Turning to some of today's reported violence, Reuters notes police Brig Jalil Ibadi was shot dead in Baghdad, a Mosul roadside bombing left two Iraqi soldiers injured, 1 construction worker was shot dead in Mosul, 4 Taji bombings targeted the home of a Sahwa leader resulting in 4 deaths and eight people left injured, Iraqi soldiers (or 'unknowns' in Iraqi soldier uniforms and driving Iraqi military vehicles) carried out two kidnappings (university professors) in Kirkuk and a Baghdad minibus bombing claimed 1 life and left seven people injured.
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