Comments

You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name

Your e-mail (optional)

Website (optional)

	My Original Nic Pic-a-Nic Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Foto

Submit your comments on this article

Iraq

Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issues call to arms against ISIL

2014-06-14

[Sistani's mosque speech Friday] stated the defense of the country "against those terrorists" was a "sacred goal," and that anyone who died fighting to that end "will be a martyr"

His words Friday marked a radical departure for a man who has played a powerful hand in shaping Iraqi politics, but has typically urged Iraqi Shiites to resist provocation to sectarian bloodshed.
I half expect Tater and his militia to start gunning up, along side all the other Shia militias. And a healthy sprinkling of Iranian Quds force, given that Sistani has a hotline to Tehran

Posted by:OldSpook

#6 Kurdish Oil money has a way of greasing palms of politicians in Istanbul.

Posted by: OldSpook 2014-06-14 22:25

#5 If the Turks won't have it, as you put it, why has their Prime Minister begun to use the term Kerdistan when discussing the movement of Kurdistan oil through Turkey to Europe. Turkey may never condone the excision of its Kurdish lands but it doesn't mind dealing with Irbil. And it has shown no objection to the potential incorporation of easternmost Syria's Kurdish lands in the Kurdistan of Iraq. And it sure as hell looks forward to more oil to arrive in Turkey through a pipeline built by Iraqi Kurdistan -- and not the Iraqi state. The times are a'changin.

Posted by: Omolump Thud8081 2014-06-14 20:55

#4 The Turks would put an end to an independent Kurdistan in less than a day. They simply won't tolerate it. The map posted earlier shows that the eastern 1/3 of Turkey is Kurdish majority. If Iraqi Kurdistan/NE Syrian Kurdistan come together as a state, the Kurds in Turkey will stage an open rebellion to join in. The Turks won't have it.

Posted by: Steve White 2014-06-14 14:35

#3 Such a move would alienate both the Turks and the Persians, not to mention what remains of Iraq. We simply can't have that Omo.

Posted by: Besoeker 2014-06-14 11:15

#2 The US is missing a tremendous opportunity to secure the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, which could be joined by a portion of northeastern Syria. Two weeks ago a shipmet of 1m barrels of Kurdistan oil was sent from Turkish port to Europe. Certainly, an independent Kurdistan would be landlocked, but daily there are scores of commercial flights out of Irbil to the Middle East and Europe. They are a stong indication that a Kurdish economy will flourish if oil shipments continue, the Peshmerga continues to be strengthened, and if Baghdad (and Damascus) stay the hell out of the way.

Posted by: Omolump Thud8081 2014-06-14 10:36

#1 Iraq should have been divided if we were not going to stay and help keep it united. Kurdistan is cut off, and on its own - and doing quite well because the Kurds never trust anyone. The Shi will have Iran to help them. Leaving the SUnnis to the tender mercies of the Slafists and Wahabbis. Your move Saudi Arabia - you let these wild animals loose and backed their philosophy. We, the US, for better or worse, have turned tail and run like our cowardly nacissist in chief wanted to do all along.

Posted by: OldSpook 2014-06-14 01:48

00:00