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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Belmont: I'm Just a Gigolo |
| 2014-10-09 |
| A mistress seldom reflects that if she can persuade a husband to betray his wife she might someday be the next to be cheated on. For any arrangement founded on dishonesty suffers from the danger that you may be deceived in turn. In the context of politics the relevant question to ask is why the administration, having betrayed the Kurds, should not betray someone else. The Kurds have long been a pawn in regional politics. In 1975 Congress, concerned by Watergate and possible illegal clandestine activities, created the Pike Committee to examine CIA effectiveness and its cost to taxpayers. It soon clashed with the CIA and the White House over access to classified documents. Although Congress voted to never publish the Committee's report, copies were leaked to the Village Voice. The report noted, among other things, the Kurds had agreed to resume their war for autonomy against the Iraqi Government with support from the Shah of Iran and assurances from the United States Government that it would help as well. The report stated that while Barzani often "expressed his distrust" of the Shah, he trusted the United States. It concluded the United States and Iran actually "hoped that our clients [the Kurds] would not prevail. They preferred instead that the insurgents simply continue a level of hostilities sufficient to sap the resources of our ally's [Iran's] neighboring country [Iraq]." Of course, "this policy was not imparted to our clients, who were encouraged to continue fighting. Even in the context of covert action, ours was a cynical enterprise." They've been shafted again. The editors of Bloomberg note that the Turks are watching ISIS destroy the Kurds, in much the same way as the Soviets stood by and let the Nazis crush the Warsaw uprising. ...Ok, they've been sold out. The question is: in exchange for what? This goes to the very heart of any cynical (and I know dear readers that you have no objection to cynicism per se) appraisal of betrayal. Who's is the shafter and who are the shaftees? Are the Kurds being betrayed for some possibly greater good, which Obama will doubtlessly identify by and by, or is Washington just the flunkey for the men in the flowing robes? |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |