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To: sea_urchin who wrote (23995)	12/28/2005 7:22:32 PM
From: sea_urchin	Respond to of 81088

> Israel, of course, would be glad if there was civil war in Iraq upi.com >>Iran has won a major victory in the Dec. 15 elections in Iraq, a U.S. expert told a Pakistani newspaper. Robert Dreyfuss, author of "Devil's Game," a new book that holds the United States the principal architect of Islamist extremism because of its misguided policies, told the Pakistan Daily Times that the "last hope for peace" in Iraq was lost with the victory of the Shiite religious coalition. He described the victorious Shiite coalition as "a fanatical band of fundamentalist Shiite parties backed by Iran, above all to the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI)," the Daily Times said in a report published Wednesday. The coalition would create a "theocratic bastion state in its southern Iraqi fiefdom and use its power in Baghdad to rule what's left of the Iraqi state by force," Dreyfuss said. Dreyfuss told the paper that he could see no "silver lining" in the situation, nor any chance for peace talks among Iraq's factions, or international mediation. There was no centrist force that could bridge the factional or sectarian divides in Iraq, he said. The next step, he predicted, would be civil war. <<

To: sea_urchin who wrote (23995)	12/28/2005 8:55:43 PM
From: sea_urchin	Respond to of 81088

> Israel, of course, would be glad if there was civil war in Iraq (2) islamonline.org >>CAIRO, December 1, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) - Dozens of former Israeli commandos have been training Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq, supplying them with equipment worth millions of dollars, Yedioth Aharonot newspaper reported Thursday, December 1. Over the past 18 months, these ex-commandos, who were sent to Iraq by several Israeli corporations, have been training special security units as part of a program organized by the Kurdish authorities, said Israel's top-selling daily. Operating from a secret desert stronghold dubbed Code Z, the ex-Israeli soldiers, all with elite-unit experience, have been training the Kurds in weapons, self-defense and anti-terror techniques. The newspaper showed photographs of men it said were Israelis, their faces concealed, training Kurds in the use of weapons at an unknown location and preparing vehicles at an airport. The New Yorker veteran investigative reporter Seymour Hersh said Israeli intelligence and military operatives were quietly at work in northern Iraq, providing training for Kurdish commando units and running covert operations inside Kurdish areas of Iran and Syria. Israeli Arms According to the Israeli daily, Motorola Israel and Magalcom Communications and Computers won contracts with the Kurdish government to the tune of hundreds of millions of US dollars. As part of the program, the firms have supplied the Kurds with tones of Israeli-manufactured equipment, including dozens of motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, sniffer dogs, devices for upgrading Kalashnikov rifles, flack jackets, uniforms and helmets. They have also been involved in the secret construction of a major airport near the northern town of Arbil, known as "Hawler International". The Israelis entered Iraq through its northern border with Turkey posing as construction engineers and agricultural experts, the paper said. Yedioth Aharonot added that a company owned by Israeli entrepreneur Shlomi Michaels is in full business partnership with the Kurdish government, providing strategic consultation on economic and security issues. The company was initially established by former Mossad chief Danny Yatom and Michaels, yet Yatom sold his shares upon his election to the Knesset. A shroud of secrecy has been imposed on the project for fear the Israelis could be targeted by Iraqi resistance groups. The Kurds, who make up 15-20 percent of Iraq's population and live mostly along the borders with Iran and Turkey, have enjoyed broad autonomy since the 1991 Gulf War. Despite assurances from both sides, Turkey has repeatedly raised concerned about the reported presence of Israeli operatives in northern Iraq and their cooperation with the country’s Kurdish community.<<