PJAK - Latest CIA Covert Action against Iranian Regime
Kurdishaspect.com - By Rauf Naqishbendi
Since the banishment of the former Shah, the United States ’ relationship with Iran has been pugnacious. The US has persistently sought regime change to restore its strategic interest in the Persian Gulf . The latest event in this saga is the sponsorship by the CIA of PJAK, a group of Iranian Kurds who proclaim to fight for freedom for all Iranian Kurds, to engage in a hit-and-run attack against Iranian armed forces across the Iraqi Kurdistan’s border with Iran . This is intended to enfeeble the Ayatollah’s regime, create chaos, and thereby start the process towards the US ’s ultimate goal, a regime change. This is a desperate attempt that will not topple the Iranian regime but rather will cause tragic loss of life and squander resources in vain. As to PJAK, they will lose even if the CIA prevails, because the US has never looked favorably upon Kurds and has been aloof toward their fight for autonomy, and the oppression and suffering they undergo, while remaining a staunch supporter and benefactor of their oppressors.
The five million people who make up the disenchanted Kurdish minority have been struggling for their autonomous region within Iran ’s democratic framework for ages. Upon the ousting of the former Shah, through armed movement they demanded their autonomy but the Ayatollah’s forces engaged them brutally marking a bloody end to their uprising, causing their leaders and some of their followers to take refuge in nearby Iraq . After the Iraq War they organized themselves as PJAK under the Turkish Kurds’ freedom fighters known as the Kurdistan Workers Party, the PKK. The irony is that the US has listed the PKK as a terrorist organization, but the US is the sole sponsor of their spin-off faction PJAK. Meanwhile, PJAK is sharing the US offering of meals and arms with the PKK while Turks deservingly lament how frequently American weapons are found in the hands of the PKK.
PJAK must consider the history of the first democratic republic in Iran , the Kurdish Republic of Mehabad in 1945, and how the US imposed the Iranian Shah against the Iranian people’s will, thereby causing the abolishment of the republic. The head of the Republic, Qazi Mohammed, and his disciples then faced public execution. That is the history behind this situation and there is nothing on the horizon to suggest that US policy will be swayed in the Kurds’ favor. The aims of PJAK certainly do not mirror the dreams of Iranian Kurds; they don’t represent the majority of Iranian Kurds because they are American emissaries compensated by the CIA.
The US Middle East policy is characterized by short term solutions - reacting to situations as they happen, advancing what works for the time being and ignoring future consequences. The US has a tradition of selling out Kurds; it has been callous toward their misfortunes, treating them not as an ally but as a tool. This is not done deliberately but ignorantly due to the lack of a long-term policy. The US ’s lack of sound and moral judgment in the past has created the inextricable morass the Middle East dilemma is at present. What is startling is that the same somber mistakes of the past that enmeshed the superpower in this situation are still being made, following their previous course of arrogant aberrations in the face of righteousness.
PJAK should observe their Iraqi Kurdish counterparts and see firsthand what the Iraqi Kurds have attained by rendering themselves instruments of Bush’s policy. They found themselves in a safe haven following Saddam’s demise, but without statehood recognition to warrant their future security. Thus they are left in limbo with impending calamities set to fall upon them once embattled America is extricated from the situation.
The US ’s foes, the governments of the Iranian mullahs are diseased, and have submerged Iranians in their present misery and future catastrophe. That being said, let us contrast America and its friends with its foes. As bad as the Iranian mullahs have been, when Kurds faced calamity and had nowhere and no one turn to, the mullahs sheltered and fed them and treated their ills. After the first Gulf War, the Kurdish people fleeing Saddam’s wrath congregated near Turkey ’s border in rocky mountains, a land of nomads in the heart of a frigid snowy winter. Then, as the headline news portrayed, parents and grandparents buried their dead frozen children and grandchildren, yet Turks happily turned them away to suffer, not even offering one single family the protection they sought. Iranians never made any treaty with any country to stifle Kurds, as America ’s friend, the former Shah, did according to America ’s design. Iranian mullahs didn’t bomb Kurds with chemical and biological agents, the building blocks of which were delivered by former Defense Secretary Mr. Rumsfeld to America ’s friend, Saddam. As bad as Iranians have been, they have never been as despicable as America ’s friends in the region.
The aims and actions of PJAK are of no constructive use. What is it PJAK wants for Iran , an American-friendly government, like the former Shah’s regime, or a barbaric regime, such as Turkey ’s, that would befriend America ? Their little attacks hither and thither around the Iranian border will not destabilize Iran, but cause the loss of many innocent lives, the incarceration of so many, and make Kurdistan a battleground with Kurds on both sides of the border falling as casualties. The US as the super power ought to be reasonable and predictable in their actions. Inaction is by far better than nugatory or detrimental action such as the employment of PJAK. It is absurd to demand that Iranians refrain from supporting or sponsoring terror organizations, while the US does exactly that.
It is pragmatic and beneficial for Kurds to be allied with the US , and they should be. However, Kurdish interests coincide with justice while the US notoriously attempts to appease the most diabolical Arab monarchs and Turkish dictators in the region. To obviate the follies of America , Kurdish leaders must take a firm stand in defending and establishing their identity rather than merely being a tool of faulty US policy. In doing so America will not abuse her power nor will Kurds be victimized and betrayed again.
__________________________________
Reader comments
Comments containing threats, foul language or thinly disguised foul language will be deleted. Keep it civil, stay on topic and your posts will remain online. Terms of Use
___________________
 | ||||
MENU
February 4, 2008
NEWS
The most admired Independent Kurdish Newspaper from the heart of Kurdistan.
For Kurdish Women’s Issues
| ||||
| ||||
KURDISH MUSIC
RECOMMENDED SITES
| ||||
| ||||
