29 Bodies Found in Baghdad
Erdogan Warns on PKK
29 bodies were found in Baghdad on Wednesday, according to McClatchy. There was also mortar fire in Baghdad, an attack on police in Mahawil, and US military clashes with the Mahdi Army of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
About that orphanage that the Iraqi government was running, where the children were starved and abused? The Iraqi government says it really wasn’t so bad. And moreover, the US troops that rescued them were the ones who abused them. So there. Nyaah! Yep, the Bush administration has a real friend in Baghdad all right.
Steve Negus reports in the Financial Times on the PKK hideout in Qandil, Iraq, near the Turkish border:
‘ Their Qandil base, and two smaller enclaves closer to Turkey, have for the past two months been drawing world attention, with the Turkish military saying it is ready to strike across the border at the PKK as soon as it gets the green light from Ankara’s civilian leaders. Dozens of Turkish soldiers have been killed in recent months in clashes with the PKK inside Turkey, and the Kurdish guerrillas have been blamed for bombings that have caused civilian casualties, prompting the calls for a military assault. ‘
Meanwhile, Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan said it was the responsibility of the US and the Iraqi government to curb the PKK, which the US has formally designated a terrorist group. But he also said, “If needed we will take the necessary steps [for a cross-border operation] because we cannot allow the PKK any longer to carry out attacks . . .”
Ben Lando of UPI reports that a key author of the Iraqi draft petroleum law has turned into a critic because of recent revisions. These changes weaken the role of the federal government. I wouldn’t expect that law to be passed any time soon, or its provisions to stand up over time anyway. Apparently Dick Cheney’s entreaties that the parliament not take a summer recess have fallen on deaf ears. And in the current chaos, I doubt you could get a quorum of the MPs into the Green Zone for a vote.