Iraq Press Roundup

The Kurdish Al Ahali newspaper said Thursday in its editorial, "Turkey and the policy of eating the Iraqi sandwich from its edges," that the Iraqi government's position has made the Iraqi people's hearts bleed as they, and the rest of the world, watch Turkish forces flowing to Iraqi Kurdish land and the Turkish air force destroying bridges on the Kurdish side of the border.

The editorial by Faisal Abdul Hassan, an Iraqi exile in Morocco, said the Iraqi central government had no efficient response to the assault except sending a "bashful" demand to the Turkish government to withdraw from Kurdistan.

"These demands through diplomatic channels mean little in comparison to the deep Turkish penetration, which, according to international relations and political measurement, is a declaration of war," it said.

It said armies crossing the borders of another country means they are announcing a war, and that an assaulted government, even when weak, should defend its land by asking the U.N. Security Council to implement the article that prevents any military force from affecting the sovereignty of another country.

It added that an assaulted government could go to the Arab League whose head is trying to help the Lebanese elect a president, not even commenting to the media on the tanks moving deep into Kurdish land.

"Iraq is one of the countries that established the Arab League and … signed its defense convention," it said.

The editorial accused the Iraqi central government of not defending northern Iraq, commenting it should send Iraqi forces to the occupied land to let the Kurdish people feel they have a central government able to defend them.

"The bridges the Turkish forces destroyed in Iraqi Kurdistan are the pillars of life of that rural area," it said.

It added that destroying Kurdish bridges "set fire" among the displaced 4 million Iraqis hearts for their Kurdish region as they protested and demanded an end to the Turkish assault.

"Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi protesters declared their readiness to enroll in the military to fight the enemy's army and defend their land," the newspaper said.

The editorial said now is the time for the Iraqi central government to stop the Turkish greed in Iraq and teach its politicians the policy of "eating the Iraqi sandwich from its edges" will not pass without a harsh economic lesson as Iraq could stop its oil flow through Turkey and the rest of the world.

"Turkey must remember that Iraq could use international diplomatic relationships to end their assault," it said.