A fascinating story from the New York Times Nov. 5. The Vatican seems to be sending an explicit message here about the need to protect Christians in Muslim lands. But note that the situation for Iraq's Christians has dramatically worsened under the US occupation. And it is very refreshing that Emmanuel III Delly refuses to cast collective guilt on his Muslim neighbors, and explicitly repudiates the logic of sectarian cleansing:

2,000-Year-Old Christian Community in Iraq Gains a Spiritual First in Baghdad
BAGHDAD — There is neither a cross nor a sign on the heavy metal gate to indicate that this is the official residence of one of the country’s most prominent Christians, the first in Iraq in modern times to be elevated to cardinal by the Roman Catholic Church.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to meet President Bush in Washington Nov. 5 amid signs that the crisis over PKK attacks from across the Iraqi ­border has slightly eased. As Erdogan was en route to the US, the PKK released eight Turkish soldiers it had captured two weeks earlier in the incident that led to overt threats by Turkey to send troops into northern Iraq. Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, in Istanbul for talks that included UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said that "a number of concrete measures" would be implemented to address Turkish demands, including establishing checkpoints, disrupting supply routes, and the closure of any PKK offices in northern Iraq. "I can say that soon you will see these visible measures implemented on the ground in order to show the seriousness of our co-operation with the government of Turkey," Zebari pledged. (FT, Nov. 3)

by Antonia Juhasz, Oil Change International

WORLD WAR 4 REPORT editor Bill Weinberg led another modestly-attended presentation this evening about the Iraq Freedom Congress, this time at a meeting of the New York chapter of the Socialist Party USA. An announcement for the event, which featured a screening of the Japanese-produced video Go Forward Iraq Freedom Congress!, sparked this predictable exchange on the always-reliable NYC Indymedia site:

From AP, Oct. 27:

SAN FRANCISCO - Thousands of people called for a swift end to the war in Iraq as they marched through downtown on Saturday, chanting and carrying signs that read: "Wall Street Gets Rich, Iraqis and GIs Die" or "Drop Tuition Not Bombs."

With all the focus on the crisis over Kurdish separatist rebels taking refuge in northern Iraq, largely overlooked are the multiple reasons that Turkey's Kurds have to be discontented. We noted two years ago the pressures on eastern Turkey's peoples from the Ataturk Dam. Now more Kurdish lands are being expropriated for the Ilisu Dam, as noted by a recent European fact-finding mission to Anatolia. From Kurdish Media, Oct. 23:

With an Iraqi delegation in Ankara to discuss the standoff over PKK rebels in northern Iraq, Turkish war planes and helicopters reportedly bombed guerilla bases within Iraq's borders Oct. 26. However, even as the state-run Anatolia news agency reported the air-strikes, top military commander Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said that day that Turkish leaders will wait until Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets President Bush in Washington on Nov. 5 before deciding whether to mount a cross-border offensive into Iraq. "The armed forces will carry out a cross-border offensive when assigned," private NTV quoted Gen. Yasar Buyukanit as saying. "Prime Minister Erdogan's visit to the United States is very important. We will wait for his return." Turkey's deputy prime minister Cemil Cicek said his government has demanded the extradition of Kurdish rebel leaders based in Iraq's north. Asked what the US military was planning to do, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of US forces in northern Iraq, said: "Absolutely nothing." (AP, Oct. 27)

This Patrick Cockburn report is entitled "Baghdad may be unable to stop attacks by PKK fighters," but the more relevant question may be whether the regional Kurdish government which is the real power in northern Iraq has any real desire to—or if they don't have more sympathy for the PKK than for Turkey (or USA). From the UK Independent, Oct 24: