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Pivotal  Kirkuk & Israeli Presence.

Layla  Anwar, An Arab Woman Blues

Source: http://www.uruknet.info/index.php?p=59948

This is a rushed translation of an important article on Kirkuk written by Wajdi Anwar Mardan.

Title : Did you know that the Israeli command and  operation center for target assassinations is based in Kirkuk and do the Iraqis  know why the Israeli rush for property acquisitions in Kirkuk?

This article was written in  reply to a question that appeared in the Jordanian daily, Al-Dustur, a few days ago, by the journalist  Hayat.H.Attiyah and who started her  article with : Israeli Jews of Iraqi origins return en masse to Iraq, and are  settling particularly in Kirkuk where they are buying all kinds of property. The  journalist Hayat Attiyah asks the  question: Why Kirkuk ?

The author  Wajdi Anwar Mardan says : Before replying to this journalist's question, we need  to inform the reader that this is NOT a new piece of information.
He then  goes on to say : After 9th April 2003, the day of the occupation of Baghdad, a  large number of Israeli Mossad agents arrived in Iraq under several pseudo cover  companies, the main one was called The Rafidain  Company.

The first batch of arrivals was made of 900 Israeli  spies. They were in charge of setting up specialized units in the target  assassinations of Iraqi cadres, political figures and military personalities as  well as Iraqi scientists and academics. For example in ONE year alone, 1000  Iraqi scientists were murdered.

Out of the 950 Israeli agents, 450 moved  from Baghdad to Kirkuk. Currently they are occupying a house in the suburbs of  the city of Kirkuk. Among these agents there is a group of Kurds who were  trained by the CIA. These Kurds were flown from Northern Iraq to the island of  Guam in 1996 for training.

The author then adds that most of the agents  are fluent in English, and Arabic and speak this latter with an Iraqi accent.  Since the beginning of this year -2009, they have been buying property/real  estate in Kirkuk and its surroundings: lands, agricultural fields, houses and  office buildings.

Over and above that, it (this group) has continued in  its target assassinations of Turkmen and Arab personalities, including some  Kurdish ones, plus the bombing of Turkmen parties HQs, with the aim of igniting  ethnic strife in Kirkuk and the North of Iraq. These secret Israeli operatives  are also still very active in Baghdad and Babel. (my note: alongside the Iranian secret  intelligence operatives)

The author W.A.Mardan then poses the question:  Why Kirkuk then ?

He gives more than one reason/explanation...

1)  Historical : In Babylonian times, Nebuchadnezzar, in the year 576 BC, destroyed  the Southern Hebrew city (Judea/Jerusalem) and took 50'000 Jews as captives to  Babylon.
On his way to Babylon, he passed by Kirkuk, which was then a  strategic route, the same borrowed by the Persian King Darius and his army who  was defeated by Alexander the Macedonian in the Ar'ba'liu battle - currently called Erbil  (my note : Erbil which is an old Assyrian  word, meaning the 4 gates - nothing Kurdish about it).

So when  Nebuchadnezzar arrived in Kirkuk, which was called Kar-kuk in Mesopotamian times meaning organized hard labour (my note : hard labour is still referred to as  KAR in Arabic) - he saw on the eastern flank of the Khasa-so river (now called  Khasa) 3 hills, fairly close to one another. Nebuchadnezzar then asked his  captives to fetch sand and stones from the surrounding areas and fill the gaps  between those three hills, so as to make on large hill and ordered them to build  a fortress on it - hence the name Kirkuk or Kar-Kuk.

Once the  construction completed, he then ordered the building of a underground cellar  about 300 meters from the fortress main gate, called "Tob Qabu" (my note: in Arabic - Qabu or A'bu means cellar  or anything constructed under the surface of something else. Qubba means dome.  Hence the Turkish word Topkapi - under the dome)

The author then says,  during the Abbasid times, out of respect for the (Hebrew) Prophets, a Mosque was  built over this cellar/Qabu/also called Serdab (my note : Serdab comes from Ser (secret) and  dab (passage)i.e a secret passage). This mosque namedMaqam al Anbiya -the High Place of the  Prophets - is known today in Kirkuk as Prophet Daniel's Mosque known in Turkmen  language as Daniel Beghmebir Jami'i.  This mosque remains till this day the historical embodiment of this city and  what happened in it.

This mosque was/is known to be a place of good omen  that brings prosperity to its visitors. Before, Iraqi Jews of Kirkuk, i.e before  their departure to Palestine in 1956, they also frequented this mosque to  celebrate Yom Al-Kabeer i.e Yom Kippur with the blessings of the Imam of the  Mosque - showing the extent of the religious tolerance that existed in  Kirkuk.

The author then says, he also recalls as a child, another  occasion when the Jews of Kirkuk used to gather in this mosque, and they used to  collectively weep/lament there. So he asked his grandmother the reason why and  she told him that this is the occasion when they would remember the destruction  of their city in Jerusalem and the imprisonment of their prophet Daniel in this  very place ie in the prophet Daniel Mosque.

The author concludes for this  part; This is the story of the Jews and Kirkuk, as recounted to me by the elders  of this city several decades ago. It may well be that more historical and  archeological research be done on this, however the Serdab/Qabu/Cellar of the  Mosque is the proof since it is the place of the three Hebrew prophets and they  are buried there. This goes for the historical reason/explanation.

Now  for the second reason...

2) Resources : As is already known, Kirkuk holds  60% of Iraq's oil reserves and has one of the finest quality of crude oil. And  as per the previous regime's estimates, in order to extract 5 million barrels of  oil a day, Kirkuk would need an investment of 8 billion dollars in its oil  production fields/techniques. The author then adds, but since corruption and oil  smuggling are now the norm in occupied Iraq, the estimates now range between 16  to 24 Billion dollars. Hence, this is why Israeli Jews are buying as much land  as possible today in Kirkuk with the aim of turning it into the Las Vegas of the  Middle East.

The third reason....

3) Strategy & Security for  the Kurds : Israel has given guarantees to both Kurdish leaders, Talabani and  Barazani, to protect the Federal autonomous region of Kurdistan from any  internal (from within Iraq) or external threats, from Turkey, Syria or  Iran.(my note:Turkey is seeking an active  political breakthrough with its Kurds and Turkish rapprochement with the Iraqi  Kurdish leadership was made, following the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister  to Erbil, where Turkey will be opening a consular section there soon, after it  has already done so in Basra)

The author adds that according to the  American-Israeli plan, Kirkuk is to become the capital of "Kurdistan." Hence the  Jewish/Israeli presence in Kirkuk is of crucial strategic importance, in its  proximity to Turkey, Syria and Iran.

The author concludes by saying that  the American invasion and occupation of Iraq was mainly to protect Israel and  ensure that it remains the only regional super power in the area. That American  plan hinges upon the strengthening of its puppet government in Baghdad, and its  continuous efforts to erase Iraq's Arabic and Islamic identity and stripping it  of its ancient and contemporary history, civilization, heritage and  role.

UPDATE : Just received this  message from someone with close ties to Kirkuk. And this is what this person had  to add to the above :

" Since April 2003  when the Peshmerga (Kurdish militias) invaded and took control of Kirkuk the  Kurds have been buying properties and land in Kerkuk, we know this from our  (Turkmen) relatives who live in Kerkuk.
Real Kirkukis can no longer afford to  buy a house or a piece of land in their city. The young ones who are getting  married are obliged to move out of the city to make room for Kurds from outside  Kirkuk but also for Kurds from Iran, Syria, Turkey, all IMPORTED and FINANCED by  the Kurdish warlords.
Kirkuk is now under control of the Kurdish mafia and  the Mossad. A very dangerous situation for the future of Iraq. "