Posted on 03/03/2005 1:24:23 PM PST by Pendragon_6
A key question is whether the peshmerga, who have defended key cities, will disband under last year's accord.
SULAYMANIYAH, IRAQ - As Iraq's fledgling security forces prepare to take over the country's defense, a crucial question is emerging: what will happen to Iraq's 80,000 or so pesh merga, the battle- hardened Kurdish militia?
Under an agreement hammered out last June, the pesh merga - meaning "those who face death" - and other militias are supposed to be disbanded and absorbed into Iraq's various security forces. But in turbulent northern Iraqi towns like Mosul, Kirkuk, and Tal Afar, the legendary mountain warriors have continued to fight - not as members of the Iraqi Army or national guard, but as pesh merga under the command of Kurdish political parties.
"Officially, there is no pesh merga, only the Iraqi Army," says Fareed Asasard, director of the Kurdistan Strategic Studies Center. "But still, you can see that the pesh merga remain. Maybe in some countries they have succeeded in changing militias into an army, but here, we continue to have pesh merga."
The pesh merga's role in defending key cities like Mosul, and the growing influence of Iraq's Kurdish minority, have revived the delicate question of how - and where - to use the storied guerrillas.
;-)____continued
These guys were incredible. I spent a year in
Iraq and got to travel to the Kurdish north. The
difference is unbelievable. The Pesh Merga are
completely professional, dedicated, and ready to
fight to the death. After some time they started
sending US Soldiers unarmed to the Kurdish north for
R&R. People came with stories like....no matter
where we looked...in the hills...in the trees...
city balconies....the eyes of the Pesh Merga were
everywhere. These guys have done a WONDERFUL
job of controlling the Iraqi north and keeping the
militants from spilling over into there, believe me,
they DID try, many times. Their containment has
made is possible for the US to focus on other
areas. If the Pesh Merga had been placed earlier
in Mosul, perhaps we could have avoided all the
troubles and insurgents that popped up there after
the Fallujah Ordeal.
Welcome to FreeRepublic. They sound like they are very effective. Why would they want to disband them?
But they aren't "trained" according to the Dems. LOL
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