Posted on 08/03/2005 9:11:00 PM PDT by gandalftb
Enrolment has begun in Iraqi Kudistan for the first Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to join Iraq's national army. The recruitment represents the completion of the first phase to create a special brigade within the fourth division of the Iraqi army. Peshmerga is the term used by Kurds to refer to freedom fighters, and literally means "those who face death".
The agreements reached in the last few months will see some 32,000 former guerrillas join the ranks of Iraq's new armed forces, said Jaafar Mustafa, a member of the Peshmerga leadership, but "so far only one brigade has been set up", whose members come from the Sulaymaniya area.
Mustafa also pointed out that "the accords also establish the creation of a special Peshmerga brigade in the Karmiyan region near the disputed northern city of Kirkuk.
The Peshmerga fought alongside US troops in northern Iraq during the 2003 Iraq war and since then have taken on a security role in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. There are estimated to be between 80,000 and 100,000 Peshmerga fighters in the north of the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at adnki.com ...
"This is very good news."
INDEED.
This is incredible news. First of all, it means that the Kurds are going to get their wish in the Constitution, second, there is no more fierce fighter than the Peshmerga. It's going to double the ready forces in Iraq almost overnight.
They come with experience
Send all 32,000 to the Sunni Triangle.
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