I hadn't realized Blackwater has been accused of selling weapons to the PKK

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/21/blackwater.probe.ap/index.html

Feds probe whether Blackwater smuggled weapons into Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal prosecutors are investigating whether employees of the private security firm Blackwater USA illegally smuggled weapons into Iraq that may have been sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, officials said Friday.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh, North Carolina, is handling the investigation with help from Pentagon and State Department auditors, who have concluded there is enough evidence to file charges, the officials told The Associated Press. snip

According to officials in Washington, the investigation grew from internal Pentagon and State Department inquiries into U.S. weapons that had gone missing in Iraq.

It gained steam after Turkish authorities protested to the U.S. in July that they had seized American arms from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, rebels.

The Turks provided serial numbers of the weapons to U.S. investigators, said a Turkish official.

The Pentagon said in late July it was looking into the Turkish complaints and a U.S. official said FBI agents had traveled to Turkey in recent months to look into cases of missing U.S. weapons in Iraq.

Investigators are determining whether the alleged Blackwater weapons match those taken from the PKK.

It was not clear if Blackwater employees suspected of selling to the black market knew the weapons they allegedly sold to middlemen might wind up with the PKK. If they did, possible charges against them could be more serious than theft or illegal weapons sales, officials said.

The PKK, which is fighting for an independent Kurdistan, is banned in Turkey, which has a restive Kurdish population and is considered a "foreign terrorist organization" by the State Department. That designation bars U.S. citizens or those in U.S. jurisdictions from supporting the group in any way.

[seemslikeadream]

1. Turkish security services in possession of videotapes of weapon deliveries by US military to PKK

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1327965

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38510

ANKARA, Jul 12 (IPS) - It seems now certain: No invasion of Northern Iraq by the Turkish army before the legislative elections scheduled for Jul. 22. Disappointed? Many in Turkey are, not least the military. Surprised? Not a bit. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's fingers are expert at navigating between buttons of the yellow and red traffic lights of the road to Arbil.

.....

The Turkish population, regardless of geography, political affiliation, or social class, is increasingly vocal in its anti-Americanism, as recent polls have revealed, and the press reflects on a daily basis. Ahead of the elections, some candidates adroitly use the "ugly American" card, and conspiracy theories abound.

Many analysts, including business executives and academics, seem genuinely convinced that the U.S. government is planning to create a Kurdish state, cutting into Iraq and Turkey, in a model inspired by the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

.....


Rumours on the streets of Ankara and other cities around the country, as well as in the editorial offices of newspapers and TV stations, purport that the Turkish security services are in possession of videotapes of weapon deliveries by U.S. military staff to PKK combatants in Northern Iraq. These, say critics of the Bush administration, are proofs of U.S. perfidy

[robinlynne]

2. I remember US military people being charged with this around a year ago. not

necessarily the same story.

[daninthemoon]

3. Anyone seen Oliver North lately? This admnin is not going to rest

until every faction in the ME is heavily armed and at war with each other. Gotta bring on that rapture I guess.
:banghead:

[tanyev]

5. Oh, they don't really need Ollie now that they have Erik Prince.

[daninthemoon]

10. Good point, and an eerily familiar picture. Almost the same expression.

[KoKo]

4. K&R....important... He was on CNN this a.m. with Blitzer...

[EFerrari]

6. NYTs has also linked Petraeus to, gasp. illegal arms sales.

Remember this story?

Iraq Weapons Are a Focus of Criminal Investigations
By James Glanz and Eric Schmitt
The New York Times

Tuesday 28 August 2007

Baghdad - Several federal agencies are investigating a widening network of criminal cases involving the purchase and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other materiel to Iraqi and American forces, according to American officials. The officials said it amounted to the largest ring of fraud and kickbacks uncovered in the conflict here, the officials said.

The inquiry has already led to several indictments of Americans, with more expected, the officials said. One of the investigations involves a senior American officer who worked closely with Gen. David H. Petraeus in setting up the logistics operation to supply the Iraqi forces when General Petraeus was in charge of training and equipping those forces in 2004 and 2005, American officials said Monday.

There is no indication that investigators have uncovered any wrongdoing by General Petraeus, the commander of United States forces in Iraq, who through a spokesman declined comment on any legal proceedings.

This article is based on interviews with more than a dozen federal investigators, Congressional, law enforcement and military officials, and specialists in contracting and logistics, in Iraq and Washington, who have direct knowledge of the inquiries. Many spoke on condition of anonymity because there are continuing criminal investigations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/world/middleeast/28military.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

[cascadiance]

7. Send 'em to Guantanamo!

They're aiding and abetting terrorists! Couldn't be more clear than that!

[AntiFascist]

8. Has anyone seen this article by Pepe Escobar?

It sheds a lot of light on the relationship with PKK and the "labyrinth" of mercenary forces within Iraq.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IJ13Ak01.html

"General Petreaus in His Labyrinth"

"Petraeus's dubious sources also include the ragtag Mujaheddin-e Khalq (MEK), a micro-terrorist group that used to be harbored by Saddam Hussein inside Iraq and now is protected by the Americans in Diyala province. So from Saddam's terrorists the MEK are now elevated to the status of "our" terrorists."

PKK or PJAK is the go-between with MEK.

"the Bush administration was actively courting PKK leaders and Iranian opposition groups based in Iraq to stir up trouble inside Iran".

...

"Some Iraqis even miss those days when they just had to contend with Saddam's goons. At least it was an Iraqi-Iraqi affair. Now the name of the game is no-holds-barred, globalized commercialization of death. Mercenaries conducting dirty wars against the barbarians; that's exactly how the Roman Empire started to collapse."

[Joanne98]

9. I wouldn't be surprised if they sold them to the terrorists!

Isn't that they why the game is played. Erik Prince is a serial killer and he should be in prison!

[hootinholler]

11. Selling Arms to "The Enemy?"

Why what would that crime be called?

-Hoot

[lynnertic]

12. ooh! ooh!

treason.

[spanone]

13. i'm so glad my tax money is going to the mercenary mafia

[Javaman]

14. I believe although can't prove that there is a direct link with blackwater and the CIA.

this whole mess stinks of it.