Kurds flee homes as Iran shells villages in Iraq I think this will get much worse before it gets better. These revolutionary guards can't seem to be at peace with anything happening over there.
Interesting. So is the US arming the Kurds in response to Iran allededgly arming the Shiites? Maybe Iran and Turkey will stage a joint invasion of Kurdistan.
Palestinians flee homes as Israel shells villages in Gaza. One country's gallant soldiers battling terrorists are another country's brutal military battling freedom fighters... It's a good job we have our God to tell us which is which.
The Kurds live in Turkey, Iran and Iraq. If the Kurds had their own country it would be Kurdistan, but there is actually no such country.
No, but they're working on it. Which is what is so unsettling to Turkey, Iran and factions in Iraq. cpemma's post went totally past you, didn't it?
No it didn't, but I like to stick closer to the facts. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard is the unofficial military of Iran. They do what they wish without its actions being tied to the actual government of Iran itself.
Frankly, the Kurdish militia's are a bunch of egits. They're so close to having their own stable country in the north of Iraq, and yet they still piss off Turkey and Iran. Either one of those countries alone could completely crush any fledgling kurdish state, but instead of laying down their arms and working to build up kurdistan, what do they do? That's right, they make pointless attacks against Iran and Turkey. I mean...they practically deserve to die for being that stupid.
I doubt that. The Iranian guard is self sufficient and pays for all of it's operations through global businesses. They have an estimated 1 billion dollars a year to engage in what ever aims that they may have. Like supplying the Hezbolla in Lebanon or the Iraqi shiite militias with arms, money and munitions. The former to fight Israel the later to fight the coalition troops in Iraq (or what other aims they may have because Iran exerts a very strong influence there). They have no official status as a standing army if that is what you mean. The US is actually seeking to officially list the Iranian guards as a terrorist organization so as to shut down their global enterprise. That would help stem the flow of weapons to conflicts that they support. As far as this (whatever is a hero to one side of a conflict to terrorists on another) that may be exchanged depending on your point of view, just look at St. George and the dragon. "Poor dragon, it fought so gallantly," or so all the other dragons said.
The Iranian Guard is separate from, and parallel to, the other branch of the Iran's military, the Artech. Hence, it is equipped with its own ground forces, navy, air force, intelligence, and special forces. It also controls Basij force, which has a potential strength of eleven million, although Basij is a volunteer-based force, and essentially consists of 90,000 regular soldiers and 300,000 reservists. The force's main role is in national security, responsible for internal and border security, as well as law enforcement. It is also responsible for Iran's missile forces. The operations of the Iranian Guard are geared towards asymmetric warfare and less traditional duties. These include the control of smuggling, control of the Strait of Hormoz, and resistance operations. Thus, its role complements the more traditional role of the regular Iranian military with the two forces operating separately and focusing on different operational roles. It was formed in May 1979 as a force loyal to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, but later became a full military force alongside the army in the Iran-Iraq War. The current President was a member too. Perhaps if it helps, you could sort of see them as a cross between the Special Forces and the CIA in the US. I would hardly count the current US administration's, well, demonstrably flexible view of the "truth" as proof of how things actually are. In China, dragons are noble creatures who often bring great fortune. Oh, how often do we view things though our own ethnocentric shades... In any case, to many hapless civilian in the Middle East, maybe we are the monster.
Sounds like a better parallel would be the old KGB forces, which also had their own naval and air assets and were responsible for watching the nukes. In any case, they answer to the government, not thier own whims.
