Is this what is driving US Kurdish policy?

 

"Maj. Gen. Yair Golan also said that he saw ISIS fighters walking on the Syrian-Israeli front, and that he “can cope with that”. However, Maj. Gen. Yair Golan said that he can’t cope with Iran, and said that Iran is a “much more threatening compared to the ISIS threat.”

“Because the Iranians are sophisticated, they are a higher form of civilization, they have a nice academic infrastructure, nice industry, good scientists, many talented young people. They are very similar to us. And because they are similar to us, they are much, much more dangerous,” Maj. Gen. Golan said.

Furthermore, Maj. Gen. Golan said that Israel can effect Iran just like Iran can effect it. However, he said that Israel can’t do anything serious to Iran without a help from the USA.

“And while we can achieve decisive victory over Hezbollah… and while we can defeat any Shia militia in Syria … we cannot fight Iran alone,” Maj. Gen. Yair Golan said.

Maj. Gen. Yair Golan is well-known for his controversial statements. In general, Israel officials say that his statements don’t represent the state of the official Israeli attitude. However, Maj. Gen. Golan’s statements about the Kurds and Iran clearly reflect the current policy of the Israeli government."  Golan & SF

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 "During an international counter-terrorism conference in Herzliya on September 11, Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked announced that Israel supports the idea of turning Iraq’s Kurdistan Region into an independent state.

Shaked added that Israel and Western countries have a major interest in this case.

“Israel [and] the Western countries have a major interest in the establishment of the state of Kurdistan,” the minister said. “I think that the time has come for the US to support the process.”

The statement came ahead a referendum on the Kurdistan Region independence from Iraq that is scheduled for September 25.

This is not the first time when top Israeli officials clearly support the idea of creation of the independnet Kurdish state in the Middle East. They expect it will be friendly toward Israel and allow to shift further the balance of power in the region.

In 2016, Ayelet Shaked already called for this during the ninth annual International INSS (Institute for National Security Studies) Conference in Israel."   Shaked & SF

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If this is actual "thinking "  in current Israeli government circles, then this is yet another demonstration of the unreality of the milieu in which Israelis live.  The notion that Turkey would give up half of eastern Anatolia and the port of Iskenderun is laughable. 

Iraq, Syria and Iran are supposed to contribute Territiry and natural resources to this fantastical project hatched in Israel?

Is eastern Syria supposed to be the first "building block" for construction of Israeli Kurdistan?  pl 

https://southfront.org/israeli-general-pkk-not-terrorist-organization/

https://southfront.org/israeli-justice-minister-israel-and-west-have-major-interest-in-establishing-independent-kurdistan/

 

Comments

[Babak Makkinejad]

I do not think Hollywood productions could be considered an species of soft power.

[English Outsider]

Babak - to my surprise I find myself disagreeing with you. Films, or movies, are the most effective background propaganda going. Take the recent Russian films that serve to link the current conflict with the Great Patriotic War. That's a message more far-reaching than any Putin or Lavrov can put across directly. It cannot but influence the thought processes of millions, especially since it chimes in with a recurrent theme in Russian history and literature.

I don't think, however, that Russian films get much circulation outside the home market. The Hollywood films do.

What message are the Hollywood productions sending out? Look at the old version of True Grit. Wonderful script, by the way, and immaculately realised. That's full-on apple pie that got projected round the world. Then take the modern Hollywood films. The message, not always but often enough, is quite different. This is "Fred's" ground but I've seen enough to know that those films - and TV productions and advertisements but they don't travel as well - are probably the most effective way of getting others, particularly the young, to painlessly absorb "Progressive" values. Much more effective than the laboured message got across by Gay Pride in Kiev or Pussy Riot in Moscow.

The Long March through the Institutions made a beeline for Hollywood, occupied it, and it's now worth a hundred NGO's or a thousand novelists. As you know, I think it's a dysfunctional culture that's now projected but as a form of soft power, eating away at the national or cultural traditions of foreign countries and doing so ceaselessly and unstoppably, it must be one of the most powerful weapons in the armoury of the Western elites and their progressive entourage.

[lally]

Israel finds Hollywood a rich venue for exerting their soft power:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-television/israels-hollywood-envoys-hope-tv-hits-will-help-national-image-idUSKCN1BQ1O1

[mike]

Stumpy -

Thanks for the links. I remember those shipments back three years ago. Baghdad was not paying civil service salaries in the Kurdish areas. To survive Erbil shipped oil both to Turkey and to a Turkish port for foreign sales. Nobody would buy it initially because Baghdad was disputing the sale. US State Department warned US refineries from buying it. So they sold it to whoever would buy it, which turned out to be Israel. Shortly after that a US court ruled that Kurdish crude oil in a tanker sitting off the coast of Texas for several months could be purchased by US buyers despite the DoS ban. Since then they have had no problem selling crude on the open market.

Exxon, Rosneft and Norwegian DNO are the oil drillers in Iraqi Kurdistan. And crude oil is a commodity. When on the open market anyone can purchase it. I doubt seriously that the Kurds are going to give Israel a special deal on their oil and end up shortchanging Exxon or Rosneft or DNO, or shortchanging themselves. They will sell to the Izzies if offered a price higher than market. Why not?