WASHINGTON — The U.S. acknowledged Wednesday it has undertaken military moves against Kurdish rebels in Iraq after asserting for weeks that the insurgent strikes in Turkey were a diplomatic matter.
Pentagon officials are starting to say publicly that the U.S. is flying manned spy planes over the border area, providing Turkey with more intelligence information, and that there are standing orders for American forces to capture rebels they find.
Turkey has complained for months about what it contends is a lack of U.S. support against the PKK. The Turkish government has threatened a full-scale ground attack into northern Iraq if the U.S. and Iraqi officials fail to do something about the rebels.
Diplomats resist Iraq job order WASHINGTON — Several hundred U.S. diplomats vented anger and frustration Wednesday about the State Department’s decision to force foreign service officers to take jobs in Iraq with some likening it to a “potential death sentence.”
In a contentious hour-long town- hall meeting, they peppered officials responsible for the order with often hostile complaints about the largest diplomatic call-up since Vietnam. Announced last week, it will require some diplomats – under threat of dismissal – to serve at the embassy in Baghdad and in reconstruction teams in outlying provinces.
Many expressed serious concern about the ethics of sending diplomats against their will to work in a war zone.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack acknowledged the session was “pretty emotional,” but he stressed that all diplomats sign an oath to serve, obligating them to be available to work anywhere.
