Talk:Peshmerga

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Why is there an article attributing the Peshmerga as CIA death squads? The fighters for Iraqi Kurdistan are not like the Contras.


Contents

[edit] Vehicles

This sentence is confusing...
"During the American-led invasion the Peshmerga captured the rest of the arms of the Iraqi forces, consisting of more than 2000 armoured vehicles (some hundred of them PT-76s and a smaller number of T-55s) and an unknown number of artillery guns."
Does this mean that the Peshmerga have 2,000 Armoured Vehicles or is that the number the Iraqi Forces had at the time?
Or is it saying they only have 100 PT-76s and some T-55s? Can someone please clarify?
--Hibernian 18:47, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

the peshmerga captured about 2000 armored vehicles no really a lot of pt-76 but several hundreds tanks t-55 or t-54, in kurdistan they said, that they have 700 of them in their inventory , some apcs and anti aircraft armored vehicles with 23 mm anti aircraft and bigger calibres cannons on them and even some 2S1 M-1974 122mm Carnation Self-propelled howitzers and a lot of towed artillery

I saw the tanks this summer, and from what i could see they were T-55. They are stationed in two or more compounds outside Sharazur.

[edit] Kurdish state?

this doesn't make sense: "Peshmerga forces do make use of female fighters, making it one of only three states in the Middle East that actively uses female soldiers (others being Israel and Iran)."


Since when is Kurdistan a state? Changed it to "nation," but may need to be considered further.

I changed it further to 'entity'. This may turn out to be even worse (POV-wise), since neo-nazis, Hamas and Ahmadinejad likes to refer to Israel as the 'zionist entity'. Though, Iran is never referred to as an 'entity' in this POV way so it shouldn't be a problem. Joffeloff 15:02, 4 July 2006 (UTC)


http://www.zreportage.com/graphics/KurdishWomen/highres/004.jpg

here is a good picture of a female peshmerga

[edit] PKK?

"The PKK forces are currently involved in a dispute with the military forces of Turkey. This conflict has resulted in 37,000 deaths since it started in 1984."

Why is PKK mentioned in the article? It's kind of random just sitting there. Peshmerga is only usually used when referring to the fighters in Northern Iraq, not with the PKK. I'm pretty sure when the PKK entered into the areas where KDP and PUK had influence, it usually resulted in conflict between the PKK and the region's Peshmerga.--MercZ 15:44, 10 September 2006 (UTC)


Peshmerga is a term used by Kurds for their guerrila soldiers, this term is not a political term, so anyone who fights for Kurdistan is considered a Peshmerga wether he/she is fighting with PUK, PDK, PDK-I or the PKK. There is however one criteria for many Kurds to call a guerilla soldier a Peshmerga, that is to fight with Honour - and this could be turned against the PKK (or any other party for that matter), as they have been involved in terrorist actions.

[edit] Peshmerga in ancient times

There is proof of that peshmergas or an ancestor of the modern peshmerga was present during ancient times. In The Kurds, a consice handbook prof. Izady writes: "The 1500-year dominance of mesopotamia over the Kurdish highlands (since the fall of the Qutils) was reversed...A crusial element in the succes of this epoch-making event was the Medians' brilliant use of people militias or guerrillas. These are calles Kâra in the Behistun inscription in southern Kurdistan. This is the earliest record of this form of warfare, which since has become the preffered form of defence of Kurdistan up to the present day, in the form of the peshmerga"

He also writes: "A point of interest is the term by which the Kurdish fighters are reffered to in the original text of King Ardashir's battle chronicle, the Kârnâmak. The term Jânspâr, a persian equivalent of the modern Kurdish term for their fighters, i.e., peshmerga, both meaning "self-sacrificer" to the cause."

[edit] Picture of Peshmerga "Special Forces"

Why does this Peshmerga have a US flag on his uniform? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.168.215.196 (talk • contribs) 03:56, 3 December 2006 (UTC).

The guy with the American flag on his shoulder is an American soldier, but the other three guys are Kurds. --D.Kurdistani 01:27, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

I disagree. He has distinctly Kurdish features, and he may have been working with Americans, as an interpreter or as a liaison with the Peshmerga. Also, it may have just been a show of support for the American invasion by a Peshmerga. American flags are proudly displayed by Kurds frequently. The people in Sulayminiyah treated me as if I were a returning king when I visited there, even 3 years after the invasion.

How can you tell if he has distinctly Kurdish features, you can’t see his face? --D.Kurdistani 08:01, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What is the size of peshmerga during the gulf war?

[edit] What was the size of the Peshmerga forces during the first Gulf War

You mean what was the size of the Peshmerga forces during the first Gulf War, I don't know that information. But what I can tell you is there current size is between 100,000 - 150,000. --D.Kurdistani 00:51, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Need sources for the Israel connection?

While I don't really doubt that Israel would have helped the Kurds, there still needs to be some evidence to back it up. --65.81.26.5 18:21, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Reformatted article

I've decided to be bold and reformat the History section into more manageable chunks. I have also commented out the headings with no text until such time as someone adds the text, though I am of the impression that most of these headings are unneccessary and disrupt the flow of the article. --Admbws 23:38, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Misspelling of source

As the author of "Willing to Face Death", the master's thesis that is used throughout this wiki entry, I ask that someone please correct the spelling of peshmerga in the title to "peshmerga", not "peshmarga". I used the spelling as used in David McDowell's "Modern History of the Kurds" for uniformity purposes. I understand the openess of the wiki project and of course do not mind my thesis being used, but please correct the title of my work. Thank you.

192.31.19.50 17:10, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Female peshmerga

“ Peshmerga forces do make use of female fighters, making Kurdistan one of only three entities in the Middle East that actively uses female soldiers (others being Israel and Iran). ”

I guess Turkey is not considered Mideastern? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Slntssssn (talk • contribs) 18:12, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

Turkey is actually is Mideast country and wanabee-euro 212.187.1.213 (talk) 15:38, 17 February 2008 (UTC)


Well I think Kurdistan is the only entity using females fighters, other countries might have female soldiers but they are never taken into combat. However we make sue fo female fighters even in comabat. E.g. Kirkuk was captured by a full female battilion during the last iraqi war. Shav4life (talk) 15:17, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

According to this source here, NATO Report" "Today, women are assigned only as officers and NCOs in the Turkish Armed Forces and there are no enlisted personnel.". The Turkish military does not actively use women in armed combat, it seems, though they do have them serving in the police. --MercZ (talk) 18:20, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

There are female fighters in Israel in MAGAV, Karakal, artillery and in Combat Engineering Corps, see anti-NBC unit 76 in it. Lizrael (talk) 11:04, 27 March 2008 (UTC)