12 December 2000 Excerpts: Bacon on Iraqi Troop Movements, Chinese Weapon Shipments Link to entire transcript of the Pentagon December 12 briefing. Pentagon Spokesman Ken Bacon said Kurdish sources have reported Iraqi troops briefly intruded into Kurdish territory then withdrew without any engagement with Kurdish forces. Bacon also said the United States is monitoring Chinese military shipments to Iran and Pakistan to see if China maintains its commitment to curb shipments of military materiel that could be used to produce weapons of mass destruction. Following are the excerpts from the December 12 Pentagon briefing: (begin excerpts) Defense Department Regular Briefing Briefer: Kenneth Bacon, Spokesman Pentagon Briefing Room, Arlington, Virginia Tuesday, December 12, 2000 Q: Is Saddam Hussein -- is the Iraqi military moving against the Kurds in the north? There have been a number of reports. Mr. Bacon: Well, let me tell you what we know about that, and I start with the caution that most of our information comes from Kurdish reports. As you know, the northern corner of Iraq is Kurdish territory, and there is a line called the green line that was established in 1991. It was the line to which the Iraqis drew back to after mounting a military operation against the Kurds. That green line runs approximately from -- it runs from a point on the Iraqi- Turkish border down to a point on the Iraqi-Iranian border. And it's divided in half, approximately, by two Kurdish groups, the KDP and the PUK. The KDP is the Kurdish Democratic Party. There is a town about five kilometers inside the green zone -- in other words, beyond the green line in Kurdish territory -- called Baidhrah, spelled B-A-I-D-H-R-A-H. It's a town of about 10,000 people. The Iraqi army generally has a brigade right in that area, around Baidhrah. And on Saturday we got a report from the Kurds that the Iraqi forces had moved across the green line and assumed positions in some ridges around Baidhrah, not in -- they did not go into the city of Baidhrah, but they assumed positions around Baidhrah on some ridges. The Kurds claim to have responded by mobilizing their own reserve force, about 5,000 people. I think there were about 150 Kurdish military people or fighters, militia, whatever they're called, in Baidhrah at the time, and they said that they mobilized reserves of about 5,000 people. This is the Kurdish report. The Iraqis did move some reinforcements into the area. But basically what's happened is, no shots were fired. There was no direct engagement between forces, and the Iraqi troops have withdrawn from the hills around the town to a plain. They were essentially a little north of the town, in the hills. Now they've withdrawn to a plain between the town of Baidhrah and the green line, essentially south of the town. This has been -- as I said, there -- it -- no shots were fired. There was no direct engagement, and it seems to have calmed down. And both sides are apparently moving back to their original positions. There is some report from the Kurds that this may have been a political move by the Iraqi forces, encouraged by a tribal faction, a religious faction of the Kurds, one faction jockeying with another faction. We don't know why this happened. The Iraqis have not explained it to us, and we have the Kurdish speculation, but that's it at this stage. Q: Does the United States consider this a violation of its warning against attacking the Kurds, or -- Mr. Bacon: Well, there were no attacks. I think that's the crucial point here, that there were no shots fired, there was no direct engagement between troops, and it was not an attack. It was, from the best we can tell, a movement of some troops and then a return toward original positions. So this does not appear to be a threatening or serious incident at this stage. Yes? Q: The assessment that no shots were fired and there was no direct engagement and that the Iraqis withdrew from the hills to the plain, is that still based on Kurdish reports? Mr. Bacon: Almost all of what I've told you is based on Kurdish reporting. Q: Has the United States ever pledged that they would come to the Kurds' aid in a situation like this? Is this covered under that no-fly zone -- you know, threaten the Kurds? Mr. Bacon: Well, the no-fly zone patrols functioned during this period, and in their normal way. We did not change our flight operations in any way during this, but they continued to monitor what was going on. Q: (Off mike) -- in that umbrella area? Mr. Bacon: Well, Baidrah, as I said, is on the other side of the green line, but the fact of the matter is there was no attack here. There was no military -- there was no military firing. There were some movements of troops; they moved in and now they appear to be moving back. So -- Q: You said they moved in. Did they move across the green line? Mr. Bacon: Yes. They moved across the green line. Q: The Kurds in this area are really worried about this movement and they said that [in a] future threat, they could be attacked. Mr. Bacon: Well, I can't psychoanalyze the Kurds or comment on what they have said. All I can tell you is that according to their own reports, the Iraqi troops appear to be moving out or at least back toward the green line, and they no longer surround the town as they did at one point. At no time did they move into the town and, I repeat, there were no shots fired. Yes? Q: How large is -- (inaudible word) -- again? Mr. Bacon: Well, there were two battalions that moved, that took separate positions, and each battalion was about 400 people. Q: Was there any information about what prompted the Iraqi troops to -- Mr. Bacon: Well, all I can tell you is the Kurds themselves speculated that it might have been the result of some political jockeying between a Kurdish religious faction or tribal faction on the one hand and the Iraqis on the other. But beyond that, I don't have any information, and that was their speculation as to what could have caused it. ... Q: Ken, just to follow that. But also China is flying missiles and other -- I mean their military technology to Iran and Pakistan on a regular basis. Mr. Bacon: Well they've just -- they made an announcement several weeks ago that they were going to curb their dealings that lead to proliferation of weapons; at least some weapons. So, we will watch them and we hope that what they've said is correct. And we hope that it's a sign that they realize that proliferation is double-edged; that it can come back to hurt the sponsor someday as well as perhaps other countries as well. (end excerpts) Link to entire transcript of the Pentagon December 12 briefing. (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) Return to the Washington File