Pentagon Spokesman's Regular Briefing

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT REGULAR BRIEFING
BRIEFER: KENNETH BACON, SPOKESMAN
PENTAGON BRIEFING ROOM, ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA
1:31 P.M. EST 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engagement between forces, and the Iraqi troops have withdrawn from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 Now they've withdrawn to a plain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 --

MR. BACON: 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 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.