Here is a quote from Kurdistan Bloggers Union .

Kurdistan is in need of being re-united. Kirkuk is definately a controversial issue, but Kurds demanding a return to there is like if Palestinians wanted a return to Tel Aviv! Would never happen, it is to valuable.

read the _whole_ story here http://kurdistanblog.blogspot.com/2005/08/bush-if-iranians-stand-for-their.html

Quote The Kurdistan Bloggers Union:

I remember President Bush had called Iran , one of the axes of Evil and in a historical speech said “If Iranians Stand for their freedom America is with them”

I as an "Iranian" Kurd, want to ask President Bush “Excuse me Mr Bush where are you ? why you are not with us ?”

I ask American Medias “why you don’t cover our news ? why you don’t pay 1% of the attention that you paid for Lebanon to us agains the Iranian Regime which is the sponsor of terorists ! which is making nuclear bomb ! which is Axes of Evil !?”

[olivebranch] Here is my summary of what is not noteably being covered about Iran in Ausrtalia's media.

After the election of new Iraqi-Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani, many Kurdish activists were preparing celebrations in and around the areas of Kurdistan (for those who don't know, Kurdistan protrudes into the borders of Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran).

Trouble soon began in the Irani controlled Kurdish town of Mahabad in early July 2005.

(once the capital of the [state of]Republic of Kurdistan, which declared independence on January 1, 1946 under the leadership of Qazi Muhammad [wikipedia.com]. The republic then fell when the USSR relinquished support in 1947 and Tehran immediately eradicated it from existance )

Three Kurdish activists believed to be organisers for the celebration of newly elected President of Iraqi-Kurdistan were shot dead. One civil activist, Shivan Qaderi (a.k.a Seyed Kamal Astam [or Astom]) was un-lawfully shot dead by Irani Police forces. His body was then dragged behind a jeep through the streets of Mehabad as an example of how dissenters would be treated.

**WHAT THE F__K IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? Tehran urgently needs to grant autonomy to its Kurdish provinces so as not to give the US media reason to scream genocide!**

In the days directly following these acts, thousands of Mahabad residents took to the streets in protest of the killing. Their protest immediately spilled into surrounding towns - including (according to http://www.iran-press-service.com/) Sanandaj, Mahabad, Sardasht, Piranshahr, Oshnavieh, Baneh, Sinne, Bokan and Saqqez.

The Irani state-owned media confirmed the unrest, but claimed it was the acts of "hooligan and criminal elements".

The government responded with consistant over-use of force, resulting in many deaths. Protests in Shino city were brutally oppressed, with more than 10 casualties.

Baneh and Saqqez have since become the focus of headlines along side Mahabad. According to the "Iran Press Service" (http://www.iran-press-service.com/), "100,000 state security forces, backed up by helicopter gunships had moved into the region to crack down on pro-Kurdish demonstrations."

Kurdsat, an Iraqi-Kurdish satellite channel based in Sulaimaniyah, reported August 5 that police had detained as many as 1,200 people after the incident.

**Is it just me, or is something going really wrong for the Kurds here? The American's should quickly help Kurds declare their autonomous zones in Turkey & Iran, then high-tail their way out of the Mid.East for good, After rebuilding Iraq's infrustructure of course!**

Several cases of unknown gunmen opening fire on Irani forces in Kurdish areas have occured in recent months, at least once resulting in the casualty of Four soldiers near the northwestern town Oshnoviyeh.

Spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior Jahanbakhsh Khanjani blamed the incident on Turkish based Kurdish resistance group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). It is more likely the work of Irani-born Kurdish resistance, given the recent upheavel in Irani-Kurdistan and the level of oppression currently being enforced by the Irani Authorities.

The PKK is a well known Kurdish resistance group considered by both the EU and the USA to be a terrorist group. I have not developed my own opinion on the PKK yet, but if my suspicion is correct, then they are a Kurdish independance army, and probably not a terrorist organisation. It is possible, as is typical of independance groups that there is an extremist wing- probably uncontrollable by the rest, which are responsible for the label of 'terrorist organisation'. (For example, Hagana one of the direct predecessors the Israeli Defence Force, or the military wing of the Bolshevik party during the Russian Civil war post-revolution in 1917)

Why is the world media not covering the oppression of Kurds in Iran??? This is a blatant oppression by ethnicity, which does not even attempt to hide it's Human Rights abuse. -

See Article 5. of the "Universal Decleration of Human Rights"

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

(source: United Nations http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html)

I hereby demand that bloggers and the world media wake up and cover these stories. As much as Kurds are a part of Iraq, they are a part of Iran aswell. This story and those which will follow would be potentially dangerous fodder in the hands of US spin-doctors, allowing them to further strengthen their apparent case for military intervention in Iran. It is our job to ensure that the world knows about these stories BEFORE the spin-doctors get their knitting-needles into them. An invasion of Iran IS NOT A GOOD IDEA, NOR IS IT FEASEABLE.

Let's make the Mullah's and Ayatollah's and Presidents and Premiers and Prime Ministers and Editors and Journalists and Common People listen. KURDISH RIGHTS IN IRAN, NOW!