Rogue Forces

“TURKISH ARMY SEEKS EXPANDED POWERS,” ASSOCIATED PRESS, ANKARA, TURKEY—10 OCTOBER 2008:

 Turkey’s leaders met Thursday to discuss increasing the military’s powers to combat Kurdish rebels following a surge in attacks, some launched from rebel bases in northern Iraq.

Turkey’s parliament already voted Wednesday to extend the military’s mandate to carry out operations against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, including cross-border ground operations.

But the military has requested increased powers to fight rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. Thursday’s meeting was focused on extending the options available to the military and police…

PROLOGUE

OUTSIDE AL-AMADIYAH, DAHUK PROVINCE, REPUBLIC OF IRAQ

SPRING 2010

The dilok, or traditional wedding celebration, had been going on now for several hours, but no one appeared to be tired in the least. Men were dancing on large defs, or frame drums, and tap-dancing to folk music performed with amplified zurna and temburs, while the other guests cheered them on.

Outside, it was a warm, dry, clear evening. Knots of men stood in groups here and there, smoking and drinking small cups of thick coffee. Women and older girls in colorful dresses and scarves carried trays of food to them, helped by sons or younger brothers carrying flashlights.

After serving the men outside the wedding reception, a woman carried a tray down the road beyond the lights, her ten-year-old son leading the way, to two Toyota pickup trucks semihidden in the trees, one on each side of the road leading to the farm. The boy shined the flashlight at the pickup truck to his left, right into the eyes of his older brother. “Alslam ylikm! Caught you sleeping again!” he shouted.

“I was not!” the brother retorted, much louder than he intended.

“Hani, don’t do that. Now your brother will not be able to see in the darkness for some time,” the boy’s mother scolded him. “Go give your brother some treats and tell him you’re sorry. Come, Mazen,” she said to her husband, “I have more coffee for you.”

The husband set his AK-47 aside on the truck’s front bumper and gratefully accepted the treats. He was dressed for the celebration, not for guard duty. “You’re a good woman, Zilar,” the man said. “But next time, send your lazy brother out here to do the work for you. It was his idea to place guards outside the reception.” He could sense her pained expression. “I see. He is busy recruiting again, no? His own daughter’s wedding and he can’t stop?”

“He feels very strongly—”

“I know, I know,” the husband interrupted, gently placing a hand on his wife’s cheek to reassure her. “He is a patriotic and committed Kurdish nationalist. Good for him. But he knows the militias, police, and military monitor such events, take photographs from unmanned aircraft, use sensitive microphones, and tap telephones. Why does he continue? He risks too much.”

“Nevertheless, I thank you again for agreeing to take a shift out here for security,” the wife said, taking his hand from her face and kissing it. “It makes him feel better.”

“I haven’t picked up a rifle in years since I left the peshmerga militias in Kirkuk. I find myself checking the safety every three seconds.”

“Oh, do you, my husband?” The woman stepped toward the AK-47 leaning against the bumper and examined it with her fingers.

“Ah, la, tell me I didn’t…”

“You did.” She flicked the safety lever back up to “safe.”

“I’m glad your brothers aren’t around to see you do that,” her husband said. “Perhaps I need more lessons from a former High Commune of Women commander.”

“I have a family to raise and a house to take care of—I put in my time in the Kurdistan independence movement. Let the younger women do some fighting for a change.”

“You can put any younger woman to shame—on the rifle range, and in bed.”

“Oh, and how would you know about the skills of younger women?” she asked playfully. She placed the weapon back down and approached her husband, swaying her hips seductively. “I have many more lessons I’d prefer to give you, husband.” He gave her a kiss. “Now, how much longer are you going to keep my oldest son out here?”