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Things in Iraq look like they're going to become even more complicated:
Turkish army seeks OK to strike inside Iraq
Turkey has been fighting a civil war with Turkish Kurds since 1984 (Kurdistan-Turkey). Their civil war is the reason Turkey is so opposed to an independent Kurdistan and why Turkey didn't let American troops use Turkey as a staging ground for the 2003 invasion.
From Turkey's point of view, the fears they had about an independent Kurdistan are already coming true. Kurdish rebels can use Northern Iraq as a staging ground for the fight against the Turkish government.
I think controlling Kurds in Northern Iraq might be beyond the capability of the Iraqi government, which is why Turkey's on verge of taking care of things, themselves. At a minimum, a Turkish invasion would reduce the number of Kurdish troops supporting problems around Baghdad. The US actually intervening militarily will be a problem, as well. You would have two NATO countries fighting each other, which has to be almost out of the question if we want NATO to survive.
This is going to be a huge challenge for the US to handle diplomatically and is probably more important than how we handle Iran. If Bush-Rice drop the ball on this, then you can consider the entire Middle East officially out of control. The chances of a regional war across the entire Middle East go from being a possibility to being probable.
Turkish army seeks OK to strike inside Iraq
Turkey has been fighting a civil war with Turkish Kurds since 1984 (Kurdistan-Turkey). Their civil war is the reason Turkey is so opposed to an independent Kurdistan and why Turkey didn't let American troops use Turkey as a staging ground for the 2003 invasion.
From Turkey's point of view, the fears they had about an independent Kurdistan are already coming true. Kurdish rebels can use Northern Iraq as a staging ground for the fight against the Turkish government.
I think controlling Kurds in Northern Iraq might be beyond the capability of the Iraqi government, which is why Turkey's on verge of taking care of things, themselves. At a minimum, a Turkish invasion would reduce the number of Kurdish troops supporting problems around Baghdad. The US actually intervening militarily will be a problem, as well. You would have two NATO countries fighting each other, which has to be almost out of the question if we want NATO to survive.
This is going to be a huge challenge for the US to handle diplomatically and is probably more important than how we handle Iran. If Bush-Rice drop the ball on this, then you can consider the entire Middle East officially out of control. The chances of a regional war across the entire Middle East go from being a possibility to being probable.