Kurdistan

Turkey is continuing its bombing missions into Iraq.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

That Turkey Incursion

Little by little, the information seeps out. It seems that Turkey's crossing into Iraq was in bomber planes. No wonder it didn't take more than 15 hours. The U.S. is "angry" that Turkey didn't give us warning. But Turkey said it was in "hot pursuit". Yeah. Whatever to both.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Okay, What's Going On?

Now the report is that the Turkish troops (post below) were only in Iraq for 15 hours. The new AP article says U.S. officials "said they provided Turkish officials with intelligence for airstrikes Sunday in northern Iraq against rebel positions, but also asked them to limit their operations."

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Expanding

About 300 Turkish troops crossed the border [into Iraq's Kurdish territory] at 3 a.m., said Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the regional Kurdistan government. He said the region was a deserted mountainous frontier area.

[...]

"They are going there as reinforcements, they are not returning," the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

[...]

[Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh] said the Iraqi government was given no warning about the incursion.

[...]

Abdullah, the spokesman for the regional Kurdish government, also criticized the operation and cautioned that Turkish forces should "be careful not to harm civilians" who might be living in the area.

"If the Turkish military conducts limited operations against the rebels, this is a problem of their concern," he said. "But if this ... leads to harm for civilians, we will absolutely be against that and reject that

[...]

Turkey said Sunday's attack used U.S. intelligence and was carried out with tacit American approval.

[...]

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad declined to comment on reports of the Turkish operation.

  MSNBC [AP]

Perhaps we’re not so opposed to Turkey’s incursion into Iraq as George would have us believe.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

About Turkey

You probably know that there is some stink about a resolution to condemn the WWI era genocide of Armenians because of our need not to offend Turkey. What's every bit as interesting a dilemma for us, however, isn't likely to cause much if any internal conflict: Turkey may be preparing to attack the Kurds in Northern Iraq, and we don't want them to.

We could attack Iraq without any provocation from that country, but Turkey, currently enduring Kurdish raids into its territory, is being warned against taking any serious retaliatory action.

President Bush said the U.S. was making clear to Turkey that it should not stage a major army operation in the Iraqi north, much of which has escaped the sustained violence and political discord common in the rest of Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

  Yahoo

Some nerve. Turkey should refrain from causing any unrest in a country we've mucked up beyond repair because, frankly, we aren't equipped to handle any more. The fact that Turkey actually has some reason to cross the border is beside the point. How handy for the Kurds that we have Iraq FUBAR and intend to keep Turkey on a leash.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Ratcheting Upwards

Iran closed major border crossings with northeastern Iraq on Monday to protest the U.S. detention of an Iranian official the military accused of weapons smuggling, a Kurdish official said.

[...]

The move threatens the economy of Iraq's northern region — one of the country's few success stories — and also appears aimed at driving a wedge between Iraq and the Americans at a time of friction over a deadly shooting in Baghdad involving the security firm Blackwater USA.

[...]

U.S. officials said [Mahmudi] Farhadi was a member of the elite Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that smuggles weapons into Iraq. But Iraqi and Iranian leaders said he was in the country on official business and with the full knowledge of the government.

[...]

Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the autonomous Kurdish government, said the Iranian move "will have a bad effect on the economic situation of the Kurdish government and will hurt the civilians as well."

"We are paying the price of what the Americans have done by arresting the Iranian," he said.

[...]

A U.S. military spokesman, Rear Adm. Mark Fox, also said Sunday that Iran has smuggled advanced weapons into Iraq for use against American troops, including the Misagh 1, a portable surface-to-air missile that uses an infrared guidance system and could threaten U.S. aviation.

  Yahoo

Kind of like Blackwater, then, eh?

Last week, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, demanded the Iranian's release and warned in a letter to America's top commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker that Iran had threatened to close its border with Iraq's Kurdish region over the case — a move that would cause considerable damage to trade in the prosperous Kurdish region.

And a thumbed nose to President Talabani.

No charges against the Iranian have been filed yet.

Yeah, well, "the Iranian" (he has a name, folks) can get in line behind the Gitmo detainees.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Is It About the Oil?

Josh Marshall notes that Hunt Oil Company's CEO Ray Hunt is on George Bush's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. And that Hunt Oil Company just signed a deal for oil exploration in Kurdistan.

Conflict or merely interest?

Fueling Armageddon

From the website Kurdistan - the Other Iraq:

Have you seen the Other Iraq?

It's spectacular.
It's peaceful.
It's joyful.
Fewer than two hundred US troops are stationed here.
Arabs, Kurds and westerners all vacation together.

Welcome to Iraqi-Kurdistan!

I wouldn't get my tickets just yet if I were you.

Several thousand Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas early yesterday. The incursion, though limited in scope, gives the crisis in Iraq a new twist.

  UK Independent

I wonder if that had anything to do with Iraq's president al-Maliki refusing to sign a treaty with the Turks.

Four suicide bombers hit Kurdish Yazidi communities in northwest Iraq with nearly simultaneous attacks on Tuesday, killing at least 175 people and wounding 200 others, the Iraqi military said.

  TPM

Surely there's a good excuse to invade Iran mixed up in there somewhere.