Trouble in Kurdistan

Some troubling news from the northern edge of Iraq. Apparently, Turkey has sent troops into into Iraqi Kurdistan. Supposedly, this is in retaliation for Kurdish guerrillas who have been active in Turkey for some time. The U.S. has encouraged Turkey to back down, but it doesn't appear that Turkey is listening.

Of course, the devil is in the details. Turkey's hatred of the Kurds has only been eclipsed by Saddam's genocidal loathing.

To some extent, the U.S. is caught in the middle. Turkey is a NATO member, and the U.S. views their cooperation on the war on terror as essential. At the same time, the U.S. has long given verbal support to the Kurds in Iraq. The stability of Iraqi Kurdistan is absolutely essential for any positive outcome in Iraq, and most scenarios of American troop withdrawal includes a deposit of a relatively large force in Iraqi Kurdistan to ensure that stability. Iraqi Kurdistan has been one of the few bright spots in Iraq over the past few years. It will interesting to see how this situation develops.

I'm sure Christopher Hitchens will have something to say about this.