For no good reason, we invade Iraq. Unprepared, undermanned and not knowing what we're doing, we depose a cruel dictator and his feral family and replace them with a cruel, deadly, and endless civil war. The risk of a wider, more lethal regional war has been there from the start and now we seem to be on the edge of it: Turkey may invade northern Iraq.
Turkey’s anger is understandable. Guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., have been striking from bases in Iraqi Kurdistan with growing impunity and effect, using plastic explosives, mines and arms that are far too readily accessible in Iraq. The death toll for Turkish military forces is mounting.
The price for Turkey would include the loss of membership in the European Union, an economic and political prize it has sought for years.
All that is fallout from our invasion of Iraq four years ago, a choice our leadership chose -- it's become clearer and clearer -- for domestic political reasons, imperial urges, and to settle old grudges. But when our corrupt leadership went after Iraq's corrupt leadership, it started a process it may not be able to stop. Turkey's government has its own political pressures and exigencies and may not listen to us.
Guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., have been striking from bases in Iraqi Kurdistan with growing impunity and effect, using plastic explosives, mines and arms that are far too readily accessible in Iraq. The death toll for Turkish military forces is mounting.
Turkey’s civilian leaders are feeling strong popular pressure to lash back. The leadership needs to realize that the conflict is providing a dangerous opening for Turkey’s generals. The military is determined to regain the upper hand over Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom they detest for his party’s roots in Islamic politics. ...
Following a personal appeal from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Erdogan’s government delayed retaliating and announced that all political means would be tried before launching a military operation into Iraq. But there is not a lot of time.
NB: It's a good idea to keep in mind who the supporters of the PKK, a regional movement, are and have been. Here's Wikipedia's summary:
According to The New Yorker magazine, US government has been supporting PJAK, the Iranian branch of PKK. The head of the PKK militant arm, Murat Karayilan, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph claimed that US officers have regular meetings with the PKK in Northern Iraq. Karayilan said Kurdish guerrillas have launched a clandestine war in north-western Iran, ambushing Iranian troops with US and British support. ...
... The PKK receives a proportion of its funding in the form of private donations, from both organisations and individuals from around the world. Some of these supporters are Kurdish businessmen in south-eastern Turkey, sympathisers in Syria and Iran, and Europe. Parties and concerts are organized by branch groups. Additionally, it is believed that the PKK earns money through the sale of various publications, as well as receiving revenues from legitimate businesses owned by the organization. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) also has been financing its separatist movement by "taxing" narcotic traffickers and engaging in the trade themselves. The PKK is heavily involved in the European drug trade, especially in Germany and France. French law enforcement estimates that the PKK smuggles 80% of the heroin in Paris.
At the height of its campaign, the PKK received support from other countries, most notably Syria, but also Greece in forms of parliamentary support and freedom to recruit and train at Levrion Refugee Camp, Iran, [and] the Soviet Union...
The United States' relationship to all this is complex at best.
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