"Kurdistan"
Ah, "Kurdistan." American interests in Iraq are about to run into what was always the most foreseeable obstacle to the realization of their Iraqi dreams, Turkey. Putting an end to the regime of Saddam Hussein may have been noble, but it unavoidably battered a hornets' nest. Boosted by their alliance with the Americans, Iraqi Kurds are flexing their muscles and inspiring their Turkish compatriots. Roughly half of all Kurds live within Turkish borders, comprising 20% of the Turkish population. The Kurdish quarter of Turkey, moreover, lies on the headwaters of the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers, where the Turks have built important hydroelectric dams. An integral Kurdistan, formed by subtractions of territory and sovereignty from Iran, Iraq, and - massively - Turkey is not going to happen without strenuous opposition from one of the world's most cold-blooded military organizations.
Yesterday, Yasar Buyukanit, the Turkish chief of staff, announced "that he was prepared to conduct operations in northern Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels hiding there, according Sabrina Tavernise's story, "Leader of the Turkish Military Says He Is Prepared to Attack Kurdish Rebels Hiding in Iraq." Because Iraqi Kurds are the only people in Iraq who don't object to our presence there, Washington is not happy. European elites, which have been straining to encourage Turkey to assimilate more fully to Western ways, are not happy - neither with Turkey nor with the United States. It's a pickle.
The topic of this week's Friday Front is beaucoup plus mundane.
