(hattip dr and trish) A bomb ripped through the cafeteria of Iraq's parliament at lunchtime on Thursday. It was meant to send a message that no institution, no armed real estate and no Iraqi government can protect an ordinary Iraqi. It also is obvious that it was meant to force the Iraqis to question the purpose of America being in Iraq.
An ordinary Iraqi would have to ask himself,” If America cannot protect legislators in the Green Zone, what can they do?"
A moment may soon arrive where it is every man for himself. Nothing would please al-Queda or Iran more. After four years of war and broken dreams, there is a declining US support and little enthusiasm for more of the same. It is difficult to come up with a scenario where more force can be brought to bear in Iraq from any additional US troops or any likely coalition.
Nowhere could be more volatile than in the north with the Kurds and Turkey. The Kurds may very well have decided that this may be their one opportunity to have their own state. The Turks object.
Turkish army demands incursion into Iraq
By Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara The Independent
Published: 13 April 2007
Turkey's military chief asked the government yesterday to approve an incursion into Iraq, increasing pressure on the US and Iraq to fight Kurdish guerrillas.
But military action was likely to be used only as a last resort: it would strain ties with Washington and could spark a mutiny from Kurdish lawmakers within Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's own party ahead of elections in November, analysts said.
"An operation into Iraq is necessary," General Yasar Buyukanit said, adding that his forces were fighting more than 2,000 guerrillas in the border region operating from within Turkey.
Ankara has been battling separatist Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey since 1984. The Turkish military recently reinforced its troops in the predominantly Kurdish southeast.
Turkey is aware of the consequences a military incursion into Iraq could have.
"There is no way that our American friends would welcome such a move by Turkey," said Ilter Turan, of Istanbul's Bilgi University. "The idea is to persuade the Americans to address the problem more urgently than they have been."
In Washington, the State Department said Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried had expressed US concerns directly to Turkish authorities.
"The way we suggest it be dealt with is to have the Iraqis and Turkish governments working together to try to eliminate this threat," spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Ankara fears Iraqi Kurds are seeking an independent Kurdish state that could encourage separatist Kurds inside Turkey. Relations with Iraqi Kurds deteriorated further this week when Masoud Barzani, leader of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, said Iraqi Kurds would retaliate for any Turkish interference by stirring up trouble in Turkey's southeast.
On Monday, Ankara demanded action against the Iraq-based guerrillas, vowing to do the job itself if Iraq was not able to. Turkey is a key trade partner of Iraqi Kurds and it could shut down the Habur border and stop electricity supplies to try and force the Iraqi Kurds into action.
