Monday, July 30, 2007

We're in Trouble

According to Bob Novak, there are those in the Bush administration who think that the best way to handle the problem of the PKK in Kuridish Iraq is to attack and "behead" the PKK. No, seriously:

While detailed operational plans are necessarily concealed, the broad outlines have been presented to select members of Congress as required by law. U.S. Special Forces are to work with the Turkish army to suppress the Kurds' guerrilla campaign. The Bush administration is trying to prevent another front from opening in Iraq, which would have disastrous consequences. But this gamble risks major exposure and failure.

I was thinking to myself this morning "You know, who haven't we made a bitter enemy out of in Iraq? Oh yes, the Kurds!" My sincere desire upon reading this column is to disbelieve it as effectively as our President disbelieves pretty much everything that's going on in Iraq that's not a sign that we're winning (which is to say, pretty much everything that's going on in Iraq.) Why would my mind struggle to obliviate knowledge of this plan from my consciousness? Because of it's utter stupidity and absurdity. Why would we desire to alienate the Kurds, who are actually helping up in other parts of Iraq, by attacking an organization that represents Kurds in Turkey, and organization that Iraq's Kurds are highly sympathetic towards? And what are we getting out of this from Turkey? Are they paying us in gold to do this? Turkey is technically an ally yes, but not so much of an ally that we can't tell them to keep their hands off of Kurdish Iraq and let us handle it. And this plan at the very time that experts outside of the administration are talking about a redeployment to Kurdish Iraq! Guess who won't be welcome there?

My fervant hope is that the Bush administration is road-testing this idea, and will retract it upon the fervant howls of disapproval that they are certain to receive (even the neo-cons can't be buying into this that much, as the Kurds aren't Iranians.) In a normal world the stupidity of the idea would prevent its implementation, but in the Bush administration that's a selling point.

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