Needlenose

Several years ago I suggested that the Kurds could negotiate a deal with Turkey to gain their support for an independent Kurdish state (sorry, haven’t restored those old posts yet).  One of the conditions I had laid out was that Kurdish leaders disavow the Kurdish separatist movement in Turkey.

In fact, it looks like they may be going one step further, and helping negotiate a disarmament of the PKK.  Don’t get distracted by Talabani muttering his support of Iraqi Federalism towards the end of the article, he’s just giving lip service to the concept – I think Barzani’s grumbling over an increasing Iraqi army presence in the ‘disputed zones’ of Kurdistan to be  a better indication of where things stand in that regards.

If Obama is set on leaving troops in the region, and remains attached to the Iraqi Federalism concept, he might consider putting the bulk of the troops in the Kurdish north.

*Update* Turkey ‘acknowledges existance of’ Kurdish Regional Government

It looks like the Kurds are preparing for the inevitable dissolution of Iraq following the increasingly likely and potentially more rapid US pullout from Iraq.  Sensing the inevitable, Barzani does some sabre-rattling over Maliki’s plan to legitimize Arab ‘tribal councils.’  

It’s not hard to imagine us getting sucked back in the quicksand.