Iraq II: Big Trouble in Little Kurdistan

The northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan would seem to be a success story compared to the blood drenched provinces to the south, but looks are deceiving.

While the Kurds have been pretty much minding their own business, have their own government, are promulgating their own constitution and have been given free rein by the U.S., Kurdistan Workers Party guerrillas who use the area as bases for forays into Turkey and Iran are pissing off those two countries, who have dispatched tanks, artillery and thousands of troops to their frontiers with Iraq and shelled several villages that harbor the rebels.

The Guardian has more here.

The development is troubling in and of itself, but Kurdistan has taken on more prominence in recent weeks as a possible fall-back position for beleaguered U.S. forces elsewhere in Iraq. I blogged about that here.