TURKEY PULLING OUT OF IRAQ

Turkey is now leaving northern Iraq ...

If we accept the reasoning offered by officials in Washington, or Ankara, either the PKK has decided to be nice after getting beat up, or Turkey's military has one heck of a terrorist fighting machine. How do we come to this conclusion? Because Turkey's government made it clear that "[a]ny influence, either foreign on domestic, on this decision ... is out of question" because "the start and end dates of the operation were decided by us solely based on military reasoning." Put another way, the U.S. had nothing to do with getting Turkey out of northern Iraq. End of story.

And if you believe this I have a bridge to sell you, in Iraq (send cash).

Look, the Kurds in northern Iraq have been a better ally in Iraq than Turkey. Heck, the Turkish government wouldn't even let us launch the war in Iraq from their soil (for several reasons).

Kurdish counterinsurgency forces, however, have a storied history and have proven to be invaluable to U.S. efforts in Iraq. Can you imagine what would have happened if President Bush didn't cave in to the Iraqi Kurd's demands to get Turkey out? The question now is, "What did we offer/threaten Turkey with to get them to leave?"

With President Bush's desire to keep his military house of cards in Iraq somewhat stable, you can bet the farm we're going to pay through the nose on this one.

- Mark