I hope that this story is true, except for the part about Turkey getting northern Iraq to preempt a Kurdish state.

The question of the Kurds is a tough one - if they Iraqi Kurds get their own state, that would be bad news for Turkey, who surely deserve better than aggravation of their own internal tensions. And of course, simply handing the Iraqi Kurds over en masses to Ankara without regard for their wishes is the kind of asinine post Great War arrogrance that set the stage for so many of today's ethnic tensions.

My vote, not that anyone has asked, would be to incorporate northern Iraq into some sort of federal Turkish state. I have no idea if the Turks would go for it, or if the Kurds would. But I think federalism is the best approach to avoid future Yugoslavias, provided we can safeguard against future Milosovics.

Why is everone so certain that a Kurdistan would be used to upset the Kurds in Turkey? It might help diffuse the issue and allow a lot of Kurds in Turkey to migrate. It might be a close buddy to Turkey if things are handled well.

Sit the Turks down with the Kurds, work out a win-win arrangement on the oil revenues, and let Turkey handle external affairs. The Kurds don't want to mess with Iran/Iraq 10 years from now. Hope to hell our State dept has some smart, imaginative people on the case. I'm not optimistic.