[carton253]

Well, Turkey is a little late, but welcome to the party.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

From the point of view of the peaceful Kurds -- who, protected from Saddam by allied air forces based in Turkey, built a democracy in the past decade -- the big obstacle was not just the longtime Turkish oppression of its Kurdish minority, but the habit of Turkish troops of staying in parts of Iraqi Kurdistan just in case the P.K.K. terrorists should regroup.

If we're going to talk about the "longtime Turkish oppression of its Kurdish minority" let's not swoon too much over the "peaceful Kurds." Missing from Mr. Safire's words is mention of the war fought between the Kurdish PDK and PUK in the late 1990s.

Missing also is just how things may have been different prior to the war if U.S. civilians had been willing to address Turkey's concerns over the Marxist terrorist PKK. Better late than never.