[leadpenny]

We should have declared Kurdistan the minute the 4th ID was off the docks in Turkey.

Would you clarify that? That we should have declared the northern part of Iraq autonomous?

My son is in Kirkuk and he has a lot of respect for the Kurdish population and the military units being trained.

Also, I thought the 4th ID was floating in the Med when the Turks said "no" and they had to sail to the Persian Gulf and go into Iraq from the south?

[Jim Noble]

AFAIK, we had tanks and other stuff on the docks with support troops, and the combatants were on ships in the Med.

And, yes, the minute Turkey said "no", we should have issued a Balfour Declaration for the Kurds and said we would back it up with US forces.

Of all the stupidities in this sad business, making American policy turn on guaranteeing the territorial integrity of the fictitious state called "Iraq" was the first, and the worst.