[WaterDragon]

First of all, only an idiot accepts without question anything in the New York Times. When the NYTimes isn't blatantly lying and manipulating, it's journalists are lazy, filing stuff they don't check out worth a darn.

Also, it appears to me there is both truth and partial truth in this article. The Kurds have good reason to distrust the U.S., first because the first President Bush allowed Powell to make the decision to leave Saddam in power, and then throughout the nineties because Clinton just abandoned them, and did so in a way leaving the Kurds distrustful of the CIA. Remember, there has been no real CIA presence anywhere for many years. The Democrats made the CIA afraid of its own shadow.

If anything the NYTimes reports here about what the Kurdish leaders said is true even a little bit, then I would suspect that the Kurds are trying to do some bargaining with the US government through our media. The President will have to decide what their bargaining points are worth.

[Hugin]

You are correct. Nixon/Kissinger also betrayed the Kurds back in the 70's by supporting them then cutting off support. I don't blame the Kurds for not trusting any outsiders. If we want to get rid of Saddam (we do) we are going to have to do it ourselves, the sooner the better.

BTW, I wonder if all the leaks about an invasion next year could be disinformation to cover plans for an earlier attack? Like maybe in October?