• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

We’re not going back!

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

People are complicated. Love is not.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

Republicans in disarray!

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2024 Elections
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War / Another Take On Kurdistan

Another Take On Kurdistan

by Tim F|  February 27, 200811:17 am| 5 Comments

This post is in: War

FacebookTweetEmail

Matt Yglesias notes that the Turkish-American-Kurdish conflict will put an especially painful squeeze on Nouri al-Maliki.

Given the Iraqi government’s dependence on the U.S. military, a Turkish invasion of Iraq that the United States approves of isn’t something the Iraqi government can or will do anything about. Thus this incident becomes one more case where U.S.-supported Iraqi leaders see their credibility as national leaders leeched away. If you think of the goal in Iraq as helping to prop up a government that’ll be able to stand up on its own, this sort of thing is a disaster.

At one point non-Kurdish Iraqis looked at the world with more of a nationalist than a secularist perspective. Intermarriage was common and Shiite officers and enlisted men had no problem going to war with Iran. To the degree that an Iraqi national identity still exists a Turkish invasion would create intense pressure from a side that Maliki has until now taken for granted. An opposition figure with a sizable base of support, say Muqtada al Sadr, would be well-positioned to tack towards national unity on a platform of repelling the Turks. Meanwhile America, in in bed with Maliki’s government and blocked by treaty from getting in the way of Turkey’s army, can look forward to an entirely new basis for popular support for the insurgency.

John McCain, foreign policy deep thinker, has declared that “as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed” we could stay in Iraq for 100 or a million years. Well sure, as long as I only buy winning lottery tickets I’ll be a billionaire. I could really use some straight talk on what McCain will do if our kids keep dying.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « What I Missed Last Night
Next Post: RIP, William F. Buckley »

Reader Interactions

5Comments

  1. 1.

    sean

    February 27, 2008 at 11:21 am

    William F. Buckley. Ded.

  2. 2.

    Incertus

    February 27, 2008 at 12:25 pm

    I could really use some straight talk on what McCain will do if our kids keep dying.

    Good luck with that.

  3. 3.

    MNPundit

    February 27, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    I’ve often wondered if Muqty will order his people to take on the Turks as a way to put a further squeeze on the Sunnis and give the US a black-eye at the same time.

  4. 4.

    Jake

    February 27, 2008 at 1:24 pm

    Hey, at least the resolution on provincial elections is going well.

    Meanwhile, Congress taking a firm stand against steroid use by atheletes.

    What the flaming fuckity, fucking fuck, over?

  5. 5.

    TenguPhule

    February 27, 2008 at 11:59 pm

    Right on schedule.

    Piss off the only group in Iraq that wasn’t shooting at us and give them a reminder that Bushs will always backstab them.

    Sometimes I hate being right all the time.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • RaflW on Campaigns, cash and poorly attached voters (Apr 15, 2024 @ 2:28pm)
  • Brachiator on Henry Would Like His Lunch Right Now, Please (Open Thread) (Apr 15, 2024 @ 2:26pm)
  • Geminid on Take the Fucking Win (Apr 15, 2024 @ 2:24pm)
  • Redshift on Henry Would Like His Lunch Right Now, Please (Open Thread) (Apr 15, 2024 @ 2:20pm)
  • WaterGirl on Henry Would Like His Lunch Right Now, Please (Open Thread) (Apr 15, 2024 @ 2:20pm)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning
Proposed BJ meetups list from frosty

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
Virginia House Races
Four Directions – Montana
Worker Power AZ
Four Directions – Arizona
Four Directions – Nevada

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
Positive Climate News
War in Ukraine
Cole’s “Stories from the Road”
Classified Documents Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Political Action 2024

Postcard Writing Information

Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

Donate

Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!