TARFU in Iraq

[danalwyn]

So a few days, I posted about the possibility of Turkey invading Iraq in pursuit of terrorist groups in Kurdistan.

But apparently they won't be the first.

It turns out that I, being an ignorant American, was completely oblivious to the fact that Iran, a nation most known for its recent strong competition in the Race to Elect the Most Crackpot President, has already beaten Turkey to the punch. Upset at the sudden reduction in their president's insanity (he was taking a nap), Iran last month started shooting artillery into the Kurdish territories of northern Iraq. Apparently, not only are the Kurds sheltering the PKK, a Turkish terrorist group, but they're also sheltering the Party for Freedom and Life in Kurdistan, an Iranian terrorist group, apparently in an attempt to piss off everybody in the Middle Eastern phone book. Now reports are beginning to filter out that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are beginning to move into the area, in preparation for an attack on training camps on the Iraqi side of the border.

So this means that, if the Turks want to up their manliness points by joining in the fun, Kurdistan could be the site of fighting between the Turkish Army, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, two different Kurdish terrorist groups (non-aligned), and the two competing Kurdish militias who normally run the place, in any possible permutation of alliances. And, given that this is the Middle East, they'll all start backstabbing their allies, and themselves the moment they get the chance, which will eventually cause Syria to attack, which will lead to the Israelis bombing the whole damn thing, leaving the Americans sitting in Baghdad going WTF.

Or, in more technical terms, this situation is now all kinds of fucked up.

Comments

[spotts1701.livejournal.com]

You forgot about Russia, who will probably side with Iran because Putin's jonesin' for another Cold War.

[danalwyn.livejournal.com]

I think that Russia won't be bothered enough to send troops (they didn't come to an amicable agreement with Tehran this time around), but I could be wrong. I've been wrong in predicting Vlad the Impaler's course of action before.