PKK in Iraqi North

Kim Murphy of the L.A. Times reports from inside the PKK guerrilla camps in northern Iraqi Kurdistan, where Iraqi Kurd flags don't even fly and Iraq's civil war seems a world away.

With an autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan under U.S. protection becoming a reality, it doesn't look like Turkey has a realistic chance of eradicating the PKK's insurgency militarily. Social and political integration of Kurds into Turkey are really the only ways to end the fighting.

While an Iraqi haven for the PKK is unfortunate, one positive aspect of an Iraqi Kurdistan under American protection is that the U.S. can pressure Iraqi Kurds to limit PKK activity. For example, the PKK announced a ceasefire after retired U.S. General Ralston visited the region to address "the Kurdish question."

The most troubling question for me is whether the PKK is behind the creation of terrorist groups in Turkey like the "Kurdistan Freedom Falcons" so that it can continue to fight Turkey but deny it plausibly to its Iraqi Kurd hosts, who, in turn, can deny it to the United States. If Turkey sees a connection, and I'm sure they do, this is certain to create tension between the governments of Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan and the United States.