U.S. clashes with PKK/Kadek in north?

A spokesman for the US 101st Airborne Division, based in Mosul, said the incident took place near Dahuk, about 10 miles (15 kilometers) from the Turkey-Iraq border. One member of the Iraqi border patrol was killed, he said. The "unknown forces" were disbursed with the assistance of Apache attack helicopters and a quick reaction force team, he added.

"It is true that clashes took place yesterday," Gul has said. "Not only U.S. forces but also Kurdish 'peshmerga' fighters were involved in engaging the PKK. Some U.S. helicopters were also deployed." [UPDATE 1:40 PM EST: Agence France Press is reporting ambiguity in the parties involved, just as BBC did earlier, saying Iraqi border guards came under attack by "unknown forces." The "Kurdistan Democratic Party":http://www.kdp.pp.se/ office in Washington has no comment.] The "PKK/KADEK":http://www.back-to-iraq.com/archives/000119.php#000119 fought a brutal war with Turkey from 1984-1998, in which upwards of 30,000 civilians in southeast Turkey were killed and entire villages destroyed. In an effort to persuade Turkey to contribute 10,000 troops to Iraq, Washington promised to help crackdown on the Kurdish group, which ended its 5-year cease fire against Turkey in September. At the time, Qubad Jalal Talabani, the deputy representative for the "Patriotic Union of Kurdistan":http://www.puk.org in Washington -- which has had sometimes warmer, sometimes cooler relations with the PKK -- told me via email:

There is much talk about US-Turkey action towards the PKK, but in reality, the US are already fighting a war on a few fronts (Al-Qaeda, Ansar, Saddam loyalists etc). The last thing would want to do is open another front. Secondly, the US and the Kurds (Iraqi), are on a very new and different playing field, in terms of the respect that each shows the other. The US would never do such actions with first consulting, and second receiving permission, from us. Our advice to the US and to Turkey has always been, the PKK are tired, regardless of what some idiots from within them think, the majority of them are ready to lay down their arms and go back to their homes. If the US can pressure Turkey into providing them with an amnesty (a real one!) then this problem will be resolved.

Turkey apparently withdrew its offer of troops Nov. 7 and said, "The government has decided not to implement the (parliamentary) motion to send troops to Iraq," an unnamed government official was quoted as saying. The next day, Gul warned the U.S. "not to show bias towards Iraqi Kurds." Tellingly, Gul also

told NTV that the US had reaffirmed its determination to eliminate the PKK threat, but insisted that that Ankara reserved the right of intervention in case of a "threat or attack" coming out of its neighbour's territory.

The next day, Sunday, we see the U.S. [possibly] attacking PKK/KADEK forces. Gul's comments can only be seen as a maneuver to get the U.S. to act, [and thus should be looked at skeptically.] But why? Running through all this is the American desire to have some kind of help -- any kind -- to help with increasingly successful insurgents in Iraq. Stratfor says a Turkish force is still not out of the question, especially if Washington fields a Shia anti-guerilla force with the help of Iran -- Turkey's old nemesis in Iraq. Is it so out of the question that the action in the north, which runs the risk of alienating a substantial portion of the Kurdish population in Iraq, which is anti-Turk, is a show of good faith by the U.S. in an effort to get Turkey's civilian government to change its mind? (By all accounts, the Turkish military, unlike Ankara's civilian government, sees sending troops as a chance to deal with the "Kurdish Problem" once and for all and establish control over northern Iraq.) If, in the future, fighting between PKK/KADEK and U.S. forces is seen, I wouldn't be surprised to see Turkish troops close behind.