Over at Antiwar.com, Ann Berg mentions a possible side effects of the Israeli campaign to pacify Lebanon: what if Turkey takes a cue from them in dealing with Iraqi Kurds?
If they decide to attack, it will be difficult to deny them without looking like we are giving Israel special consideration when it comes to methods of defense. Which means we will either have to let them do it or else hold ourselves up to the world as hypocrites.
Berg also mentions Iran, but preventing Iranian interference will be a little less politically difficult, because they are officially considered an "evil" country. Therefore if we treat their "defensive tactics" differently than our own or Israel's we are less open to charges of hypocrisy, because we can argue that the nature of the Iranian regime makes it appropriate to give it less leeway in matters of defense. (I am not saying that this is necessarily an honest or good argument, but it would be consistent with the previous U.S. policy).
On the other hand, Turkey as a secular-led democracy (and an ally) would be much harder to malign, and one could not question its tactics without bringing up a comparison to Israel.
The solution? I have no solution. I don't think there is any solution that the U.S. can bring about to any significant degree. That's why I think it shouldn't be our problem. The time has come to move out of Iraq before we get dragged into a Middle-East wide war.
That is all.
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