Kurdish soldiers guard suspected insurgents in Kirkuk. EPAIraq Faces A New War As Tensions Rise In North -- The Independent
Violence between Iraqi Kurds and Arabs is threatening an all out conflict that could complicate US plans to withdraw troops.
A new war is threatening Iraq just as the world believes the country is returning to peace. While violence is dropping in Baghdad and in the south of the country, Arabs and Kurds in the north are beginning to battle over territories in an arc of land stretching from Syria to Iranian border.
A renewal of the historic conflict between Arabs and Kurds in Iraq, which raged through most of the second half of the 20th century, would seriously destabilise the country as it begins to recover from the US occupation and the Sunni-Shia civil war of 2005-07.
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My Comment: This is why U.S. commanders have been pleading that any U.S. troop withdrawal will be premature right now. Northern Iraq is the tinderbox that can easily explode into a war between Sunni Arab and Kurd.
Best estimates indicate taht it will take a few more years before the Iraqi Army is in a position to assert authority in the region. Will President Obama still move soldiers out .... his answer holds enormous political and military risks for both the U.S. and Iraq.