We're Back in Iraq - Except It's The Kurds

by Deacon Blues

You should interpret this late-breaking story this afternoon as significant for two reasons:

1. It signals that the United States has given up on Iraqi PM al-Maliki and any hope for a united Iraq going forward; and

2. It signals that the United States has decided to re-establish a regional presence through a new Kurdish state.

We're back in Iraq kids, just not the Iraq we knew. The oil companies and the defense/intelligence community will love this, because it gives us a beachhead with a welcoming host and secure oil fields. And the drones can pick apart ISIS at will and keep the Iranians under watch.

You can almost hear the giddiness from Langley and the Pentagon from here.