The American logic is clear: Obama values his air bases in Iraq more than he values Kurdish support. He is certainly wrong, as pro-Iranian Iraq will evict American forces soon. Obama does not want to alienate Maliki by supporting the Kurds, but Maliki has already become an Iranian puppet .

The Kurds have launched a backup influence plan by selling oil concessions to US companies, notably Exxon. Their expectation, naturally, is that the oil giants will lobby the US government on behalf of the Kurds. That won’t happen, however, because Maliki will offer to respect Kurdish concessions to the oil corporations after dismantling the autonomous republic.

To make matters worse, US diplomats pressed the Iraqi prime minister to condemn Assad. The condemnation served no practical purpose, but allows Assad to renege on his promises to close the Syrian-Iraqi border to terrorists. Iran has an interest in stopping the flow of Al Qaeda terrorists into Iraq only insofar as it controls both Syria and Iraq. If the Iraqi PM supports the US, Iran will have no objection to Assad aiding terrorists on their way to Iraq.

The Iraqi PM quickly realized his error and in a subsequent statement claimed that he had never condemned Assad.

Think again. The number of American military personnel left behind in Iraq as defense contractors, equipment trainers, security providers, and—most of all—the personnel of their four air bases will be at least 40,000, a third less than the peak combat number. Those soldiers will come under attack by Shiite militias and Sunni terrorists, who will see their victory against America just a step away.

Thus the US-Iraqi debacle will continue, now mishandled by Panetta in his new capacity as Defense Secretary after the ecologist’s ruinous career at the CIA.

The base cannot serve to protect Kurdistan against Iran, which can easily move SAM batteries to the border to target Kurdish planes during take-off, when their defensive capabilities are minimal. At such a short distance, Iran can always destroy the air base without allowing the American missile interceptors time to react.

It seems that the base is meant to protect Kurdistan against Shiite Iraq. That would conform to Obama’s plan to break up Libya with the intent of controlling the oil-rich zone.

Years ago, we were the only voice on the right arguing against the American invasion of Iraq. Muqtada’s return officially marks the point of American loss in Iraq. Since he is the ayatollahs’ puppet, this also means an Iranian victory in Iraq. Instead of stemming Iran’s imperial ambitions, Obama has apparently agreed to its virtual takeover of Iraq as the only way to preserve some sort of stability there.

Now that the Iraqi government is impotent and Kurdish leaders have proclaimed their right to autonomy, if not secession, Israel must come out into the open. There are many pros and no cons.

Israeli support for the Kurds is our best threat to Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, which have large Kurdish minorities.
Kurdistan, with its mammoth oil reserves, will be one of the richest nations on earth, and a viable partner for Israel.
Kurds are by far the most civilized Muslims, and cooperation with them is an excellent way for Israel to break Muslim unity against us.
Helping the Kurds to break up Iraq would also be a good way to snub Obama.

The Kurds have a large standing army, which has won many battles against the Iraqis. We can help them win. We can stem Iraqi retaliation against them by promising direct involvement on their behalf. We can pressure the United States to recognize their independence.

Kurdistan is a historic opportunity for Israel, and it would be a crime to miss it.

Unfortunately, the terrorists can lose the elections but win the battle.

So far, Shiite groups have refrained from retaliating for various terrorist acts against them. The Sadr militia and other Iranian-backed groups have shown restraint in order to avoid prompting Americans to delay the withdrawal. But after August, they will act.

When everyone else lauded the US Army’s surge tactics, we said that the results would be short-lived.

Attacks on Shiites intensified somewhat after the Iraqi Shiite-led government banned 511 Sunni candidates from the elections over their connections with Saddam. Under American pressure, Iraqi judges overturned the ban, which leaves us wondering, are those people in the State Department really crazy? In the name of liberal democracy—which does not exist in this part of the world—they ensured a deadlocked parliament in Iraq. A proper solution would be to give Shia parts of Iraq back to Iran, allow independence for Kurdistan, and let Iraq persist as a Sunni state.

Obama stands by his promise to withdraw US troops by August, and leave Israel to deal with the terrorist nest created in place of Saddam’s stable regime.

Lacking the good sense to withdraw a year ago, the US Army will withdraw as Iraq falls apart. Obama took no lessons from Iraq, and is replicating the surge in Afghanistan—though a larger surge, in the end, did not help in Iraq.

Meanwhile, other Islamic terrorists killed fifty-four people in Lahore, Pakistan, in a series of market bombings.

In Iran, police arrested hundreds of rioting students.