Turkey: Selected Internet Resources (Portals to the World, Libra

Israel wary at harsh Turk naval challenge Turkey's Problematic Middle East Role - Council on Foreign Relat With all the attention in Iraq over the last five years focused on the fate of al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the conflict between Sunni and Shi’ite, the role of Iran, the security of Anbar province, the “surge” and, most recently, the further deterioration of Basra, the situation in northern Iraq has only received sporadic attention. The conventional view has been that the predominantly Kurdish north has been the one relatively stable part of Iraq since the beginning of “Operation Iraqi Freedom” and thus was a good story. Unlike other parts of the country, the invasion left the north relatively unscathed and what became known as the Kurdish Regional Government enjoyed a 12-year head start in building government institutions. In the immediate post-Saddam period, the KRG was able to deliver services and, importantly, security to the area. Yet, northern Iraq is a flashpoint that has the potential to trip Iraq into another round of civil war.