the turkish "bag" incident

[Xiahou]

I seem to remember it vaguely. It just nevered registered as anything that major with me. I certainly remember alot of speculation in the media about the possible problems that a Turkish presence in Iraq could cause with the Kurdish population.

Here's a contemporary CSM article on "incident". It's unclear what the special forces team was doing in northern Iraq. I'm not too well informed on the issue, but presumably, Turkish forces had interests in keeping an eye on the Kurdish populations of the Iraqi/Turkish border region.

Washington has so far offered only vague justifications for the July 4 arrests. According to unconfirmed Iraqi Kurdish intelligence claims, the 11 men taken into US custody were part of a plot to assassinate the new Kurdish governor of Kirkuk.

Turkey long feared war in Iraq could lead to an independent Kurdish state in the north of Iraq, with incalculable effects on its own restive Kurdish minority. For years it supported Baghdad as a guarantee of Iraq's territorial integrity. Faced with growing US determination to end Saddam Hussein's regime, though, it deepened relations with the Iraqi Turkoman Front, who were also raided by the US Friday.

Now, analysts suspect, US forces may be tiring of Ankara's Kurdish paranoia. "With the rest of Iraq in chaos, Iraqi Kurds are Washington's only reliable allies" says political commentator Mehmet Ali Birand. Though US commanders accept Turkey's reasons for wanting to keep troops in northern Iraq, he adds, "they may be coming round to the Kurdish view that [Turkey] should leave right now."

I'm sure some will say this isnt the whole story either, but clearly what's depicted in the movie about the event is a gross exaggeration. Im sorry their pride was so hurt by this, but I'm not sorry it happened based on what I know of the situation.