This can't be good news...

Turkey army launches land offensive into Iraq
By Paul de Bendern, Reuters
22 Feb 2008
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish ground troops crossed into northern Iraq in their hunt for Kurdish PKK rebels, the military said on Friday, describing the start of a campaign one report said could last 15 days.

Turkey, recall, is one of our NATO allies.

What happens if the Iraqi government - or even just the leaders in Iraq Kurdistan - decide they can't tolerate this violation of Iraq's sovereignty and start shooting at the Turkish army? Until now, Turkey seemed content to simply send their air force to bomb PKK positions in Iraq Kurdistan. What would we do if the Iraqi Kurds responded to these air assaults with anti-aircraft fire?

How would we respond if Iran sent planes or troops to attack positions in Iraq on the pretext of pursuing some internal opposition group seeking refuge in Iraq?

How long with Iraq's Kurds sit back while Turkey attacks their territory?

This is a mess... and, sadly, it's our mess.