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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Kurdistan: New Drums of War in the Middle East

    The US will have to choose between its wife and its girlfriend. Will it be Turkey or Iraqi Kurdistan? Meantime, Iran is hanging around the back door. That's a crude metaphor that fits all too well with 100,000 Turkish troops on the Iraqi border in an already violent region.

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    The US will have to choose between its wife and its girlfriend. Will it be Turkey or Iraqi Kurdistan? Meantime, Iran is hanging around the back door. That's a crude metaphor that fits all too well with 100,000 Turkish troops on the Iraqi border in an already violent region. At stake are: stability in the only tranquil part of Iraq; US relations with a NATO ally; and the global price of crude oil. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is on her way to Istanbul for a conference originally called to talk about Iraq's internal security; Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki has asked Iran to help resolve the crisis; Turkey's President will meet President Bush on Monday. Can they calm an escalating crisis?

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    New Drums of War in the Middle East
    1. 1:35Chrysler to Cut up to 10,000 Hourly Jobs, Drop Models
    2. 7:30Kurdistan: New Drums of War in the Middle EastYou’re reading this
    3. 44:01Mukasey Confirmation in Trouble
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • KCRW placeholder

      Dan Konecky

      Producer, To the Point

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Frances Anderton

      architecture critic and author

    • KCRW placeholder

      Katie Cooper

      Producer, 'One year Later'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Alissa Johannsen Rubin

      New York Times

    • KCRW placeholder

      Soli Ozel

      Kadir Has University

    • KCRW placeholder

      Peter Galbraith

      gubernatorial candidate and former diplomat

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    New Drums of War in the Middle East
    1. 1:35Chrysler to Cut up to 10,000 Hourly Jobs, Drop Models
    2. 7:30Kurdistan: New Drums of War in the Middle EastYou’re reading this
    3. 44:01Mukasey Confirmation in Trouble
    Back to To the Point